Posted May 20, 200817 yr Terry Wogan, the long time British commentator of the Eurovision Song Contest and an institution in himself, has hinted that if the United Kingdom scores badly on Saturday night, he will consider retiring from his commentary duties, and also believes that the country may withdraw from the competition altogether. In an interview with today's Independent newspaper, he states: "Eurovision is such silly fun, and I love doing it, but if the enthusiasm isn't there ... this year is pretty crucial for me. Eurovision without Le Royaume-Uni would be unfortunate." He goes on to say that "If we finish nowhere again, I worry that disenchantment might take hold". British bookmakers believe Andy Abrahams, despite being praised for a strong song and a high cabilbre performance, is heading for a very poor result. Betting odds of 66/1 are far longer than any previous British participant. Javine was the previous longest odds at 25/1. The feeling in the press centre is that the song is the strongest that the United Kingdom has sent for several years, with many delegation heads stating that they believe it should do well. There has been a lack of promotion for the song, with very few public appearances and no international promotion, which may also make British fans nervous of seeing the country slip to the lower reaches of the scoreboard once again. Terry Wogan was at the centre of a media storm a week ago after apparent criticism of his style from Bjorn Erichsen, Director of Eurovision TV at the EBU. At the time, there was no mention of him declaring that he would retire, but these comments do beg the question: Who should replace Terry Wogan if and when he retires from commentating at the Eurovision Song Contest final? readers are welcome to leave their thoughts in the reactions section below. It would certainly be a knock to the competition if one of the Big Four countries was to withdraw, however media interest for the Eurovision Song Contest in the United Kingdom has rarely been higher. Stories about Austria's withdrawal, the French language debate, Andy Abraham's national final victory and the alleged rigging of the 1968 competition has meant more pre-contest publicity than has been seen for decades. ESC Today
May 20, 200817 yr Author I personally can't see us withdrawing, and if people don't realise that our song this year is hideous and deserves to come bottom five, then they really need their heads testing...
May 20, 200817 yr The fact that people think the song is at all strong shows how deluded this nation is when it comes to Eurovision... Replace Terry with one of us :smoke:
May 20, 200817 yr The fact that people think the song is at all strong shows how deluded this nation is when it comes to Eurovision... The article said that was the feeling in the press centre in Belgrade, not back home. Even if (no pun intended :naughty: ) the song isn't up to much (I think it's alright but that's neither here nor there), Andy Abraham has been putting in top notch rehearsals every time, and he is a very strong singer and performer. It could be the case that he really sells what is considered by many a mediocre song, and makes it seem alot better than it is? We could still finish in the 20s but I really can't see a last place (that is pretty much already booked for Germany!)
May 20, 200817 yr Author Yeah Germany are pretty much set for last place... bland song and hideous performance. :(
May 20, 200817 yr poor Germany, I used to love Disappear but it does get boring quickly doesn't it :(
May 20, 200817 yr Wow no terry but yeah i fear this year it will happen again we draw nul points Edited May 20, 200817 yr by HeartBreakKid08!
May 20, 200817 yr Why you all saying Germany's gonna finish bottom? Spain's already got that place reserved.
May 20, 200817 yr Yeah Germany are pretty much set for last place... bland song and hideous performance. :( Aw, I love the German entry. Are No Angels bad live then? I would have thought they could sing live if they won some kind of Popstars show there. :unsure:
May 20, 200817 yr Author They're pretty ropey live yeah. :( And Ditzy, Spain will more than likely be top ten!
May 20, 200817 yr Wow no terry but yeah i fear this year it will happen again we draw nul points No, we won't get nul, the Irish like Andy enough to give us a result similar to theirs last year :(
May 21, 200817 yr I think we'll not be taking part next year then. Andy Abraham's entry is pitiful. We used to better when there the choice was between 6 songs all sung by one artist Edited May 21, 200817 yr by Euro Music
May 21, 200817 yr Why you all saying Germany's gonna finish bottom? Spain's already got that place reserved. No - we have!
May 21, 200817 yr I heard this song which is reprenting UK last night... All I can say is.....Oh dear...... :mellow: Possibly even worse than the insufferable tosser Daz Sampson and his "Coolio-lite" rap bollocks..... NULL POINTES from me..... And I'm sorry, but was that Irish "singing Turkey puppet" entry meant to be a joke...? Dear LORD, how the Irish have fallen from grace..... Reminded me of that sh!tty Roland Rat thing in the 80s.... ...Or, worse yet, Crazy Frog........ If the Western European nations aint gonna take this competition seriously and churn out totally amatuerish sh!t, how can they complain about the apparent Central and Eastern European dominance of the event....?
May 21, 200817 yr Surely Ireland rigged it a la Father Ted so they wouldn't have to host again? They'd might as well have had "My Lovely Horse" (the Neil Hannon version) as their song. It might've actually gone through..... :lol: This whole "turkey" thing was just an embarrassment to Ireland...
May 21, 200817 yr dunno what went wrong with eurovision tbh... for years we were major contenders even with trite tracks like 'puppet on a string' or 'boom bang a bang', are this centuaries entries by us really that much worse?.. ok andy abrahams IS, :lol:, i do blame to some extent the political situation, plus eastern european countries voting for their neighbours. the fun has gone, i dont believe we would win even if the beatles performed!
May 21, 200817 yr The political situation has nothing to do with this! :lol: Israel in 2005 proved that you can be a political pariah and still do well if you have a great song... Norway last night proved that the old guard can still do well if they try, and Sweden and Iceland will cement my point on Thursday! :cheer:
May 21, 200817 yr Author Yeah everyone hates Israel politically tbh, and they qualified last night...
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