Over the years, many doom merchants have offered theories why the UK has not faired well at Eurovision in recent years. But now there’s a new theory. The UK’s Eurovision 1971 singer Clodagh Rodgers claims the UK won’t pick up votes due to Brexit and “the hoo-ha with the vaccine“.

Speaking to UK tabloid The Daily Mirror, Rodgers said she expects the UK to get nil points from other countries at Eurovision due to feelings around Brexit and the recent issue with vaccine supply. Rodgers told the newspaper, “We’ll never win it again. Not after Brexit and the hoo-ha with the vaccine.”

Her doom-laden attitude continued with the “Jack in the Box” singer claiming, “They really hate us in Europe now. We won’t even get a point. I really don’t know why we do it any more. The UK competing in Eurovision is a waste of time.”

The UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020. In January this year, an issue emerged when supplies of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine were delayed in favour of shipments to the UK. The issue has since been resolved and vaccination programmes continue across the UK and Europe.

Clodagh Rodgers at Eurovision 1971

Clodagh Rodgers has herself experienced a situation where a real-life political situation impacted Eurovision. The Northern Irish singer was internally selected by the BBC to represent the UK at Eurovision 1971, hosted in Dublin, Ireland.

At the time, Ireland and the UK were embroiled in a period of conflict known as the Troubles, which included terror attacks and assassinations. The BBC chose the Northern Irish singer as a gesture of goodwill towards Ireland.

That year, Clodagh Rodgers song “Jack in the Box” finished fourth and received points from Ireland.

Does Europe really hate the UK at Eurovision?

In the past decade, all countries competing in this year’s contest have previously given the UK points at least once. Meaning that the British act has impressed televotes or juries enough that it’s made it into their top ten favourite songs.

As well, there are substantial British migrant communities in Ireland, Malta, Spain and Australia who are always more than willing to vote for their home country’s entry. This ensures that a UK nil points situation — experienced for the first and only time by Jemini after a disastrously out-of-tune performance at Eurovision 2003 — is unlikely to be repeated anytime soon.

And regardless of success in Europe, the UK’s Eurovision entries of recent years have tended not to even be local hits. The best chart results of the past decade was in 2011, when Blue‘s “I Can” reached No.16 in the UK singles chart.

Meanwhile, Eurovision 2019 winner Duncan Laurence is currently sitting at No.31 in the UK singles chart, enjoying a total of nine weeks in the chart.

James Newman is due to represent the UK this year with a song due to be released in coming days. Newman is well supported by UK fans.

What do you think? Are vaccines to blame for the UK’s poor performance at Eurovision? Or do Europeans have better things to worry about and are really only interested if the song is good? Tell us your thoughts below.

Read more UK Eurovision news here

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Kim
Kim
2 years ago

UK is champion in coming up with excuses. For years we’ve been hearing about political voting and what not. They can’t own up to their own responsibility. Even the 2003 entry still can’t own up. When it’s bad, it’s bad en not Iraq, Brexit, Covid or whatever. Come on Uk, make some effort, I really wish you would.

Fatima
Fatima
3 years ago

Congratulations Clodagh. That’s another square on my Eurovision excuse bingo card. I expect it will be also called by Philip Schofield and/or Lorraine Kelly on May 23/24.

Kalla
Kalla
3 years ago

As a fellow Brit, they are definitely not my views. No we are probably not that popular in Europe right now, but then I can think of many countries who are also not very popular with large populations in Europe to.

Will we win again? If we sent something worthy of winning then by all means I think we could. I don’t really get why people blame our results on politics or other reasons, it’s purely we havnt sent a winning song in a long time. Some entries I have liked very much, but still no eurovision winning material.

Alex
Alex
3 years ago

oh god those grannies from past glorious days getting their 5 minute fame to bash ESC and ofc NOT BLAME BBC for selecting poor entries.

giving interviews to Sun, i am laughing

An American ESC Fan
An American ESC Fan
3 years ago

That’s a new excuse

Maldric
Maldric
3 years ago

Uk will win again…But not with the songs they send last years. Nothing special happened on stage with the UK entry

Polegend Godgarina
3 years ago

they’ll blame ANYTHING but the awful songs they send i swear

Jacky allen
3 years ago

Songs are not good enough .
We havent deserved to win.
Boring ballards mostly . No imagination
Stop blaming other countries .

Bart
Bart
3 years ago

Again: weak songs for years from the UK now. Don’t blame it on politics.

Ifty
Ifty
3 years ago

If they’d sent the Frock Destroyers they’d gotten the best result of the past decade. Facts are facts Europe.

Alex
Alex
3 years ago
Reply to  Ifty

No, they would have been ridiculated.

MR LEE FEARN
2 years ago
Reply to  Ifty

Oh, behave ?

Last edited 2 years ago by MR LEE FEARN
Ifty
Ifty
3 years ago

And their best result since 2011 in terms of placement and since 2009 in terms of points was…. right after Brexit…

How about send songs that are at least good enough to be liked in your own country for starter? Why should the UK be privileged to win so often out of over 40 countries participating? You think you were born better? (you probably do).

Kredential
Kredential
3 years ago

Look who has won in the last decade: Germany won in 2010 when the Big 4 were hardly ever competitive and they were coming off a poor track record themselves. Austria in 2014 after years of poor results Portugal, who at the time I think were the country that had gone the longest without a win The Netherlands, who went through almost a decade of being stuck in the semi finals They all had to wait decades for victory. They’re all in the same position as the UK where they only have two or three ‘allies’. I think had you… Read more »

Last edited 3 years ago by Kredential
No!!
No!!
3 years ago

How could United Kingdom do well at Eurovision when the british public doesn’t even like their own song? They still treat Eurovision like a trashy camp fest where you can only win with tacky songs!

Emkay
Emkay
3 years ago

The only upgrade the UK has made recently is they’ve started putting effort into their entries again, but it’s completely misguided. If they just looked at their own music charts and crafted a song around what they see on there, they’d likely have a song that could score just fine.

Danni
Danni
3 years ago

Thank you Clodagh Rodgers for your valuable opinion lmao

Marc
Marc
3 years ago

Apart from true UK Eurovision fans, the general UK public are clueless about the competition. They have a false idea of what they think the competition is and what they think a Eurovision song is. They have an outdated view with theories about corruption, block voting and majority gimmicky songs.

Last edited 3 years ago by Marc
EmmanuelAE
EmmanuelAE
3 years ago

That’s hopefully what’s going to start happening with the partnership with BMG, shame we didn’t get to see what would’ve happened on stage last year. Lee Smithurst said in December that they want to get some decent results first with BMG as the start of a long term plan where attitudes will be changed and then they can start attracting the bigger artists who currently don’t see Eurovision as attractive

eurana
eurana
3 years ago

Just send a good song and the magic will happen. That’s all.

Maya G
Maya G
3 years ago

Why do so many people in the British media think that if they send a half decent song and a singer who manages to sing in key, then everyone in Europe should clearly vote for them – and if they don’t then it must be political. THE WORLD DOESN’T REVOLVE AROUND THE UK. You place low all the time not because people hate you, but because people are indifferent to your songs. You can’t vote *against* a song or a country in Eurovision. If you place low year after year, the question you should be asking yourselves is “Why can’t… Read more »

Colin
Colin
3 years ago

This narrative about ”everyone hating them” really never ends, huh? Let’s put it like this – If ESC was really penalizing countries over their perceived politics, do they really think that Russia or Belarus would ever qualify? I really don’t think that most people are that keen on Hungarian politics either, yet the country more often scored well than not. Maybe it’s about something else?

Last edited 3 years ago by Colin
Colin
Colin
3 years ago
Reply to  Colin

I think that one of the main reasons UK does poorly is that they often come off as confusing ESC with talent shows like X-factor or The Voice. Even their national selections were organized in a way that highlighted vocal abilities and charisma of the performer, putting the song itself second. It’s like they believe that a talented singer can pull-off any song as the winning one. And they can… in the X-factor or The Voice, but not in ESC. Lucie Jones aside (yes, she should have scored top 5), nobody had a song people could *passionately vote for* since… Read more »

Last edited 3 years ago by Colin
the
the
3 years ago

Come on. Non of the gays care about what old white british men do in the parlament. All we wanna see is slaying singers. Political reasons can be behind some contries not winning, but this is not the case with the uk

PP77
PP77
3 years ago

UK send good song from1957 to 1998 (only few was not good 1979,1987). From 1999 they only few was good (2000,2001, 2002,2009,2014,2017).
IF they send good song they can win. Germany won in 2010.

PP77
PP77
3 years ago
Reply to  PP77

forgot 2005 was also one of good song in period 1999-2020

Michael
Michael
3 years ago

Britain’s current attitude towards Eurovision predates Cry Baby, the language change rule and even Terry Wogan, as shown by Rodgers’ song. Her song shows that the U.K. always thought Eurovision was a silly, campy, over-the-top show that you didn’t take too seriously. The only difference was that they had a natural advantage in singing in English so these songs would also do well unless they were really, really bad. So fixing Britain’s problem at Eurovision is harder than many people think.

Paul
3 years ago

When I am listening to entries from other countries, politics never cross my mind and I am sure when others listen to UK songs it is the same. If our song was good enough it would get votes. I was hoping from James Newman’s Twitter comments that this might be the year but the strange silence over the last few days is worrying me. It feels like another disappointment may be approaching.

Teddy
Teddy
3 years ago

James had best give us the UK’s song of the millennium so far to make this old so-and-so eat her words

Benny Hill
3 years ago

Yeah, blame everyone else but people responsible for the song selection. That will help.

Valentino
Valentino
3 years ago

The UK must ask San Marino for some advice.

Lorenzo Celli
Lorenzo Celli
3 years ago

I’ve already read this type of things too many times. UK will win when they stop thinking they’re losers and take the contest more seriously

TJ Cat
TJ Cat
3 years ago

Just to jump in on everyone saying “the UK” blames brexit, “the UK” blames the vaccine situation, “the UK” are deluded blaming everything apart from the actually rubbish songs. Please keep in mind these stupid comments in the press are the opinions of a very few people and not representative of what “the UK” actually thinks and feels. The majority of the UK population understands and accepts that our rubbish record in recent decades is purely down to the rubbish songs we send. It’s really annoying and frustrating to most of the UK that we can’t find a decent song… Read more »

Matthias
Matthias
3 years ago

In an interview with Songfestival.be Sally Ann Triplett also said the UK will never win Eurovision again as long as politics are involved.

Mahi Mahi
Mahi Mahi
3 years ago

Well, at least you guys have a “safe space” for eurofans there in the UK,
So at least this is going for you.

Leendert Jan
Leendert Jan
3 years ago

I feel really sorry for the UK fandom who always have to face this kind of idiocy from their country.

All W
All W
3 years ago
Reply to  Leendert Jan

the east europe,Iraq, all political thing has been worn out now !! Brexit on the borderline, but hey its the fault of Harry and Megan now!!

Sam
Sam
3 years ago
Reply to  Leendert Jan

Its very exhausting trust me, by the fact my dad made a reference to dustin the turkey when I was talking about eurovision the other day says it all -_-

Leendert Jan
Leendert Jan
3 years ago
Reply to  Sam

It sounds pretty familiar, I’m Dutch and it used to be exactly the same here. “We should withdraw from Eurovision, it’s all corrupt, Eastern Europe is only voting for itself, only joke entries score well”… until 2013!

Sam
Sam
3 years ago

Israel is far more hated in Europe and still managed a fantastic win in 2018. If the UK sent a song that is better than other songs, they would do better than those songs. Let’s also not forget that the Iraq war was still being used as an excuse for our bad results up until 2016. If it wasn’t for Brexit they’d still be using that excuse.

Dave
Dave
3 years ago

Do Europe hate the UK? Not at all.
does Europe hate our trashy songs? Yes! Which is fair enough!!
people are blaming brexit but Norway arent in the EU and won the televote in 2019. Meanwhile we plonked Michael rice on stage with a bland song, awful outfit and cheap staging and came last, which was deserved if you ask me.
the truth is we will never win until we take Eurovision seriously and show Europe how good our music industry really is

GrantK
GrantK
3 years ago

She needs to shut her big fat mouth silly woman! Stupid pathetic damaging comments.

Jo.
Jo.
3 years ago

indifference is not hate

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
3 years ago

Newsflash: Country that sends bad songs to Eurovision gets bad Eurovision results!
Exclusive interview with world-reknowned bad music expert, Clodagh Rodgers inside.

British tabloids right on the news again.

Last edited 3 years ago by Briekimchi
waitaminuteholdon
waitaminuteholdon
3 years ago

I feel like BBC is paying all these public personas to say stuff like this to sew doubt in people. A very conservative tactic, if you will.

Denis
Denis
3 years ago

So in other news: another former relevant pop star gets her 15 minutes of exposure by stating her opinion about a contest she probably stopped following years ago. Wonder which former relevant star they will dig up next time and hear them moan about Brexit…

Mircs
Mircs
3 years ago

You know … she does have a point. Of course there’s a slightly influence on which country get’s some votes in relation to the mentality it has. You can’t seperate everything about geopolitical influences and a person who representates a country by it’s name, even if it’s a song contest. Meanwhile we all know what the UK is able to offer when it comes to their music industry and no one can say that they’re sending the best possible song every year, even in the last decade. Neither do they had a winner on their hands. Thinking about their latest… Read more »

Miss Uncongeniality
Miss Uncongeniality
3 years ago

With all due respect to this senile and wrinkled funny lady. Mrs. The problem with UK is not a problem of hate, or political or neither “hoo ha” situations. So stop taking those pills that makes you hallucinate. The problem of UK at Eurovision, is the bad taste, cheapness on their shows and songs and the selection of not appealing artists that nobody cares about… so stop talking about conspiracy theories, and please, begin to take hyaluronic acid injections, your skin will thank you

T.J.
T.J.
3 years ago

Lady, this is a SONG contest, not the “who-comes-up-with-the-most-absurd-excuse”-Contest.

Nikko
Nikko
3 years ago

I would rather have an article about Senhit ft. Flo Rida than this irrelevant woman.

Yorkster
Yorkster
3 years ago

Urgh, bore off Clodagh and your tabloid trash. Listen, I’m a Brit and I can be realistic. The only acts in the past decade that I thought were worthy of a decent amount of points were Blue and Lucie Jones. The rest were either boring, or at best, sounded like unfinished demos for B-sides. When a song sounds disjointed, it’s really noticeable and it’s as simple as that. But even when you have a good song, you have to go balls-to-the-wall with everything else. You need the right staging concept, a relatable artist, a good live vocalist, and like the… Read more »

Jimmy Smit
3 years ago

Has she been drinking again?

Efraim
Efraim
3 years ago

They will never win if they remain this focused on making excuses, that’s for sure.

AM2PM
AM2PM
3 years ago

Ok, boomer!

Kirby
Kirby
3 years ago
Reply to  AM2PM

“Ok, boomer” -I don’t belong to that generation, but I’m sick and tired of that silly reply. It seems it’s the only argument you’re first able to produce with your brain and mouth.

AM2PM
AM2PM
3 years ago
Reply to  Kirby

No my brain and fingers. I typed it, I didn’t say it. Obviously you’re the one with a defective brain if you need that explained to you.

DOLLY
DOLLY
3 years ago

Look at blue well down the scoreboard , however the most successful song from that year once the dust had settled . If blue had sang for a different country they may have won the contest.

Samo
Samo
3 years ago
Reply to  DOLLY

That mess wouldn’t have won the contest even if they were representing Azerbaijan.

Frisian esc
3 years ago

Also we had a looot of people in the netherlands who said we’d never win eurovision, it’s all rigged etc. Even with Duncan Laurence. Now that we actually won they took that criticism and turned it into ‘should we even compete in eurovision?’ It’s all tax payer money yadda yadda yadda.

Roodi
Roodi
3 years ago
Reply to  Frisian esc

I am also from The Netherlands unlike the UK most of the people watch Eurovision

RavensHeart
RavensHeart
3 years ago

San Marino has leaked (in full)! #Banga
https://youtu.be/Z1avs7BXbUw

Jimmy Smit
3 years ago
Reply to  RavensHeart

Ohmygod, San Marino and Senhit have turned it out. This is my new no 1.

Jimmy Smit
3 years ago
Reply to  RavensHeart

And they got Flo Rida? This is a complete bop and could be a hit anywhere. I’m in shock, San Marino is going to be in the Top 5 this year…