May 26May 26 15 hours ago, May Day Pole Dancer said:Really?! I get Jemini, as the studio version is basically a Steps song, but the ballad and Josh?!Josh sounds very SAW, in 1989-1990 year Jason Donovan could have top 5 ot top 10 hit with similar song.
May 26May 26 I also think of “Don’t Play That Song Again” and “No Dream Impossible” together even though they aren’t that similar. They’re both from that period when we started to become a little bit rubbish and obviously stuck in the ‘90s in our approach when others had moved on. Neither is particularly bad but the whole package was lacklustre. NDI is the better song but DPTSA the more competent performance.“Embers” was a lot worse than either of those for me. The song does sound perfectly nice on radio and seems to come from the same fixing mindset as “Dizzy”. I saw an interview with him where he said he’d really worked on his physical fitness, but then he was out of breath from the beginning. I felt so bad for him. Still it remains the only double 0 since the 2016 format change so legendary for that.
May 26May 26 Author 7 hours ago, Julian_ said:I also think of “Don’t Play That Song Again” and “No Dream Impossible” together even though they aren’t that similar. They’re both from that period when we started to become a little bit rubbish and obviously stuck in the ‘90s in our approach when others had moved on. Neither is particularly bad but the whole package was lacklustre. NDI is the better song but DPTSA the more competent performance.“Embers” was a lot worse than either of those for me. The song does sound perfectly nice on radio and seems to come from the same fixing mindset as “Dizzy”. I saw an interview with him where he said he’d really worked on his physical fitness, but then he was out of breath from the beginning. I felt so bad for him. Still it remains the only double 0 since the 2016 format change so legendary for that.Completely agreed! DPTSA is performed so much better, but DI is the better song.Embers bas an argument for going below even Gemini, but the song itself just sounds like an inoffensive, run of the mill radio filler track. And ! Imagine how he would have been if he hadn't been working on his fitness!! That leather coat monstrosity he's wearinflg won't have helped AT ALL though.
May 26May 26 I kinda expected Daz Sampson to drop by now but I'm so intrigued by the reasoning whenever it comes! Really enjoying this thread ❤️
May 26May 26 Teenage Life was a 00s 'back of the bus' phone speaker / Fizz TV classic <3 Hope it doesn't do too badly.I have a differing opinion on No Dream Impossible, I thought the rap was appalling and didn't fit the song, and I didn't think Lindsay did a bad job with it considering she was 16 - she nailed that final long note. Problem is that Slovenia had an entry called Energy that year that did the same kind of thing as No Dream Impossible did a lot better, so it was always going to struggle for votes.Don't Play That Song Again is fun and cheesy, and clearly a great vocal by Nicki who is a professional and strong singer, but the song was Steps filler with a questionable name that was basically a self fulfilling prophecy. It didn't deserve any better than it got. Only The Women Know by Six Chix (the lead singer was Sharon D Clarke who voiced several big dance classics and also starred in Holby City) would have been a much bigger hit for the UK and seemed like the obvious choice that year, as country was having a moment thanks to Shania and the group gave a strong performance. This song even charted in the top 75 despite not winning the national final, which is rare (but also happened the following year with a song called To Die For!).Embers...live it was a car crash, in every way, but I really don't mind the studio track, it's just one of those songs that doesn't translate on stage, and certainly not with the silly trumpet prop. To get the double zero is an achievement few will manage to match but the performance did deserve it. I still think he was screwed over, My Last Breath definitely would have been midtable, the juries would have eaten that up in a similar fashion to Isaak for Germany in 2024, and I even think it would have got a few public votes too. It was way more suited to James than Embers. Edited May 26May 26 by gooddelta
May 26May 26 I am fascinated by that brief couple of years in the early 00s that predated the big “Europe hates us!!” excuse that started with a bang after Jemini, when we sent two songs in the form of Nicki and Lindsay that got shockingly low results compared to the country’s history in the contest before that, and the UK public didn’t really connect with either song or contest then either - 2000 got I think the lowest ever ratings for the show at the time (only beaten since by 2010) and 2001 wasn’t much better, I’m wondering if the move of the song selection show to a very off peak Sunday afternoon slot had to do with that? It’s amusing reading early internet comments still around from then, some suggesting the bad results are because we might not be joining the Euro!2002 probably had a boost from both Pop Idol fans wanting to see how Jessica did, and hype over the song actually being quite good that year, and from then on the contest has hovered around the same amount of viewers each year, outside of the occasional high (2023) and low (2010).I don’t mind either No Dream Impossible or Embers in studio form, both feel like they’re five years behind their time but far from the worst attempts we’ve sent. As for poor Josh, I genuinely wonder if Pete Waterman didn’t do any new writing at all for the contest and just grabbed a reject album track from 20 years earlier from the bottom of a draw, job done and thanks for the money. We moan about Remember Monday not doing as well as hoped, but I still think we’re in a much better place than years in the recent past.
May 27May 27 ‘Don’t Play That Song Again’ is just a weaker ‘Last Thing In My Mind’!‘No Dream Impossible’ just felt like it was two stages behind in demo form. Can you imagine if they went FULL trance with it with an operatic-pop vocal? I think that would have been so much better for it! It’s a decent enough song though.‘Embers’ got old for me quick in studio form. The live version is horrendous though. It really is a shame that 2020 had to be cancelled because ‘My Last Breath’ is genuinely great! He shoulda tried to replicate that in some kind of way tbh.
May 29May 29 Author And we're back! After an Eastenders marathon oops.I have made some last minute changes to the ranking, as I realised that I had placed this next song higher on the list due to what happened on stage, rather than for the entry itself. So, I pushed it down to be fair on all the others. This one won't be controversial. 20: SuRie - Storm (2018)Pros:Gracious in defeatPut the meaning of her song into practice when a stage invader disrupted the performanceInoffensive songAverage vocalsStaging is okCons:Boring, milquetoast songYet another affirmation, self-help book, positivity, major key, unadventurous, conservative pop BBC songAverage vocalsPerformance itself is very boringShe looks like Katy Perry during the Witness eraThis is one of my least favourite entries we've ever sent, and definitely one I would never, ever want to see repeated. What makes it even worse is, we actually had a VERY strong entry ready to go that year in, Legends! The only problem with Legends was the immature vocals. She should have waited a couple more years for her voice to mature before trying out. I think she lost the UK vote because of a lack of experience and less developed vocals.So, instead, the UK decided to send our local aunt from down the karaoke club. She brought more experience, and a competent, if bang average, vocal. Unfortunately, she was styled like Katy Perry in the Witness era, and had the same dance moves as Katy Perry on stage with Migos on SNL...Even more unfortunately, the song is not a patch on Bon Appetit. It's plodding and boring, and full of the sae old, self-help sentiments that the BBC likes its conservative, run of the mill, Eurovision pop songs to be full of. There is absolutely nothing inventive or unique here; it could be any BBC song of the previous two decades. Nothing stands out. SuRie's lack of charisma further drags the song down from what was already a pretty low base. There are some good points here, however, in that the vocal is stronger than a lot of other acts the BBC has sent, and the staging actually works well with this type of ballad. I think most of us would have liked bigger and better staging, to distract from how milquetoast and boring the song is, but we didn't get that. The entry just wasn't a great choice; everything about it, from SuRie's strange stage name, to the lyrics, to the inoffensive, but ultimately forgettable, backing music, was just poor. This entry puts me in mind of the Silence from Doctor Who; you can remember the entry when watching, but as soon as the performance is over, you forget about it. In a year with Netta went against Eleni's Fuego, this soong basically had no chance. Saying that, there is one event that changed all of that and turned the forgettable into the memorable. The only reason why this entry is still remembered is because of a stage invasion, by an anti-BBC activist. SuRie then showed great determination and resolve. She clapped along to the music, after the microphone had been seized, and once she got the microphone back, she sang as well as could, though clearly a bit shaken, and finished the song. She refused to perform it again, and the audience responded well to her reaction, giving her one of the most decent televoting scores the UK has had in literal decades. The song is about going through storms and continuing, and that's precisely what SuRie did. Like I said, I'm no fan of the entry at all, but I initially ranked it higher due to her classy, and brave actually, reaction to the invasion, practising what the song preached. However, that's really not a reason to say that the ENTRY ITSELF is better than others. SuRie in that way was a great ambassador, but the entry was not it.Also, does anyone know how to activate spellcheck on here again?? It's turned off and now it's not telling me when I've made typos.
May 29May 29 oh come now there are MUCH worse than Storm still left in the running.Merely being pleasantly okay gets you way more than halfway up our list.
May 29May 29 SuRie did an interesting tweetalong when they replayed this contest on YouTube in 2020, about her experience at that infamous final and what happened afterwards. Her team wanted her to leave the arena immediately after she’d done the song and not return, in case the invader was trying to attack her for whatever reason and if there was anyone else connected to it who could still be around. The only reason they stayed is because someone apparently heard a rumour that there’d been this huge, colossal surge for the UK vote to the point that she might have won, which sounds really bizarre and I’m not sure if that was someone making it up to make SuRie feel better, or just someone reading a few Tweets praising her and getting carried away with the idea that an unexpected voting landslide was about to happen. Even then she didn’t get to enjoy any post-ESC parties as the moment the votes were over they got her out of there as quick as possible under heavy security.I was in the arena when it all happened and because initially my view was blocked by a load of heads in the standing bit, I thought the invader’s voice was actually some pre-recorded announcement they’d played in error, not properly realising what was going on until I saw him get wrestled off stage. During the break that happened after the song where they did an emergency green room interview, all of us in the crowd are trying to work out what the hell just happened(!) and whether she’d have to perform it again. The song is perfectly pleasant, but yeah, totally overshadowed by what shouldn’t have taken place than what was meant to.
May 29May 29 Author 8 minutes ago, BillyH said:SuRie did an interesting tweetalong when they replayed this contest on YouTube in 2020, about her experience at that infamous final and what happened afterwards. Her team wanted her to leave the arena immediately after she’d done the song and not return, in case the invader was trying to attack her for whatever reason and if there was anyone else connected to it who could still be around. The only reason they stayed is because someone apparently heard a rumour that there’d been this huge, colossal surge for the UK vote to the point that she might have won, which sounds really bizarre and I’m not sure if that was someone making it up to make SuRie feel better, or just someone reading a few Tweets praising her and getting carried away with the idea that an unexpected voting landslide was about to happen. Even then she didn’t get to enjoy any post-ESC parties as the moment the votes were over they got her out of there as quick as possible under heavy security.I was in the arena when it all happened and because initially my view was blocked by a load of heads in the standing bit, I thought the invader’s voice was actually some pre-recorded announcement they’d played in error, not properly realising what was going on until I saw him get wrestled off stage. During the break that happened after the song where they did an emergency green room interview, all of us in the crowd are trying to work out what the hell just happened(!) and whether she’d have to perform it again. The song is perfectly pleasant, but yeah, totally overshadowed by what shouldn’t have taken place than what was meant to.I didn't know that full story! I did hear that the crowd basically took over singing the song during the invasion,a dn really went wild cheering?
May 29May 29 The 7th Heaven mix of 'Storm' has way more ooomph and that should have been used instead.Same with the Lucie Jones one.
May 29May 29 4 hours ago, Iz 🌟 said:oh come now there are MUCH worse than Storm still left in the running.Merely being pleasantly okay gets you way more than halfway up our list.You sure about that?It's definitely bottom half of the pack for me, too! I find it offensively beige! AND I DON'T MIND BEIGE!!!
May 29May 29 Aw I don't dislike Storm, although I think it has multiple moments where it could be a better song and isn't!I'd put her over Daz!
May 29May 29 Storm is bang average, that's for sure, I think the worst thing it has going for it though is the horrible production, typical of the 2016-2018 squelchy synths sound effect that was rife in tropical influenced pop. And where there should have been more oomph, bass and power in the chorus, it actually lost power. A very bizarrely undercooked studio track and I expect every one of those 25 televote points was in response to the way she very courageously handled the stage invasion, in fact in the part she picked up the mic, the lyrics were so fitting and she delivered the rest of the song with a lot more power and gusto.The odds did immediately shorten after her performance to about 5th, but a poor song is a poor song, it can only give you so much support from sympathetic votes. And the jury had already voted the previous night so it wasn't going to change their score.I do think Surie is great though, a brilliant singer with a strong Annie Lennox style tone to her voice, a great ambassador and passionate about the contest. Everything was right apart from the non-entity that was Storm, and it's almost unbelievable that this track came through a national final. But we very often used to vote through good singers with mid songs in national finals (2017-19), it's not like we had a lot else to choose from (although Legends was strong) so I guess we figured to at least send someone competent, which the BBC screws up on many years when selecting internally. But for me that late 10s stretch is the worst we ever had, I'd much rather listen to Jemini, Scooch and Daz than extremely boring well sung songs personally. Edited May 29May 29 by gooddelta
May 29May 29 Author 6 minutes ago, gooddelta said:Storm is bang average, that's for sure, I think the worst thing it has going for it though is the horrible production, typical of the 2016-2018 squelchy synths sound effect that was rife in tropical influenced pop. And where there should have been more oomph, bass and power in the chorus, it actually lost power. A very bizarre studio track and I expect every one of those 25 televote points was in response to the way she very courageously handled the stage invasion, in fact in the part she picked up the mic, the lyrics were so fitting and she delivered the rest of the song with a lot more power and gusto.The odds did immediately shorten after her performance to about 5th, but a poor song is a poor song, it can only give you so much support from sympathetic votes. And the jury had already voted the previous night so it wasn't going to change their score.I do think Surie is great though, a brilliant singer with a strong Annie Lennox style tone to her voice, a great ambassador and passionate about the contest. Everything was right apart from the non-entity that was Storm, and it's almost unbelievable that this track came through a national final. But we very often used to vote through good singers with mid songs in national finals (2017-19), it's not like we had a lot else to choose from (although Legends was strong) so I guess we figured to at least send someone competent, which the BBC screws up on many years when selecting internally. But for me that late 00s stretch is the worst we ever had, I'd much rather listen to Jemini, Scooch and Daz than extremely boring well sung songs personally.Omg, speaking of...
May 29May 29 Author 19: Michael Rice - Bigger Than Us (2019)Pros:One of the best UK vocals yetGood staging and lightingNot a bad song at allCame across wellCons:Not very charismaticSome flubbed notes, which stands out in a balladSounds like an X Factor winner's trackYet another, milquetoast, safe, self-help positivity, conservative BBC trackBeat out a much better song to represent the countryThis one was one of the hardest songs for me to place! On my first listenthrough, I had him 9th!!! On the second and third listenthroughs, he fell to 10th, then 11th, then finally, after listening to the track individually a few times, it fell to 19th, down 10 places in total.I actually really like this song! It's a strong ballad! But, as a EUROVISION ENTRY, which is what this list is about, it's lacking. It is actually very similar to SuRie's song from both the year previous AND the ranking before in this list. It is another big, saccharine ballad, one that lacks the energy a huge chorus needs on stage and, coincidentally, both SuRie AND Michael beat out a FAR superior song. Legends should have represented the UK in 2018 and Sweet Lies in 2019.Like I said, the song itself, for me, is good; I have listened to it out of a choice quite a few times since starting this ranking, and his vocals are excellent. He is a great live singer, but there is a distinct lack of charisma (something that Kerrie-Ann had in spades, too). However, with the lack of energy in the chorus (until the end, when the choir kicks in), and with the BBC trotting out yet another balald, with the same feel-good theme as SuRie from literally jsut the year before, this entry was never going to light up the competition. Another thing, this song sounds like something Westlife would have released, or a winner's song out from X Factor. It didn't feel very current at the time; in fact, I'd argue it sounds more modern and would do better in Eurovision TODAY than it would have ever done in the late 10s. It wasn't representative of the UK charts at the time, and Europe didn't take to it.Michael Rice was clearly living his best life performing on Eurovision, and he did so with great vocals, so he was a good ambassador. I just feel that it was the wrong year to send the song - definitely not just one year after SuRie - and that it suffers from all the lyrical clichés of the typical, safe BBC song. I am still surprised that both this and SuRie actually won public votes! Then again, X Factor was still quite a big thing at that time, so maybe people were basing it solely on vocal performance and on how it would do on X Factor ... and usually only the top three would be singing a song like this.The staging matches the song, and the choir standing around in a circle works for this ballad. They really nailed the lighting, too. The problem is ... it puts all the focus on Michael Rice, and he isn't the most charismatic of performers, which then makes the entire performance feel flat.
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