Why can't BBC just do as NRK, everyone who wants to represent the UK send in a song they have made and BBC picks out the best ones and makes a final or semi finals so the public and vote for the best song :lol:

The only people wanting to represent the UK would be big ESC fans like us. Big ESC fans like us probably aren't great at writing songs.

 

If the BBC made a call for everyone who "wants" to represent the UK, they probably wouldn't get anyone famous

in Norway we do ^_^

 

plus, why do they have to me famous? as long they have the talent it shouldnt matter...

The thing is, unlike in Norway ESC is seen as a joke.

Is it still? I think Jade went a long way to changing that last year. She proved that we could have a good result with an OK song and an AMAZING singer. She didn't end up in the Sugababes by being a joke.

I think a lot of perceptions have changed in the last couple of years regarding the UK and Eurovision...yes people see it as kitsch and novelty and it annoys me when I read things like 'a parade of yodelling trash and bizarre costumes' and such like because this accounts for maybe one performance from one country every 5 years :lol:

 

But last year Eurovision songs accounted for about 15 songs in the UK top 200 the week after the final, so people obviously liked the music on offer, particularly Fairytale and Is It True! Last year was incredible though, it was the first year where I'd say the top 4 at least sounded like they could be (and indeed were) worldwide hits - very contemporary songs, sounding more like radio hits than songs tailored for Eurovision, particularly Always and Dum Tek Tek. A lot of fresher more current sounds were on offer and it brought the contest bang up to date, which isn't seeming to be the case for 2010 so far as we are apparently having a mass regression :lol: :(

MGP is not a joke? :unsure:

 

well.. not after Maria Haukaas Storeng...

You mean that people didn't take it seriously there too? I guess success makes a big difference :kink:

You mean that people didn't take it seriously there too? I guess success makes a big difference :kink:

Yeah ^_^

 

If you see how many more people have started to watch MGP and how many have voted you can see that after Maria Haukaas Storeng, alot of people watch it :)

I think we're being a little unrealistic about the UK's perception of the contest.

 

Yes, people did like quite a few of the songs last year and the general opinion was that we achieved a good result last year. But ask a random person on the street what they think of Eurovision and their answer won't have changed that much from a few years ago. The contest hasn't seen a major surge in ratings and I think Jade's chart position and subsequent lack of support for her solo career is quite telling.

 

Don't get me wrong, I think we're on the right track but it is a long process. There are alot of years to put right (remember the contest was generally seen as an irrelevant joke in the UK even long before Katrina won), and I think to say that last year turned the public opinion around in a major fashion is being a tad over-optimistic.

Edited February 24, 201015 yr by Peter30

Nobody's saying that the public perception was turned 180 degrees, but if every contest had the diverse and contemporary selection of music that that last year's offered, I really think it's credibility would go up by leaps and bounds over time...there was barely a bad song in the final last year, if any at all - I really think that the semi's has been the best thing to happen to the contest because it generally weeds out all of the trash and the casual viewers who only watch the final get a much more enjoyable experience with a generally higher standard of music on offer.

 

How much better can the ratings realistically be expected to be when it already gets what 7-9 million (more than any other non X Factor music 'show' I can think of - at any time of year), particularly when it always seems to clash with Britain's Got Talent these days, which is huge...

 

I'm surprised the interest is still so high to be honest, I would have thought it would have tailed off to 4 or 5 million viewers by now but it never seems to go anywhere near that low - people still love to watch it in the UK whether they think it's trash or not. Everyone I know watches it - ok they don't listen to the songs months in advance etc..., but they still enjoy it on the night and talk about how they're definitely going to watch it a couple of days beforehand etc...

 

I know people like it ironically and most claim to hate it, but why would you keep watching something that you dislike - I really think a lot of poeple bash Eurovision to be cool and to save face but I don't really know anyone who literally despises it amongst my friends and family, and this is even with me wittering on about it 24/7 :lol:

Seeing who is taking part in our selection this year again ESC seems like a joke as well in here. :( (At least things like Hullupa Humpasta wouldn't work in here though. PHEW! :drama: )

I heard that ESC peaked at about 9.6million viewers in the UK in 2009, during the voting. And I was really surprised to hear some of the "cool" people at school talking about it the Monday after. And Sunday morning, I saw one of my "cool" friends on MSN, listening to "Fairytale".

 

And Jerick, they don't have to be famous, but if we do get someone famous to represent us, public interest within the UK would probably rise a bit. At least a couple more million would probably watch if Cheryl Cole was our singer, for example.

 

Plus for the two weeks after the contest finished I actually heard Fairytale on the radio in the UK - frequently

 

UK radio usually snub Eurovision completely, even BBC radio, the corporation that select the entry! So for commercial stations to start playing Fairytale, albeit not for long, was a huge deal. I still hear Fairytale a lot when I'm out in shops and things, Asda FM still play it every now and then. Not many Eurovision songs cross into popular culture like this - even Love Shine A Light was completely ignored on the radio. The only Eurovision songs that were really 'bigger than the contest itself' I suppose were Volare, Congratulations, Waterloo and Ooh...Aah Just A Little Bit which became classics of their respective eras for reasons other than Eurovision.

 

Making Your Mind Up/Save All Your Kisses For Me were huge too but people really only think 'classic Eurovision song' when they think of them. When I think of the Gina G song, I tend to think of summer 1996 and the huge chart smash that it was, rather than immediately associating it with Eurovision. And ABBA are just so huge that Waterloo is just like another song in their extensive back catalogue - whenever I hear it played anywhere the DJ never says 'and that was the Eurovision winning song Waterloo' - they don't even mention its relation to the contest.

 

It must be quite different in Sweden where 5 or 6 ESC songs each year are huge chart hits that get mass airplay for months after the contest - I suppose the songs transcend into popular culture just like any other top five hit. I sincerely doubt the DJ's constantly said 'and that was the Azerbaijan Eurovision entry' after playing Always for example, which was a #3 hit there. They are just accepted for their musical worth like any other song played and not instantly prejudiced against for taking part in ESC.

Confirmed:

 

National final on Friday 12th March between 20:30 & 22:00 local time, with six acts competing.

 

This will be the first time since 2003 when our national final hasn't been on a Saturday night

I will miss it :( I hope I don't find that we've selected an absolute monstrosity when I get back from Sweden!

 

and I hope that I don't watch Sweden select an absolute monstrosity too, not that there's anything I dislike in the final so far :P

i had no idea Ooh Ah Just A Little Bit was a eurovision entry until late 2007 :drama:

As much as I hate the Eurovision contest, I will no doubt be watching it with my partner, as we do every year, moaning about how bad all the entries are!!

As much as I hate the Eurovision contest, I will no doubt be watching it with my partner, as we do every year, moaning about how bad all the entries are!!

 

As said earlier, you can't hate it that much if you're willing to watch it every year :P

According to ESC Today, John Barrowman turned down the chance to represent the UK in 2008! I was going to say thank goodness as I can't stand the man, but then again, I'm sure he would have been better than Andy Abraham :lol: