The songs are out of the bag and now it’s up for us to decide. Well, that’s what the title says, anyway! The BBC have revealed all six entries for Eurovision: You Decide 2017 earlier today. It’s a mix of 6 former X Factor contestants, who all had varying degrees of success on the show.
Of course, whoever wins on Friday night will have a guaranteed ticket to the Eurovision final in Kyiv. But which of the six acts deserves to win You Decide 2017 and be the UK’s representative? Well, that’s what we want to ask y’all!
Check out all six songs, along with comments from around social media. Then, you can vote in our poll below:
EUROVISION: YOU DECIDE 2017 FINALISTS
1. Olivia Garcia — “Freedom Hearts”
Promising start from @olivia___garcia and #FreedomHearts big ballad, great production, beautiful girl. #EurovisionYouDecide#EurovisionUK
— Karl William Lund (@KarlWilliamLund) January 23, 2017
Olivia Garcia – Freedom Hearts: This is very now… But it does nothing for me.. #EurovisionYouDecide
— Maikel?????? #OutlawInEm (@Maikeeel) January 23, 2017
2. Holly Brewer — “I Wish I Loved You More”
guys i really think that I wish I loved you more should win, what a voice and that chorus its so anthemic!
— yosefsson (@yosefssson) January 23, 2017
5) I Wish I Loved You More – I feel like i've heard this so many times before, and not in a good way
— minor accident goblin (@eurotran_) January 23, 2017
3. Lucie Jones — “Never Give Up On You”
https://twitter.com/ilovelucie1/status/823552473088589824
Song #3 is by Lucie Jones, that girl that got knocked out TXF by Jedward! Song co-written by Emmelie De Forest. It's nice but not the one.
— AcerBen – Back 2 The 90s: The Podcast (@AcerBen) January 23, 2017
4. Daryl Johnson — “Light Up The World”
Light up the world: Feel-good vibes. I like it.
— Ariana (@_ArianaIsTheOne) January 23, 2017
#Eurovision #Eurovision2017
Danyl Johnson – Light Up The World
the first one i don’t want to listen again. Hope it won’t be chosen ??— Dima Nordstrøm (@DimaDeForest) January 23, 2017
5. Salena Mastroianni — “I Don’t Wanna Fight”
Well let's just hope to God that 'I don't wanna fight' gets it #EurovisionYouDecide
— Jon B (@lepus_octavian) January 23, 2017
I Don't Wanna Fight. Gives us all it's got in the first five seconds, and sounds hard to nail live. Not convinced. #EurovisionYouDecide
— Nick Deller (@ElCrinkled) January 23, 2017
6. Nate Simpson — “What Are We Made Of”
Although I think @natesimpsonlive's 'What are we made of' is probably the best song of the bunch. #EurovisionYouDecide @bbceurovision
— Christopher Woods (@chriswoods1978) January 23, 2017
What Are We Made Of is all over the shop. Will need to listen to it again to figure it out properly. Initial feeling is pretty bad though.
— Kit Lovelace (@kitlovelace) January 23, 2017
There you go then — some thoughts from around the world about each song. But what do you think! Let us know by voting in our poll.
Now, remember. You can vote for as many of your favourites as you want. The only catch is that you can only vote ONCE. So make it count when you do vote! Make sure to let us know in the comments section who you’re supporting as well. We’ll reveal the results on Friday before the You Decide final.
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“It is all subjective.”
Except for her finishing 17th. That was not subjective.
Can’t figure out why UK fans come up with so many reasons she *shouldn’t* have done poorly, while ignoring the obvious reasons she *DID*. You’re UK, not Egypt. Knock it off with the denial.
Some people need to get their head out of the gutter. These songs are not bad at all! You would here them in any other national final so they deserve to be here. Olivia seems to be the fave here and I like her song though I think I would enjoy Holly, Lucie, or even Daryl a little more than Olivia. Holly has an amazing voice (and I like the lyrics)! Lucie’s song is simple and nice and she has a nice voice and I love how anthemic Daryl’s song is so…We can’t fully judge how any of these songs… Read more »
As someone who has experience in writing songs for Eurovision winning artists,three no less, and one runner up.I should have have some kind of idea of what kind of song is best for the Uk.But I have begun to notice over the past few years especially,that a group of decent songs are put forward for the final,that have not got a cat in hell’s chance of winning Eurovision.I have my own theory on this subject,so I will say no more.But for this years final of You Decide.There is only one song that comes anywhere near the kind of song needed… Read more »
Freedom Hearts!!!!!
…..probably won’t win though and we’ll be stuck with a song that gets us last place.
@Maxime
Pretty sure Eurovision.tv will have a stream on Friday.
The best Lucie Jones song really should be revamped into a dance song… Then it could do well. I think the general vibe is ho hum and they need some production value. To be fair though I guess as it’s Holly’s song though not revolutionary has a nice arc to it and could do… Top 15 if the staging is on point. Olivia is just OK for me. It all depends on how they are live.
The BBC2 online player seems to work in the UK only, and i’m french… Where could I watch the show on Friday?
Besides all the reasones of UK songs failing I mentioned below, there are also the individual ones for each song: 2010 – Joke entries rarely win (Verka’s song had an exceptionally good result) and this up-tempo happy song has been seen as a joke entry due to being cheesy. Besides, back-up singers were horrible. 2012 – This is a lovely ballad, but I guess most young audiences didn’t bother to vote someone so old. Bit of ageism mixed with often mistaking ‘slow’ for ‘boring’. 2013 – Bonnie Tyler is a seasoned performer who didn’t see ESC as a big challenge,… Read more »
I agree with Colin.
Semi-finals are a big spoiler about what Europe likes, it is hard to enter the competition at that point. If I were one of big 5 I would beg to be in semifinals.
Also why do yo need composers (Emmelie De Forest ???) from abroad, why don’t you look at recent years, not your last victory that might be in the 80’s.
Question of the day. WHY does UK suck at ESC recently? Hmm… personally, after a 2009 fiasco, I thought every song onwards was fine. 2010 and 2015 were a guilty pleasure, 2016 was cute and others were actually quite good. UK tried sending serious and joke acts, seasoned performers and newcomers, ballads and up-tempo songs… and managed to score only 17’th at best! So, why is that? There are many reasons: 1. THEY ARE THE BIG FIVE – Yes, that one is a boomerang. Just ask Germany and often France and Spain. Being able to root for the song through… Read more »
I want to see Lucie Jones taking part at the Eurovision Song Contest so she could win.
@Roger I agree with your point, the UK public do not help the situation. They are indeed part of the reason we are in this box. “Molly had a song that started out weird, and then took way too long to get to its anthemic chorus. Molly got nervous and didn’t perform well. Molly wore an outfit that made her look stupid. Molly’s backup singers stank. Molly was saddled with the BBC’s legendary incompetent staging, complete with fake drummer.” It is all subjective. You may think that her song started out weird I thought it was a great opening to… Read more »
“I also agree that Molly was robbed in 2014” Molly was not robbed. Molly had a song that started out weird, and then took way too long to get to its anthemic chorus. Molly got nervous and didn’t perform well. Molly wore an outfit that made her look stupid. Molly’s backup singers stank. Molly was saddled with the BBC’s legendary incompetent staging, complete with fake drummer. They did have the right idea by picking Molly – a talented alternative artist who wasn’t trying to “do a Eurovision song” – and if they’d stuck with that plan and tried again, after… Read more »
I’m sorry but it’s like we’re not even trying. They all sound like Medolifestivalen rejects, all sung by super clean-cut BBC celebrities, and all not really saying anything in particular- not even love or peace or unity, really. I say, either we do it properly or hand the mic over to S4C, who have been producing better Eurovision Song Contest entries than any of these for years but not once been able to compete!
@Loreen Kelly “I realise that this opinion is coming from within the UK so may be a little one sided but I feel like the rest of Europe has placed us into a box that we are attempting to get out of and everyone else is pushing us back in.” It is not “the rest of Europe” that placed you in a box that does not take Eurovision seriously, you did that to yourselves. We will see what kind of show BBC will run Friday, that three person panel does not bode well. Giving advice on how to do staging…… Read more »
@Loreen Kelly I completely agree! There was nothing horrible about the last six years’ worth of entries (Electro Velvet was actually a guilty pleasure of mine), but it’s just none of them were winning songs. Granted Englebert and Bonnie had some tired sounding songs (esp. Bonnie—you can’t have that voice and not do something more edgy), but they weren’t HORRIBLE. I also agree that Molly was robbed in 2014, and that’s what really brought down the UK/BBC mood; for the UK’s strongest entry since Jade Ewen (I thought it was stronger than Blue) to be ignored like that was a… Read more »
Freedom Hearts is the best song and is better than the songs from Georgia, Belarus and Albania. It’s very modern. With the right staging, it could do quite well, as in letting her walk around the stage instead of standing still for three minutes – bbc take note.
@Vanuatu: So the budget is only 167,000, apparently. How many taxpayers are there? 60,000,000? That might not even be 1p per person, LOL. No, the UK really doesn’t pay much or care very much. It’s true. Please either get over it, or start a petition. Thanks 🙂
In my opinion Olivia Garcia’s song is by far the best of the six.
I think it is even better than the songs from Belarus, Georgia and Albania.
It sounds quite modern. I’m just afraid that it does not comes into its own on the big stage.
Overall I don’t think these are too bad. Even if it is a small step forwards, its still in the right direction rather than going back to Electro Velvet. From the National Final last year you could sense the bias towards Bianca (not that that was a bad thing mind as personally I thought her live performance was great), and this year they have two very strong songs (‘Freedom Hearts’ and ‘I Wish I Loved You More’) in the same eire as Shine a Little Light (2016 NF). Ultimately we cannot see the quality of the song until they are… Read more »
So boring. We need another hero…
No, we need another BREXIT
So boring. We need another hero…
No, we need another BREXIT
After giving it a further 24 hours, I’ve come to realize that three of these songs I’d actually be happy with calling the British representative. I think less negative ‘oh my god the BBC never learns’, and more positive ‘this is definitely a step in the right direction’ mentalities are needed.
A UK “step in the right direction” will be to have a top-notch, immaculately produced national final program that enhances the careers of all the participants (unless they really do suck), followed by a modern, professionally staged and promoted performance by the chosen representative in Kyiv, which is THEN followed by extensive television and radio support for that representative in all of BBC’s available venues regardless of the voting result. Do that, and 2018 will look a hell of a lot better. Don’t do it, and it’ll be the same old same old next year – if we’re lucky. Better… Read more »
Freedom Hearts or I Don’t Wanna Fight for me.
Although already even at this early stage, the Georgian song is better than all of the UK’s options. However quite a few are better than Belarus, and all are better than Albania
I voted for Holly because her song is the only one I am able to remember. It has an anthemic quality and a big climax which (despite being far from good or interesting) might help the UK crawl out of the bottom 5, but only by the skin of their teeth imo.
I’m of the opinion that none of these songs are ‘bad’ and that almost all of them could be released into the charts at the moment, a couple of them doing quite well. It must be said however that my opinion of chart music right now is quite low… I do think a lot of Eurovision fans are passionate about trashing UK entries, partially because they expect more from the European country with the most successful music industry and partially because of the political situation (whether consciously or not).Yes, they most likely aren’t winning songs but the hatred expressed about… Read more »
@Immensea UK Eurovision budget was published sometime summer 2012 at the BBC site, possibly at their Eurovision pages. For what it’s worth in my mind I have the figure 1.5 million SEK, say £163000 as a guess? I wouldn’t have browsed BBC so probably linked there by a some angry clueless anti-ESC comments say in the Daily Fail? I googled it because SVT leaked the EBU contribution to ESC Malmö 2013 which was surprisingly small. SVT went completely public with all budget considerations. It opened my eyes for who’s really financing Eurovision and the foundation of the Big 5 exclusiveness.
@ Spirit Animal ^^ : ”Olivia should embrace the Brexit tones in her song – not all Europeans love the EU and she may get some far right voters”
That is too desperate, is the far right your last hope ?
@LalehForWD Could you find these figures? I’d be very interested in seeing them.
The only ones I can find are from a Freedom of Information request that relate to Eurovision entry fees and EBU membership fees, neither of which would include amounts for ‘Talent’, travel, Englebert’s team of hair wranglers, etc.
@LalehForWD
He wouldn’t have paid for anything, his label would have.
@Immensea Well I didn’t just make it up mind you. I don’t remember the figures now but back in 2012 I calculated his budget for song writing, studio recordings, he made a simple video, tickets and hotel for him and his team(?) etc. BBC published the budget totals and I can tell you it had to be very tight. I remember my reflection was if I were Engelbert I’d pay myself for a decent hotel to at least enjoy my stay. LOL
@LalehForWD wut? making stuff up doesn’t really help anyone. of course he didn’t have to pay his own expenses.
@Vanuatu Look up the figures. BBC pay just enough to make it possible to participate, nothing more. Certainly not for any extravaganza. I strongly suspect Engelbert was forced to pay for his own living expenses in Baku.
Obvious all songs are recorded and produced in the same studio by the same producer. A BBC studio even? Nothing wrong with that but it tend to bring the same ideas to all songs and increase the bland factor. I think the songs are good.but they never leave the demo tape stage.The next step for coming years would perhaps be to bring record companies behind the artists and let them make their own production of both song and artist. Of course then BBC must drop their control over the song process for it to happen.
@Vanuatu I like that you’re passionate about Eurovision! Most people, especially in the UK aren’t however. It’s simply not on their radar.
In terms of British people deserving better, we have more politics on the go than we know what to do with atm 🙂
Question: Who should win the UK’s Eurovision: You Decide 2017?
Answer: None of those. UK and brittish people deserves better.
Have you realized that you are paying money through your taxes for a tv who is giving you these optionts towards the eurovision song contest?. I cant understand how you can be so chill about this, making tops and even trying to find gold on something that is pure and simple iron dust.
Demand what you like on the tv that you are funding, jeez!
None of them honestly screams “winner” to me, but I think The UK is taking another step in the right direction. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lucie Jones or Danyl Johnson wins because (I think?) they made it the furthest on The X Factor, and their name recognition is probably still slightly higher; especially if Emmelie de Forest has had a hand in writing Lucie’s song. The picking of former X Factor contestants is quite smart—they should have a bit of arena experience, and other countries have seen success with using talent show contestants. It’s a shame Joe and Jake… Read more »
Whilst no serious songwriter or singer in the UK would touch Eurovision, it is the BBC’s Eurovision unit that picks the songs, and they have a powerful track record of being terrible and not keeping up with the times. Electro Velvet still makes my eye twitch with confusion and rage. The reason the UK still enters and shows Eurovision is that it’s many hours of prime time television, that garners respectable ratings, on the cheap. The few hundred thousand pounds that are spent on membership and acts and travel costs are nothing compared to other programmes in those time slots… Read more »
@Frau Von Storch Your’re an imposter. No true European would spell “Von” as you did. Redo and do right.
LAHAYANO, because it does. Without the UK or any of the Big 5, Eurovision would not exist.
Why is the UK even participating?
Jack, Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote “It’s My Time” in 2009 which Jade Ewen sang in Moscow. The song placed 5th which was the best placement the United Kingdom have reached in the past 10 years.
I agree with alexanderbuchaa. Talent can’t be ignored here. Thinking about ESC – some could do well with great staging. I can imagine a Iveta Diva stage for Hollys song, or a Poli staging for Salena. Olivia should embrace the Brexit tones in her song – not all Europeans love the EU and she may get some far right voters – I wanna see UK flags breaking for freedom on stage jejejejejeje Send to Kyiv: Holly, Olivia or Salena please! Nate is the Hovi Starr of 2017 and could be a jury pleaser again. Lucie is nice but reminds me… Read more »
These songs are all plagarising each other
Wow… so shocked at how critical people are of these artists and songs. I wouldn’t say any of these songs are jokes! And I find it offensive to call these talented singers “not promising” or “rejects”. They can all clearly sing – and just because they entered another TV singing show and didn’t win – doesn’t make them less promising or talented than the winners. Loreen didn’t win Idol – yet years later became a Eurovision winner. I hope the singers here don’t read your horrible comments which bring negativity into their lives. I personally think Olivia Garcia and Holly… Read more »
@Denis,
I think you’ll find that’s because serious British writers won’t touch ESC – It’d be embarrassing for them to put it on their CV. I’m not trying to upset people – Just being brutally honest about what ESC is in Britain.
Quite ironic that all these awful songs were written by “non-British Europeans”… Hahaha 😉
I’d add – The BBC can only select the best of what is entered. No remotely promising artist in the UK will enter Eurovision, and if they did, it would NOT be with their best music. We all need to accept – This competition is a joke in the UK and is treated as such. It pains me to say that – But it’s true. ????????????
Average, but far better than a lot of Eurovision entries. The UK will never send good songs to ESC because to most Brits, ESC is something to watch while laughing, not an actual competition. No disrespect to our European neighbours, many of whom put in a huge amount of effort, but most Brits see your entries and think they are terrible joke entries. That is why I think most Brits think Europeans don’t like ‘us’ – Because they watch your entries and think they’re just as crap as ours, yet ‘you’ still get votes. A few of these songs could… Read more »
why is there even a poll when all of them suk as*
UK you are all doomed to face bottom 3 (or plain bottom)