On May 23, as the Swedes celebrated their victory at Eurovision 2015, British fans were chuffed that Electro Velvet didn’t finish last. Five points? That’s way better than the nul points we expected! After years of British media blaming bloc voting and crying that Europeans hate us, the British Songwriters Association has spoken up — and it’s speaking sense. They are ready to take the reins of the UK’s Eurovision entry.
This comes in the wake of Simon Cowell offering his support finding a UK entry that can take us back to the top 10 finishes we were once used to. Vick Bain, CEO of BASCA, describes the BBC’s dire Eurovision choices over the past ten years as “a missed opportunity for our talented writers.” The professionals are calling for a Melodifestivalen-style selection process to find the best song for the best singer. Y’all, this is getting exciting!
For a country that’s sent rapping school teachers and sex-pest air stewards, it seems a Great Gatsby Ho’down Throwdown disaster is the last straw. Whether the BASCA collaborates with the BBC in selecting their entry, or the public is able to vote for their song once again, something is about to change. We don’t want to jinx it, but London 2017 could finally be on the cards!
Yes! Hopefully a brilliant song will be entered 😀
With 5 wins and 15 second place finishes, the UK is the best performing country of the ESC: they’ve been in the top 2 in one out of three contests! So claiming that Europe doesn’t like them is a bit stupid… They have the best music industry in the world, so if they cared to send good singers with good songs (which they haven’t done in 15 years, except for Jade Ewen and Blue), they could win it easily.
I VOTED IN SUPERNOVA because Marcus Riva should not see the Eurovision stage… Aminata deserved it!
But off topic.
Set up a Melfest competition like Cyprus did! I was crap but they made it to the final!
Hollandique:
Nice! BBC, here we come! 😀
Adele: Waaaaaaay too big a risk for her!
One Direction: Still too big a risk for them.
Ellie Goulding: On the borderline between too big a risk and nothing to lose.
The rest: No problem. I’d go with CHVRCHES and Ella.
As a Swede with a good ear for the UK club scene, I say go for BASCA’s “Danny Boyle” approach to Eurovision. Would grant more than just the middle class to participate in it. But my personal choices would be one of these three acts: John B – The Lady Gaga of DnB is already very popular in the Eastern Europe. And his style screams “Eurovision”. So “Kung Fury”. So right! High Contrast – He is the closest DnB has to an Andrew Lloyd Webber. Nuff said! Together with Diane Charlemange and you’ve got GOLD! London Elektricity – What more… Read more »
CHVRCHES are my favourite choice along with Adele, Ella Henderson, Rebecca Ferguson, Jake Bugg, George Ezra, Ellie Goulding and what’s left of One Direction.
The UK easily came out 5th in 2009 because they had a great singer and a good song. Blue in 2011 came out 5th in the televote, it were the juries that made it fall to 11th. So Europe doesn’t ‘hate’ the UK.
Adele would be great
@criticca: That’s why countries like Malta and Sweden invite international juries to their national selection shows, to give us an idea on how other countries and/or their juries are likely to vote in the big show. Måns (obviously), Jon Henrik and Mariette did exceptionally well with the international juries at MF; but Hasse, 3rd in the MF televote, would have been torn apart by the ESC juries if he had won MF.
You need to let someone like BASCA or Cowell be in charge of choosing the acts for the next couple of years, because if the BBC was to launch themselves into a huge NS, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the entries will be of a high standard. Show the public that Eurovision is a serious game in the UK and then go all out.
We should NOT blame the public voting for Jemini’s poor result. It was BBC’s fault for allowing their song to compete for public votes in the first place. What they should do next time is let online fans from outside the UK vote. Latvia did it for their national show this year and look how well Aminata did in Eurovision.
The UK needs a national selection show because its also a good training ground for stage directors to create wonderful performances. BBC needs to make a BIG one this time so we have more songs to select from not like in the early 2000s where there were only like 5.
Yeah I agree with Hippo. Considering how cynical the British public are to Eurovision, a MelFest selection process is a bit much of an ask. But if Simon Cowell or the BASCA are changing the selection method somehow or changing the attitude to Eurovision in the UK and improving the quality of songs and in turn, results, that has to be welcomed. Hopefully it’s true.
Lets hope this gives the BBC the kick up the backside it needs.
This is most certainly a FANTASTIC idea! It’s about time the UK followed in its opponent countries footsteps!
Rayman:
I don’t mind, it’s all about eligibility
@mawnck: “Reminder: The UK just voted a dog as the champion of “Britain’s Got Talent”. And it turns out the dog had an undisclosed stunt double.”
Which is why I wouldn’t trust Simon to head the 2016 U.K. selection process, if I were you.
And again, if the U.K. does employ the MelFest way of selecting a candidate, they would surely need an international jury, to prevent the possibility of the public sending another Scooch to Stockholm.
The British public is just not into Eurovision and certainly do not care about winning it. Eurovision is looked upon as a little bit of a joke by the masses and as such, most self-respecting musicians would not consider it.
The UK’s problems are not going to be fixed by bringing in a national selection show unfortunately.
@Alex: Somebody did.
https://twitter.com/ESCGrandPrix
https://www.change.org/p/bbc-guy-freeman-channel-4-create-a-uk-melodifestivalen-eurovision-national-selection-format
Whoever created this petition needs to fire up that engine again.
@Robyn: And yes, there are some cases when a jury (even an international jury) is necessary for a national contest. In Sweden, Hasse Andersson was not expected to do well at MF, and bookies gave him little chance of winning MF or ESC. But he ended up 3rd in the televote. The juries buried him in a tie at the very bottom with Magnus Carlsson, and he ended up 4th overall. Methinks he would indeed have had trouble qualifying in this year’s ESC.
Instead of spending money for a flop show like The Voice, how about making a Melodifestivalen-like show for Eurovision??
UK fans should put pressure on BBC.
I’ll believe it when I hear it! Don’t hold your breath, Brits, for ESC 2017! 😉
Reminder: The UK just voted a dog as the champion of “Britain’s Got Talent”. And it turns out the dog had an undisclosed stunt double. I think it’s something in the water there. Talent contests just aren’t UK’s thing anymore. It’ll take more than some trade association to turn this farcical situation around. Besides, it’s safe to assume the guy who wrote “I’m Still In Love With You” is a member of BASCA. Plus, any member of that organization who HAS written a potential hit certainly won’t want to flush it down the UK Eurovision toilet until all other possibilities… Read more »
So… in the songs that are put forward if we have a selection, their must be all good songs with no obviously primed winner and certanly no novelty act. Also whoever hosts it or the judging panel cannot use the phrase “that is very Eurovision, it would do well” Here is to some stella acts and brave choices.
Hollandique:
I can sing the song! Haha, would the UK mind a Swedish performer? 😛
BASCA over Cowell any day.
BASCA used to handle the songs in the 80s I am sure.
I said this ages ago.A positive for Sweden winning again and the uk doing really bad would be that the uk would see sweden selection procces is why they are always doing well and there will be a change in the uk eurovision 2016 thank you Sweden!!!
I won’t keep my hopes up too high but it does look like it is going in the right direction hopefully
We shouldn’t forget that it was the British public who voted for Daz and Scooch. I think general interest in the UK is too low to lead to a successful melodifestivalen type format and the general public would likely choose some silly novelty act anyway. I’d say keep it internal for now but hand it over to an interested group(s) such as basca or Cowell and give them a shot at it.
It’s about time.
PLEASE let this be true
I’ll write a song! Got loads of em lying around waiting for a vocalist