Is It Time For UK To Pull Out Of Eurovision Song Contest

Terry's very upset isn't he? I think he should get to decide. And he should do it NOW, while he's drunk.

Lacking option
"I'm from another European country and it would be total 'LOL Sore Losers' if UK pulled out so yes"

-- so voted No. :)

Because it's the off-season, you need another outlet for your normal "EVIL CHEATING FOREIGN REFEREE SCUM HOLDING BACK PROUD BRITISH TEAMS" rage, Herman?

British?

Anyone know much the BBC spends on Eurovision funding?

Anyway dom, everyone knows the Scottish refs are the biggest cheats!

"everyone"

http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=4844&edition=1&ttl=20080524233256

Am watching it now. The contest itself is not past its sell-by date but the BBC presenter of the show, Terry Wogan, certainly is past it. His inane, clever dick remarks are once again just a sickening irritation.

The show is, on the whole, good, artistic stuff above the level of that of previous years. It's a great pity that the UK could not make a better effort. It will, doubtless, finish near the bottom of the list in the popular vote.

Anglobert, Surrey, United Kingdom

Terry is the reason I watch it!

He's like Ron Atkinson... ON DRUGS.

Rogaine, mainly.

The UK has a lot of fantastic acts and would do well if the big names participated. You would need someone that Europeans are familiar enough with for them to get a lot of votes from the Nordic countries, Netherlands, Germany and Belgium though, as that's where you'd have to gather your votes (besides Ireland, which votes for UK anyway).

Btw. what is it with the British Isles and pirates? The Latvian entry gathered virtually all of its votes from Baltic neighbours and the two British countries.

Two British countries?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles

that's a top link dom

(xxxpost) The problem is that a UK artist who is that well known in Europe is not going to risk their career doing Eurovision.

Let's enter next year though, just for Wogan, we all know how much he enjoys it! Eurovision...complete madness!!! Everyone in Europe takes it so seriously...except us of course...we're to mature!

As the British are the only Europeans who make any decent music, the competition is a farce. The majority of Europe is tone deaf.

Jason Slack, Doncaster, United Kingdom

The great thing about Eurovision is it is quality drinking time. For years I have watched the show and never managed to get to the end without falling into a drink fuelled coma. The songs are far less important than the amount of alcohol it is possible to consume during the show to deaden the pain of watching it.

Eric, Tombstone, Dorset

lol

The problem is that a UK artist who is that well known in Europe is not going to risk their career doing Eurovision.

Sure it depends what kind of act. I don't think it hurt Cliff Richard's career much. And I am pretty sure The Beautiful South, Simply Red or some other act with a rather grownup audience could do quite well too. Obviously, the hottest pop or indie acts would fail as most ESC voters have lived for quite a while...

Morrissey was supposedly going to enter one year.

Stop it.

xp

The problem here being that the average 60 year-old Macedonian housewife have no clue who Morrissey is. Elton John, on the other hand.....

Cliff's career took a little bit of a dip after "Congratulations", but he came back with his late 70's disco phase. But there is a common thread between Cliff, TBS, SR, and Abraham - they all have an established fanbase, so the media are reluctant to slag them off when they don't win. Anyone else gets it both barrels from the UK press when they lose.

Hey, so apparently the guy who blew up that shopping centre was an Aspie who'd been led astray by radicalised Muslims at his local chip shop.

You eat much cod, Geir?

Katrina and The Waves were sort of established when winning, but also hadn't had a hit in ages.

Who would make a good UK entry then?

Hahaha i just saw what dom was talking about on the news as i read his post

Who would make a good UK entry then?

I would say somebody like Elton John, Rod Stewart, Sting. Somebody like that. Remember that most of the voters are middle-aged.

But not that mental.

If Sting,Elton or Rod are going to enter Eurovision to represent the UK Then that's a yes vote to the poll question from me!

Another thing is that Eurovision is only one part of a wider game plan for Abraham - he has an album coming out in a month and the title is "Even If". Winning the contest wasn't necessarily the most important thing for him, what mattered was to get exposed to as many people as possible. Meanwhile with Scooch there was no larger plan - their whole career revival hinged on them winning Eurovision. They didn't = they fucked...

Which we should be truly thankful for.

Would be great if someone like Coldplay or Keane entered and got nil points.

Terry is the reason I watch it!

Part of the problem then you are, Herman. Wogan has singlehandedly denied the UK decent placings for a couple of decades.

Geir sorta otm -- get e.g. Sting to sing one of his usual songs, and there will be some name recognition plus some granny votes from the 200+ million europeans that are not actually you UKers. How is this an difficult idea?

(Coldplay or Keane would get many x points because they are actually objectively uninterestingly pretty good at Their Job!)

Wogan has singlehandedly denied the UK decent placings for a couple of decades

wait...European viewers know Wogan's views somehow?

I'm surprised anyone in Mainland Europe and beyond would know who Terry Wogan is!

no!!

the UK sends songs that confirms that worldview! ie "this year we'll send different insular type of crap and hope they 'get it' even if may not get it ourselves"!

Too much thinking and fear perhaps, just send some good pop!

herman Wogan was even namedropped on Norw TV today. Never happened before I think.

What I mean to say to blueski and uk: Forget scheming about Eurovision, it is not now 1982! Give us choons!

Coldplay or Keane would also do well, but I guess they wouldn't win again because they aren't so famous in most of Southern Europe. Plus I cannot see them putting on the wild stage act that is usually typical of the winners.

herman Wogan was even namedropped on Norw TV today. Never happened before I think.

He has been namechecked more or less everytime around. Mind you, Jostein Pedersen who did the Norwegian comments until two years ago is married to a British woman, lives in London, and knows very well indeed who Terry Wogan is.

Plus Terry Wogan hosted the 1998 final.

xpost Agreed, UK might get a top ten with that or something, but nothing more. But that would probably be sweeeet for the Brits, butthurt as they are at multiple clueless last placings haha.

Geir should we do an all-Norwegian MADNESS FOR EUROVISION campaign now they're old and crapper than before?

the UK sends songs that confirms that worldview! ie "this year we'll send different insular type of crap and hope they 'get it' even if may not get it ourselves"!

i think this might apply to Daz and Scooch (altho latter was v Euro-friendly sound generally) but not AA or Javine (but they were all equally poor imo - but hardly poorer than half of the other entries any given year)

Actually I like finishing last. I find it funny (I think many do). I just watch it because I've always watched since I was a kid, even though my parents stopped LONG ago. That's why i wondered if Geir is right in saying only old people watch it. Do kids still watch it like in my day or is it just 40-60 year olds that watch it? I thought with the text message voting and what have you that kids would be into it. After all it's quite the norm for kids to vote by SMS on reality tv shows.

The whole politics thing has always bugged me though and it's just beyond a joke now. And I don't see any way of making it fairer.

wogan just misses johnny logan's reign of terror, really

RTE's finances dont.

xxxpost

Agreed blueski. Apart from "euro-friendly" thing -- this is where I suspect you lot lose because YOU HAVE NO CLUE YOU BRITS ABSOLUTELY DON'T HAVE THE FIRST WHIFF OF ANYTHING RESEMBLING A FUCKING CLUE about "euro-friendly".

Get me?

RTE's finances dont.

We didn't HAVE to host it when we won so many times all those years ago; it just would have looked unseemly for us to fob it off on someone else.

Whenever the UK decided to go for the "proper music" or "adult" route fucking michael ball or someone was selected. But Elton John or Sting or even Oasis wouldn't go near Eurovision, and I don't think the situation is likely to change. It's just treated as a joke here and no band or well known singer is going to risk it.
Unless it becomes some sort of Celebrity Big Brother Song For Europe contest. Where washed up 80s and 90s pop stars compete to enter Eurovision.

We didn't HAVE to host it when we won so many times all those years ago; it just would have looked unseemly for us to fob it off on someone else.

You just made sure you never won it since!

That of course gave us a fantastic Father Ted episode, so thanks for that!

I'll say one other thing though, if the UK isn't going to take it seriously, why the hell do we enter? If we don't take it seriously we cant expect anyone else to vote for any pile of crap we put in. We may as well pull out in that case.

this is where I suspect you lot lose because YOU HAVE NO CLUE YOU BRITS ABSOLUTELY DON'T HAVE THE FIRST WHIFF OF ANYTHING RESEMBLING A FUCKING CLUE about "euro-friendly".

Get me?

i don't know if we're talking about the same thing or if Scooch actually was intended that way but it did feel like something for a bygone Eurovision so agree on that basis? at least 'EuroVISION-friendly' was a terrible judgement only in hindsight - look at Spain this year (altho maybe they were seen as sending themselves up and got votes in this basis - didn't work for Ireland tho)

UK 2007 Scooch: deeply embarrassing faux-"possibly-funny-in-the-nineties-possibly-funny-in-the-eighties-possibly-funny-in-a-No-Sex-Please-We're-British" kind of unfunny and from another planet kind of way: ok. Well what do you know, airliners have been invented. Let's totally make a thing.

Spain 2008 Chikiguy: Reasonable fun, no big deal. El robocóp!

Scooch wouldn't be funny in any era. It was plain embarrassing.

You guys usually are. :(

I blame Wogan, as said elsewhere. Delivers total premise for whole UK thinking about thing.

Wogan hated Scooch.

still don't understand that. are you saying Wogan influences UK attitude to choosing their entries? xpost

Obv I haf no idea whether that is true blueski! :D Just appears confused Brits (ie all of you, when this week comes around each year) tend to appeal to his inifinite wisdom on these things.

(ie discard him and you'll end up in 13th place instead of totally lol)

Recipe for success: Get Momus to do next year! No-one likes some light perving more than all the world.

Geir is the man to save UK from finishing last. He's entering next year for the UK. He knows what Europe wants.

He does you know. He truly does. Once this idea has surfaced, this is something you and I, Herman, cannot let lie with a clear conscience. It must be brought to fruition. The European Broadcasting Union cannot deal with a disillusioned United Kingdom -- empires crumbled, Bucks Fizz forgotten -- Geir as songwriter for the UK is not only a flight of fancy, it is a fitting convergence of minds!

Geir will you do the work of finding out who to contact about all this stuff and obv also write the song -- Herman and I will fix the rest. Right Herman?

Only Geir knows what is happening in other countries around the world. Clearly the man for the job*.
I vote Geir to join InternetCelebrity Big Brother Song For Europe Competition.

*read that while whistling the Roger Ramjet tune.

You mean, you want me to write a ballad with flutes, bagpipes and violins, influenced by Balkan music and performed in Croatian? After all, that it what it takes to perform really well and win the votes of the people who are usually the most hostile towards the UK, Ireland, Netherlands and other Northern European countries that don't have the support of the Nordic voting bloc like we do.

It cant be any worse than Scooch. Get in touch with Amy Winehouse's people and send it to them.
Get the actual pipe band who played on Mull Of Kintyre to get the Macca fans vote.

I love Eurovision but unfortunately DEANO DEANO DEANO DEANO so I had no option other than to go down the pub where there were a number of people who DEANO DEANO DEANO DEANO and then the barmaid who looks like my sister-in-law was all DEANO DEANO DEANO DEANO and I think I was in there but then she left while I was talking to the armaments sales-rep with the DEANO DEANO DEANO DEANO HULL CITY LA LA LAAA HULL CITY LA LA LAAAA and then you go home to yr comedy sexless daily grind and thing goddam maybe I should've shut the fuck up there also fuck you you bidness card wielding fag giving twotbostod also I'm sorry I would've hung on for 60 sekkids also goddamn girl you're thighs are like goddamn

LIKE GOD DAMN

The saviours of Eurovision for the UK?
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44686000/jpg/_44686931_wind270.jpg

Amy Winehouse & Deano presents: Eastern European Immigrants Turn Back You Poxy Fules Written by Geir Hongro

Compared to the past 20 years of UK performances in the Eurovision, the English football team have performed downright fantastic.

You mean, you want me to write a ballad with flutes, bagpipes and violins, influenced by Balkan music and performed in Croatian?

Yeah, that's more or less it. You may drop the bagpipes and the Croatian though if you want, to get the UK won't select you (pick some dumb innuendo instead and you're cool). BTW I think Europe is ready for a French-language winner from an OMG non-French nation soon I reckon -- but hey you call the shots here.

multixpost WELL DONE HULL CITY

Compared to the past 20 years of UK performances in the Eurovision, the English football team have performed downright fantastic.

OK actual big lols here, sorry ukers (yes I know England != UK)

hey the england team needs a canadian in their team too. Katrina & The Hargreaves.

also congrats nöödle!

You may drop the bagpipes and the Croatian though if you want, to get the UK won't select you

You know, that's the problem. The Western European entries that would get more votes from Easterners would never have won in Eastern Europe

(Btw. as I have said earlier it's more a matter of North Vs. South, really. Western European countries like Greece and Cyprus vote with the Balkan mafia while Eastern European countries like the Baltics, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus tend to go for more modern and Western-sounding stuff.)

And I know England isn't UK, but the misfortunes of the UK in Eurovision is kind of comparable to the misfortunes of England in football, as the English themselves sort of expect the football team to become world champions all the time (they invented the sport after all), and "Three Lions" perfectly describes how it usually ends.

Besides, Scottish and Welch football history isn't exactly crowded with glorious victories either....

Katrina & The Hargreaves.

That is actually pretty good. Kudos.

still don't understand that. are you saying Wogan influences UK attitude to choosing their entries?

I don't know if anyone else remembers this (or even bothered watching this), but in the selection programme for this year's UK entry Andy Abraham actually lost out to the Michelle Gayle song in the public vote. They gave Terry Wogan a chance to choose his favourite out of the three songs that hadn't made it, and he chose AA, who then won the second phone vote. So we can all blame Wogan this year.

Just write the song Geir; me & Herman gonna get it into the national finals. RIGHT HERMAN?

Not if Terry quits!

Wogan 'may quit Eurovision role'

Sir Terry Wogan said he may quit as the BBC's Eurovision commentator, as the UK entry sung by former X Factor finalist Andy Abraham finished in last place.

Sir Terry cast doubt on his role after saying this year's results showed it was "no longer a music contest".

Sir Terry, who has commentated on the competition since the 1970s, said: "Russia were going to be the political winners from the beginning."

He told viewers: "I think it's tremendously disappointing from the point of view of the United Kingdom.

"Andy Abraham gave, I think, the performance of his life with a song that certainly deserved far more points than it got when you look at the points that Spain got, that Bosnia-Hercegovina got - some really ridiculous songs."

Sir Terry said his producer, Kevin Bishop, was stepping down after this year's contest.

"He and I have to decide whether we want to do this again," he said.

"Indeed, western European participants have to decide whether they want to take part from here on in because their prospects are poor."

Abraham received six points from San Marino - who were taking part for the first time - and eight from Ireland.

Germany and Poland also received 14 points each, but they officially finished above the UK because their top scores in a single round were higher.

Russia received the maximum 12 points from former Soviet states Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus and Armenia, as well as Israel.

But Sir Terry was generous about the Russian song, Believe, performed by Dima Bilan.

"Let's not take it away from him, let's congratulate him," he said.

The UK has only finished in the top 10 once in the last 10 years - but has finished outside the top 20 four times in that period.
UK'S EUROVISION RECORD
2008 - Andy Abraham, 25th place
2007 - Scooch, 22nd
2006 - Daz Sampson, 19th
2005 - Javine, 22nd
2004 - James Fox, 16th
2003 - Jemini, 26th

As much as it sounded like poor man's Rick Astley, I found this UK entry considerably better than the stupid flag waving of last year. And certainly better than some of the dreadful crap the UK sent in the late 80s and early 90s. Not to mention Jemini.
The song was OK and all that, just there was so much that was so much better.

Also, I am not sure if it is an advantage to enter straight into the finals. Having to go through the semi finals means people get to hear your song more, plus you get more media attention. This year, the only one of the prequalifiers who did well was Serbia. Even the French and Spanish entries - both of which were indeed quite good - ended up way below the middle.

I think Geir is right about the semi final thing. However with the political voting that goes on, I can't see UK or anyone in Western Europe winning no matter how good it is. Madonna could easily enter for the UK and still be beaten. And there's no way to make it fairer and free from this.

btw that link Dom gave

just saw this beauty

It's just tripe,and I'm disgusted that the BBC funds so much of it, but there again whenever has the BBC been known to back anything that is not either left wing, homosexual, politically correct, or just ridiculous.
There again it doesn't matter because if the BBC needs more money then I'm sure Golden Brown will simply up the licence fee along with all the other measures to steer the country through these difficult times. He's as big a clown as those in Eurovision, except we can't turn him off!

Nigel Clark, Lincoln, United Kingdom

Recommended by 5 people

I bet even Geir didn't expect the bloke from Dodgy to come out with that

Greece weren't far off winning with barely any more neighbour votes than the UK gets

wau! LOL

aye, but where would facts like that leave tinfoil-hat Terry and his supporters?

(I think, whoever is doubting Terry's pull on the whole thing, is forgetting the popularity of his radio show and the devotion of the people who follow it)

xpost

Plus a replacement for Wogan would either be Graham Norton or Alexa Chung.

I think I'd rather smash Norton of those two.

If you field a good enough song, you win. "Political" voting has got fuck-all to do with it, dickwits.

Oops, sorry Kerr that wasn't a jab at you, I was addressing the upstanding commenters of "Have Your Say" magazine.

Neighbourly back-slapping does give you a 40+ point head start if you're a Balkan/Baltic state though. Or Russia.

though this is not necessarily political, I understand.

There's a bias going on, sure, but people still vote for stand-out songs I think.

Um, then how did Russia win last night? That song was just plain shite.

Must be bias then. So many of dem East European nations just luuuuuuuurve Russia.

I think it's because a voter in the Ukraine/Estonia/Latvia/etc. has the choice between voting for a Russian act they actually know versus voting for a UK artist they've never heard of.

Or voting for a song that sounds like it was written in 2008 as opposed to one that sounds like it was written in 1988.

I think the crux of the problem for the UK is that we need to send an entry who is known in Europe, but not so well known that voters think "why should we vote for Robbie/Elton/Sting/Coldplay?"

Dima Bilan is a huge chart-topping star, with considerable clout in neighbouring territories. He was always going to finish in the Top Three. And that's your big difference: the Eastern nations field big name hitters, who work it on the international circuit, while the Western nations field runners-up from reality shows. Simple as!

They vote for countries they share borders with, not the song.

If you take out all the friendly voting, then all the countries that do all the actual complaining would probably get zero points.

Many of the Eastern European countries take Eurovision more seriously, and they promote their songs across the rest of Eastern Europe, so they're often pretty familiar with them before the contest. Meanwhile, the AA song doesn't even get promoted in the UK itself, and unless late night Saturday downloads are included in the charts he's rocketing into the top 80 this week, according to the Friday midweeks.

Wogan's gone a bit nuts with the complaining about political voting. Last night he was even moaning about Armenia getting all their votes from the "other Balkans".

xpost - yes. More than half of our points last night came from Ireland, who alsways vote for us. Last year it was Ireland and Malta (Malta, as in that country in the Mediterranean we used to run, although even they had better things to do this year).

and they promote their songs across the rest of Eastern Europe

It seemed like Scooch's entire promotion last year was concentrated in the UK - when we couldn't even vote for them!

I think the crux of the problem for the UK is that we need to send an entry who is known in Europe, but not so well known that voters think "why should we vote for Robbie/Elton/Sting/Coldplay?"

Teenfan/hipster crossover zone probably the place to look. Not easy though.

Greece weren't far off winning with barely any more neighbour votes than the UK gets

Neighbourly back-slapping does give you a 40+ point head start if you're a Balkan/Baltic state though. Or Russia.

Yes, Greece would've won if it hadn't been for that. And the Greece entry was far superior to the Russian entry. I can't think of a worse winning song in the last 10 years.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7418959.stm

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/noodle_vague/detector-1.jpg

You really do have all these things bookmarked just ready to use , don't you, Jim? lol

Photobucket mate

I haven't seen anything similar for this year yet, but this is a table of what last year's results would have been if only Western countries had voted, with the real positions in the second column.

http://www.bildblog.de/wp-content/gptabelle.gif

That's good, is it old- or nu-style "Western countries"? ie is eg Greece non-Western here?

I have a football match to attend v soon, but will make this year's table unless it appears from another source.

That was easily done. Excluded Greece, Malta and Cyprus as non-Western:

Norway 80
Greece 77
Turkey 68
Armenia 63
Portugal 62
Iceland 52
Ukraine 52
Bosnia & Herzegovina 51
Serbia 49
Russia 48
Latvia 47
Denmark 40
Israel 39
Spain 38
France 25
Romania 24
Sweden 24
Finland 22
Azerbaijan 17
United Kingdom 14
Poland 14
Albania 11
Croatia 8
Germany 2
Georgia 1

WINN4R!

Can't think of a worse winning song in 10 years? ffs "Hard Rock Hallelujah" was miles worse than this. Norway wuz robbed. Armenia came across a lot better than I had expected, I thought Turkey would do well because of friendly voting and a stronger song than usual (born out in the fact that the diaspora is mostly in Western countries in AM's table above) and SPAIN DID BETTER THAN FRANCE LOL.

Also, I hadn't noticed before, but best Portuguese entrant ever!

Sudden genius hungover thought: BOY GEORGE for the UK people. GOD is that obvious.

Hard Rock Hellelujah was fun and catchy. This years winner is utter bollocks. Greece and Norway was far superior to it.

Here's the lyrics to the songs if anyone is interested
http://lyrics.dainutekstai.lt/art29808/eurovision-2008-lyrics.html

http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=4844&edition=1&ttl=20080525172007

I think it's an absolute disgrace that Andy came last with a song that was far superior to the rest. British music is the best and other countries are out of touch with real music. I appreciate there are cultural differences and I respect that but some of the songs were ridiculous. Why we continue to participate in a competition that is so obviously political I do not know. No wonder Terry Wogan feels so disappointed. Andy must feel so dreadfully let down, poor guy.

W Brown, Maidenhead

I think he's still drunk from the Champions League celebrations.

Looks like a Geir sock-puppet to me.

Then this must be an anatol_merklich sockpuppet then ;)

The only good bit about Eurovision is Terry Wogan! His sarcastic comments are enough to make anyone laugh.

[Flaming_Hot_Redhead], Fareham, United Kingdom

Thats why you lose and thats why noone votes for you. You like being sarcastic about other countries, but is it fair? I have watched eurovision on the russian channel and russians werent sarcastic and didnt slug off even the worst songs. Have some respect for other nations taste in music and send good singers and you will win!

Viktoria, Lincoln

anatol has been consistently on the money on this thread.

Except for the Boy George bit.

Boy George duet with Mick Hucknall!

Written by Geir?

Excluded Greece, Malta and Cyprus as non-Western:

Good attempt, but defining Malta as non-Western would be pointless. How about excluding the votes from all Southern European countries instead?

The "brown paper bag test" was a ritual once practiced by certain African-American and Creole fraternities and sororities who discriminated against people who were "too dark." That is, these groups would not let anyone into the sorority or fraternity whose skin tone was darker than a paper lunch bag, in order to maintain a perception of standards.

I think it's because a voter in the Ukraine/Estonia/Latvia/etc. has the choice between voting for a Russian act they actually know versus voting for a UK artist they've never heard of.

Remember that the Russian minorities in those countries are an even larger percentage than the Turkish minority in Germany. And a look at the votes since televoting started in 1998 clearly tells you what ethnic minorities may do.

And the winning song was not at all bad, but like the Ukrainian winner from a few years back (which was not at all bad either) is unlikely to become a hit anywhere east of Rijeka.

West of Rijeka, I mean

I enjoy Terry Wogan but he's always vaguely racist and I'm quite uncomfortable with how unaware he is and the BBC seem to be of this. His slurring rambles and leering warm my heart though, Britain should pull out, I always support Russia anyway. Nutters.

My own sockpuppet woot!

defining Malta as non-Western would be pointless.

Malta = crypto-Arabs due to their language, so obv non-Western :p

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7418940.stm

Wogan so far off the money here. "The USSR is getting bearish again" WTF?!

Someone needs to put Wogan out of my misery.

Most recommended comment on that HYS...

A total waste of time, money, energy and resources.

Actually, that description could be aligned to pretty much anything beginning with "Euro"...

Topsy Turvy, England, United Kingdom

Recommended by 216 people

...ffs Englanders, fuck off. Really.

Nobody likes the Germans either, apparently...

http://www.theage.com.au/news/music/beurovisionb-germans-feeling-very-unloved--after-song-contest/2008/05/25/1211653847114.html

That Topsy Turvy character is everywhere on HYS and needs put out of misery too.

It should stay due to euro girls in crowd.

men and motors should show it then (does that channel still exist?)

I enjoy Terry Wogan but he's always vaguely racist

From what I've heard, he is more chauvenist than racist. Those two aren't exactly the same thing, are they?

Nobody likes the Germans either, apparently...

Anyone who has got any report on what the Dutch feel. Netherlands used to be one of the "superpowers" of Eurovision Song Contest during its first 20 years, but their luck has gradually decreased. They haven't won since "Ding-a-Dong", and lately they never make the final.

men and motors should show it then (does that channel still exist?)

I mean, in spite of the Dutch often having quite good entries. This year's Dutch entry was no weaker than the Greek and Armenian ones in roughly the same genre, and they were both Top 4.

UK, Germany, France and Spain wouldn't make the finals either if they didn't get a bye due to funding it.

Why don't Italy enter anymore?

Got the hump when they failed to make it past the semis a couple of years ago or sump'n?

Italy stopped entering sometime in the mid 90s, but the Italians couldn't care less even before that. They have too many different TV channels to choose from.

And the interesting bit here is that Italy doesn't miss Eurovision, but Europe misses Italy. Because Italo pop has an audience all over Europe.

But like the rest of Western Europe, none of the eastern europeans will vote for them.

instead of getting up at 8am when the radio alarm went off, i decided to go back to sleep for an hour ... but did i really hear john humphrys trailing a today item with the words: "later, one of the world's most important rappers, chuck D ... we ask him if the UK should pull out of eurovision?"

this is going to trouble me all day.

Most of his heroes don't appear to be camp.

can you vote have your say comments down? that seems to be part of most other peer-review comment systems, it's kind of annoying that on a forum where people like to express genuinely poisonous views it's not an option

Welcome to the Challopsdome

Why don't Italy enter anymore?

-- Herman G. Neuname, Monday, 26 May 2008 00:04 (9 hours ago) Link

We have the San Remo music festival, which is like an internal Eurovision. Still a massive occasion.

But like the rest of Western Europe, none of the eastern europeans will vote for them.

It isn't impossible. This year's Norwegian entry got votes from most of the Eastern Europeans.

It was a ballad though, and it seems that a ballad is more likely to get votes from east than a faster song. The last time we got lots of Eastern votes, in 2003, we also had a ballad.

Ballads are pretty much a universal language.

I mean, look at the songs that have gone to #1 in Europe as a whole this year:

"Apologize"
"Bleeding Love"
"Mercy"
"4 Minutes"

"4 Minutes" is the only one that isn't a ballad, and it's fucking Madonna.

True enough. A ballad probably appeals better to some certain kind of lowest common detominator than a faster song does. A ballad is a ballad, whereas in faster music, the taste varies considerably more. The Balkan people want their faster songs to have a lot of dramatic vocals, bagpipes, flutes and generally the possibility to dance traditional Balkan dances to them, while that doesn't appeal much to Western Europe which goes more for a traditional Anglo-American musical influence.

Thse two priests that were against Father Ted in that episode.

That was the Russian entry.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7420018.stm

I think Geir's "flutes and bagpipes" comment was kinda too much, but there does seem to be a certain aesthetic difference between Eastern and Western European dance music, which would also explain the vote division besides the "neighbours voting for each other" thing. (To be fair, the Nordic countries do tend to vote each other as well, it's just that there are too few of us for it to make a big difference.) And the only thing that seems to bring all the countries together are ballads or straightforward rock music (Lordi in 2006, Turkey this year).

Having visited several Eastern European discos, I would say there's a different feel to Western and Eastern Eurodance, even though the basic elements may be the same.

It's time for the BBC to pull Terry Wogan out of the commentary box. Xenophobic cunt.

ie is eg Greece non-Western here?

Yes, let's throw out the people who invented our civilisation, they're dark and greasy enough to qualify as CHEATING EASTERN SCUM

Eastern Glasgow?

I love the way Terry Wogan spends all his time going on about how shite the Eurovision song contest is, and then suddenly gets all self-righteous about how countries are not voting for stupid England songs because of alleged "Bloc Voting".

Or Tom D OTM. I don't buy into this whole Terry Wogan Eurovision Coverage = hilarious shite.

he was never that funny doing it. and the lack of research is terrible - he could've been bombarding us with facts or actually telling us what the songs in other languages were about but no, just lazy zings all night.

People are always saying that he is funny. Stupid people.

He used to be quite funny, but now he's just bitter and self-righteous.

How many times did he say things like "12 points to Greece? OH!" when the country had already given greece 4 points sort of thing?

Bushmills is a helluva drug

Does he really wear a wig?

dustin says so.

The Stone Roses once wanted to pull his wig off live on his show in the 80s.
But I've never been sure if he wears one or not.

but there does seem to be a certain aesthetic difference between Eastern and Western European dance music, which would also explain the vote division besides the "neighbours voting for each other" thing.

In the case of Balkan, I think that is the main reason.

In the case of all of the neighbours voting for Russia, the reason is simply that they all have huge Russian minorities living within their borders, and of course voting for the Russian entry.

Added: Monday, 26 May, 2008, 09:29 GMT 10:29 UK

I agree with Ceri - Terry Wogan is the one that's way past his sell by date not Eurovision. He's been trotting out that sneering at johnny foreigner stchick for donkey's years. The man is out of touch. The BBC should either get with the times and ditch him or pass it over to someone like Graham Norton

-leadedbee

Recommended by 4 people

The Swedes apparently are have some people suggesting withdrawal now. For the second year in a row, Sweden have been mentioned as a possible winner beforehand and ended up way down in the second half. The Swedes sort of expect to be Top 5 every year, so those two were obviously major disappointments.

so if they can't win, they won't play at all? pathetic.

are the scoring, the competition, the ranking and the tables actually significant? isn't it really about the tunes? I know a lot of people, myself included, who turn off once the performances are over. I love eurovision, but really couldn't care less who wins.

the tunes are the worst part!

worst and best.

MIA for UK entry 2009

She has about the right level of chart success to match this year's entry.

Sweden's song wasn't very good and re-heating former winners is not that great a strategy really. I suppose if Sweden doesn't want to send BWO it's their problem.

Added: Monday, 26 May, 2008, 08:12 GMT 09:12 UK

The main reason we didn't win was that the UK's entry simply wasn't very good. Despite the political voting, the better songs - especially from Russia and Greece - came out on top.

The other reason I think we did poorly was skin colour. Anyone who has seen the abuse that black footballers get in most parts of Eastern Europe won't have been surprised that Andy Abraham didn't take the Balkans by storm!

Adrian Harding, Exeter

It really is ILX!

ugh

Added: Monday, 26 May, 2008, 07:49 GMT 08:49 UK

Funny how readily the Eastern Europeans want to come to England for our greast NHS and Free handouts but vote for us - oh no - cheers

Maddy Law, Eastleigh

Recommended by 1 person

and plenty more like that

I would like to be greast on the NHS.

Grimly, I had the same reaction as you but it was good to hear some PE on Today. Chuck D had zero opinion on Eurovision BTW.

and re-heating former winners is not that great a strategy really.

Johnny Logan and Elisabeth Andreassen may suggest otherwise.

In 2008, it's not. Didn't work with the better-known Carola, whose "Invincible" was, while not fantastic, a much better song than "Hero".

I didn't work all the way, but she ended up #3, didn't she?

It didn't work all the way, I mean

Fifth, actually. But it was a passable Swede-disco pop song (though nowhere near as good as "It Hurts" or "Give Me Your Love" or "Never Let It Go" or even, yeah, "Take Me To Your Heaven" or, even yeah, "Framling") in a pretty dubious year where a lot of novelty songs running around, and it was comforting and familiar. And Carola would have had heaps more vote-pulling power due to name recognition than Charlotte. Even Wogan didn't mention that she'd won it previously in the final (unless I missed that). Plus, there's a huge market for songs like "Invincible" in Ukraine, Russia etc.

And "Hero", again, is a bit shrill and fundamentally rubbish.

It was obvious Russia was going to win.

http://willywonka31.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/25/acdgbilanmags.jpg

In the case of all of the neighbours voting for Russia, the reason is simply that they all have huge Russian minorities living within their borders, and of course voting for the Russian entry.

OK Geir, so what excuse do you Scandinavian cunts have for voting for each other?

Of course, Carola already had a name the first time she won too. After all, she was Northern Europe's favourite already in 1983 when she did her first performance (the North-South divide was there already - even when the only Eastern European country to participate was Yugoslavia)

OK Geir, so what excuse do you Scandinavian cunts have for voting for each other?

Scandinavia is the same as Balkan. Same musical taste.

So Russians have the same musical tastes too. OK then, that's that cleared up.

Russians have the same musical taste as Russians, yes. But even if they don't like the Russian entry they will vote for it if they are not in Russia. Naturally.

Why would they vote for it if they don't like it?

(that last sentence was like a bad Madlib text result)

Well, I think the dynamic is not quite the same. Russia being so bloody big is really in a power to exercise a great degree of cultural influence, whereas in Scandinavia it's probably closer to sharing.. I guess Serbia is the nearest thing to the Russia of the Balkans, and the distant, Westernised Slovenia always seems to do worse.

At any rate, while I usually pooh-pooh the bloc voting thing as last year the same songs would have won with onyl Western voting, this year, I really do think that Russia and Ukraine did not deserve to be the top 2, and that Armenia and Norway were much stronger songs, and that Portugal were pretty dudded (esp when you compare semi to final voting).

I note Russia came 3rd in its semi because it had fewer neighbours. Having thinned out the herd by splitting countries up due to geography and voting history, I really think that perhaps countries that flunk the semis should either not vote in the finals (much like countries that were excluded pre-2004) or maybe have their vote count half (they only give points to five different songs rather than ten, and only six points for the maximum rather than twelve).

(If the russians didn't like the russian entry, they'd vote for the russian entry instead of the russian entry. Even if they were in russsia)

xpost don't mind me...

Because they are sinister and evil - but are they unique in this? Or are Norwegians sinister and evil too? Let's ask Terry Wogan. (xxxp)

Russia = exercising power
Norway = all cuddly and fluffy-wuffly and sharing

So when Nordic countries vote for each other it's just because they have similar taste, whereas when former Soviet nations vote for Russia it's because of political scheming? I don't really think it's that simple. For example, I suspect one reason why Finland always tends to get good points from Sweden is that there's a large minoríty of Finns living in Sweden who are likely to vote for the Finnish entry for nationalist reasons.

I don't really think it's that simple.

It is in Geir's world.

So when Nordic countries vote for each other it's just because they have similar taste, whereas when former Soviet nations vote for Russia it's because of political scheming?

Not political. And of course it's a mixture. I am sure a lot of actual Ukrainians, Latvians and Lithuanians voted for Russian too, which is because of musical taste. But you cannot ignore the fact that there is a huge Russian minority in all of those countries as well. Which is also the same reason why Turkey tend to get a lot of votes from Germany and Sweden.

Anyway, I guess, if the Brits are dissatisfied with the results, the best thing you guys can do (besides sending better songs, obviously) is to let Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their freedom and - Tada! - you have a voting block consisting of five countries instead of just two. If that doesn't help, then consider freedom for Isle of Wight, Isle of Man, Guernsey and Shetland as well.

OK, so russians in exile (in fact any nation) would phone vote for their home country, so they could win. Yes, sorry, I get it now.

(xpost)

But you cannot ignore the fact that there is a huge Russian minority in all of those countries as well. Which is also the same reason why Turkey tend to get a lot of votes from Germany and Sweden.

But are Turks like Russians, would they vote for the Turkish song even if they don't like it? Or are they not that evil?

actually, following through on that: (geir's last)

"I love a heiland lassie" could be the English entry, and al of scotland could then vote for it.

Followed by "Saint Helier, how I miss you" could be the scottish entry and the Channel Islands could vote for that.

Sorry, I'm being a bit touchy this morning, just that hearing Terry Wogan going on and on about immigrants, gastarbeiter and diaspora gave me the creeps and hearing Geir go on about has a similar effect.

You're positively restrained, by the usual scale of things...

To be fair, Geir wasn't saying it was necessarily a bad thing.

What he 'thinks', I cannot comment on...

I guess the fairest thing would be if every European - regardless of country - had one vote each. That way, small countries like Cyprus and Andorra wouldn't have the same voting power as a giant country like Germany.

Might is right

Mind you, San Marino voted for us, so we'd really be fucked then!

There was lots of British holidaymakers in San Marino quite clearly last week.

THAT's how to do it!

Vote Hols!

There were three British people in San Marino last week, swelling the population to 15

You forgot the drunken tartan army members who haven't got back from last time we played there. If we allow Argentina to enter we might do well from the guys from '78 who never made it back.

NEWSBEAT HYS is still going http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=4844&edition=1&ttl=20080527125911

As it is the Eurovision SONG contest then all entries should be performed anonymously ie song 1, song 2 etc. This way it is the song/performance that will be voted on, and should help stop the Eastern Blocs all voting for each other. If this isn't going to happen then I think we should stop entering. There really is no point in going on with the current format.

Jane Cromey-Hawke, Stroud

Is my current favourite.

When I read comments posted here, I see people are angry because of "political voting". Music or performance are not an issue. It's all about money and politics ("we should pull the plug", "nobody likes us", "we could send Jesus perfom miracles and EE would not give us their votes"). And when I see your patronizing attitude, I must say I am glad that Russia won in Belgrade on a SONG contest. They have better foreign policy...

Katarina Gojkovic, global.country.cs

I have no British CDs in my collection, because I find American blues, jazz, soul and R&B way better, and I have spent at least 20 years listening and comparing. Eurovision is not the measure of a country's real music taste - or are we in Serbia to conclude that the UK has hots for stewardesses ? Serbia at least sends normal acts to EC. If you don't want to broaden your horizons, it's OK!

Katarina Gojkovic, global.country.cs

Hang on, isn't the UK only European when it suits? Prove me wrong, but...

A bit like Terry Wogan being British when it suits...

Dom, are you up for presenting Eurovision next year now Terry is quitting? It's between you The Lex and Noodle Vague. Gotta be better than Graham Norton.

What's an economic migrant doing commentating on Eurovision anyway? Tchoh! Irish diaspora! Gastarbeitradiopersonality!

That's you out of the running then, Tom.

I'm out of the equation because I know Armenia isn't in the Balkans

The Swedes sort of expect to be Top 5 every year

of course they do, 1974 was their 1966.

The dude who proposed that Graham Norton should replace Terry Wogan was OTM.

what about the dude who proposed Harry Hill?

Andy Kershaw would be ideal for this as long as there was no female co-presenter.

Ron Atkinson could prove popular with the East European fans.

In a dream world Jeff Stelling would host.

But then in a dream world Jeff Stelling would host every TV show ever.

Lembet Opik for me

However you know it's probably going to be Dale.

Alexa Chung, yeah? Like an idea take on the Eurovision, yeah?

Richard Barnbrook has good credentials: camp, showbiz connections, hates foreigners (esp. Eastern Europeans)

how many times has Russia won Eurovision?

Let's ask Irishman Terry Wogan

"Wogan sacked by new Eurovision owner Abramovich" shock horror youth cult probe

If this fanatical loyalty of ethnic Russians to the Kremlin is so powerful, how come Russia has only won once?

Ant and Dec.

Ant and Dec have been somewhat discredited of late.

I think you'll find that has made absolutely no difference to either their success or their popularity - esp. with programme makers

ITV anyway

(my ant and dec comment was in response to "why has russia only won once. Bcuz they gave it to ant and dec. OK it wasn't that funny anyway..)

Gordon Ramsay to present next year.

Fucking Eurovision yes?

grow a set of fucking bollocks man, yes?

Sir Alan Sugar to judge the British entries next year.

YOU WAS SUPPOSED TO PUT A BIG BOX OF TISSUES IN FRONT OF THE CHORUS I DON'T WANT ALL THIS ARTY FARTY HOT AIR

Needs an Irishman. Roy Keane.

"Stick your bollocks up your arseholes, fockin' cheating Russian bastards"

John Terry to present next year.

Stuart Maconie to present next year:

"Latvia? What was all that about? Eh? Eh? Dressed as pirates? That's not exactly going to get them served in the Gloss and Tip in Kendal, is it? I mean, you didn't get David Dundas singing about putting his cummerbund on, did you? You're not exactly going to get a commission from Channel 4 looking like that, are you? I mean, can you imagine Bremner Bird & Fortune dressed as pirates? Where's the gravitas? Not like in my day ho ho Abba in blue at the Brighton Dome! Eh? Eh? S is for Sale!"

OK it wasn't that funny anyway..

well it was a response, for which I thank you.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7421493.stm

I'm just going to throw this out there, its kind of a fantasy of mine but I think...Jeremy Paxman should present next year. Can you just FEEL the contempt?!

Also Russia should have won last year, they had a ballet dancer coming out of a piano.

Paxman??? Why?

I'd watch that!

Watching The Apprentice: You're Fired, it's now occurred to me that Wogan should give it all up in favour of Adrian Chiles.

And when I see your patronizing attitude, I must say I am glad that Russia won in Belgrade on a SONG contest. They have better foreign policy...

This Serbian girl does of course admire Russia for how they are the only country in the world who isn't willing to recognize Kosovo....

If this fanatical loyalty of ethnic Russians to the Kremlin is so powerful, how come Russia has only won once?

Because they usually become number two.

The uk usually make a number two as an entry

Wogan is pathalogical in his thinly veild desire to win yet he will keep up all pretences of not giving a squirrel shit until the UK inevitably bombs out. Paxman would be no such bullshitter. Can't you picture his sneering face as some scantily clad pneumatic male/female/both singing about their 'Heart Broken Is?' as they gyrated across the stage while fireworks exploded in the distance spelling out their name? He'd die, he'd literally die but not before spewing out some really scathing remarks whilst throwing in a few inflammatory yet sound statements about a country's policy and it would be the greatest television ever made.

Surely, the UK entries have been crap and they would have ended up in the lower regions anyway, but Wogan still has a point about voting blocs. Netherlands usually hosts one of the best entries, yet they always end up outside the final because they don't have a lot of friends who will always give them lots of points.

If the UK did enter a good song, however, they would at least get a lot of votes from the Nordic countries, as we are rather anglophile over here.

Netherlands usually hosts one of the best entries, yet they always end up outside the final because they don't have a lot of friends who will always give them lots of points

More like lots of friends who are too stoned to vote, amirite?

Watching The Apprentice: You're Fired, it's now occurred to me that Wogan should give it all up in favour of Adrian Chiles.

-- ailsa, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 23:03 (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

Doesn't Chiles support Croatia at international level in football? Can't have a non-patriot running t'ings.

Like patriotic British born-and-bred Terry Wogan?

Not much, no.

Wogan's idea of pop: Me And The Elephant, Floral Dance, Julio "Laugh At The Funny Foreigner Who Can't Get The Words Right" Iglesias.

I've just realised the Spanish entry this year is basically a one-minute version of Cortez vs X-Ray's comedy rap classic "What U Get Is What U See". WHY DID THIS NOT GET MORE VOTES.

WHY DID IT GET 55 VOTES morelike

Bosnia Herzegovina took most of the protest votes this time, which meant there wasn't a lot left for Spain.

Because they usually become number two.

Second comes right after first!

Could be that, of late, they have infiltrated pure clean blue-eyed Western nations such as Norway, skewing the vote Eastwards

What you have to bear in mind is that Geir has actually written a Norwegian Eurovision entry in the past. Remember the one about the Beatles which scored nul points? One of his.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/may/28/bbc.television

Remember the one about the Beatles which scored nul points?

That one was a Swedish entry. And it didn't score nul, rather a few, I think. Norway were alone in scoring nul back then :)

Could be that, of late, they have infiltrated pure clean blue-eyed Western nations such as Norway, skewing the vote Eastwards

Well, there is a certain Russian minority in Norway. Mainly in the North. But I would expect Poland to get more votes from Norway, on those premises, anyway. ;)

If the UK gets booted out in the semis then the BBC are going to get very low viewing figures for the final.

LENGTHY RANT DELETED

thats a yes vote

It's the longest suicide note in ILX history

poor terry wogan

It vos ein ring-ding-a-ding-a-ding, rind-ding-a-ding-a-ding, rind-ding-a-ding-a-ding-ding-a-ding-dong

Still better than the Spanish entry, mind.

Not as good as Chief Inspector Jean-Paul Zatapathique's entry

It's actually more like last night's episode of Desperate Housewives, after the tornado.

Sorry to be several months behind here, but did Timbaland really produce the Russian entry? His dullest beat ever if so. S'pose he did his research, then...

Apparently, no. It helped the hype, you know.

The bbc site still claims it is.

Thanks. The BBC site was the first I'd heard of it.

If I'd been told an entry was a Timba production and made to guess which I'd have picked the chiptuney Spanish one, and look how well that did.

I think it was weird for the Spaniards to enter with a reggaeton parody, when majority of the Eurovision viewers probably didn't even know what it was parodizing.

Timba did produce a #1 single in Russian recently though, is this where the confusion is arising?

More of a Macarena/Ketchup Song parody I would say.

Hmm, still looks like it's a Timbaland production to me. Co-composed by regular Timbaland sidekick Jim Beanz as well (who also worked on the last Britney album, and co-composed "Gimme More"). Where does it say otherwise?

MAYBE Terry Wogan should enter the Eurovision next year. And do the commentary.

Ireland to be eliminated at semi-final stage for the second year running then.

But then he could do the commentary, in a Steve Davis sense.

Magma to represent France next year

Funded by Steve Davis

Last hour or so of voting left, get em in.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

common sense reigns!

If they let ILX write the song, we would win it for Britain!

NOC reigns morelike

If ILX wrote the song it would be awkward and overqualified lyrically and musically a confused and unholy mess. Justsayinglike.

Ireland to be eliminated at semi-final stage for the second year running then.

he could enter for Royaume Uni... surely he has taken the soup and become a subject of the Queen by now?

Such a great phrase.

Turncoat bastard

I had the odd experience of watching the ESC with my in-laws, who are both big Wogan fans. After sitting engrossed through "I'd Do Anything" and the National Lottery Draw, they were in hysterics at the ESC: "Oh, isn't it awful", "What IS she wearing?" etc etc.
Laughing because Terry was telling them to.

I enjoyed the Willem Brueker Kollektief in the interval, though.

I am seriously intrigued by the anti-Wogan backlash. About time too.

Wogan quits as commentator - GOOD, but:

Commenting on the 2008 contest, Wogan said: "Days before the show, I knew Russia would win. The fact is, Putin was getting nasty, which means the former satellite states were always going to vote for Russia in order to keep the oil coming.

"It's unfortunate, I suppose, but whereas we have always taken Eurovision with a pinch of salt, the former Eastern Bloc countries are not sufficiently versed in the ways of democracy to realise they are supposed to be voting for a song, not a next-door neighbour."

Indeed, you would never get the democratic liberty-lovin' blued-eyed Aryan Scandinavians voting for each other, for instance

Early entry for next year's contest: Terry Wogan & Alan Green duet on...

http://www.sterlingtimes.co.uk/enlandx.jpg

So, next year's eurovision commentating job will most likely go to that bloke who's on the pop shows alongside Alexa Chong.

Ben Elton?

I'd assume they'll just bump Paddy O'Connell up from the semi-finals.

Indeed, you would never get the democratic liberty-lovin' blued-eyed Aryan Scandinavians voting for each other, for instance

Norway never vote for Sweden tho (or is it the other way around?)

Are you sure? Malta always vote for Britain.

not exactly next door, though.

That makes it worse

Britain got precisely nul points from Malta this year, much to Wogan's audible chagrin.

Strip them of that George Cross! Mugabe lost his honorary knighthood for less!

Mugabe did give "Puppet on a string" 12 points though.

no Mark, Mugabe has never been a Eurovision judge. i think you've got mixed up here.

Norway never vote for Sweden tho (or is it the other way around?)

The other way round. Norway is more or less programmed to vote for Sweden. Unless the Swedish entry is really bad, then our votes go to Denmark. ;)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7617242.stm

Like anything could possibly put an end to Balkan block voting.

Well, the reason for the strength of the Balkan block is that they are increasing the number of countries all the time. Next year, Kosovo will probably enter and I guess only one more year and Putin and Medvedev will have made sure to let even two more countries have their "freedom".

At least the Belgians have gotten the message. We want more like that - more Western European separatism please! :)

I mean: We demand freedom for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Shetland, Faroe Islands, Åland, Gotland and Bornholm NOW!!!! ;)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7677612.stm

Andrew Lloyd Webber is to help pick the UK's next Eurovision entry, in a overhaul of the BBC's selection show.

Lord Lloyd Webber will compose the UK's entry and embark on a search for the singer or group to perform the song.

Graham Norton will host BBC TV show Your Country Needs You to find new talent for the 2009 contest, after a string of poor results for the UK.

Lord Lloyd Webber said: "Win, lose or draw, I am looking forward to every minute of it."

The BBC show will follow a similar format to the successful How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? and I'd Do Anything, with Norton and Lord Lloyd-Webber at the helm.

Last place

Six finalists chosen by Lord Lloyd Webber and music industry professionals from entries sent to the BBC website will take part in the TV show.

The final say on who Lloyd Webber will compose the song for will be made by viewers.

Might as well pull out now.

Lord Lloyd Webber said: "Win, lose or draw, I am looking forward to every minute of it."

Graham Norton to take over commentary. So I doubt he will be all serious about it. Probably will take the piss out of it even more than terry wogan.

Really? You think?

I await the Mail's outrage that vile BBC filth-merchants have handed Eurovision commentary over to a homosexual.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7766310.stm

Didn't have to wait long.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1092122/Wogan-quits-Eurovision-35-years--replaced-Graham-Norton.html

At last the BBC find some use for this expensive white elephant they bought called Graham Norton.

Here's me thinking "ah, surely they would have no grounds for complaint: Terry's quitting, GrahamN's the one person who could actually do it in a similar style and not think "oh, I'll do it for 2 years, onwards and upwards"...

Then:

Why is Terry Wogan irishman being replaced by another Irishman ? does anyone ever consider using an Englishman as a compare, or is the BBC now totaly anti English.

From Tony in Tower Hamlets, oh the irony

Terry Wogan, renowned for his anti-English outbursts, him and Alan Green

Maybe they did compare him to an Englishman and Norton 'won', amirite?

In terms of Irish Tories the BBC's choice was limited since Paul O'Grady's signed up to C4, as Norton doubtless wishes he still was on a daily basis.

Keano is available

I gather he's covering for Jeremy Kyle over the holidays. He'll be ordering the audience to stand on the roof of the studio in the freezing snow until they score some fucking goals then.