***NOTE*** - I copied the Links wrongly at first. I have corrected them now.

 

 

Today's UK Press - The Clamour for the UK to pull out grows:,

 

'Daily Mirror'

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/latest/200...89520-20430036/

 

 

'The Sun'

 

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showb...icle1206213.ece

 

 

 

'Daily Mail' (Readers Comments underneath)

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/artic...loc-voting.html

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

And now, the more 'Intellectual' UK 'Papers.....

 

'The Times'

 

1)

 

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol...icle4004339.ece

 

 

2)

 

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol...icle3978586.ece

 

 

(Readers Comments underneath)

 

3)

 

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol...icle4004829.ece

 

(Readers Comments underneath)

 

'Daily Telegraph' - A Sort of, 'The West has to live with it!' Article. That it is now the 'East's' ESC & if Wogan etc. does not like it then, 'Tough!'. In fact, there is a solution to Germany, France, Spain, & the UK, being part of an 'Eastern' Dominated Song Contest - we LEAVE! We do not have to Enter it - at all. None of our Countries do.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jh...5/26/do2603.xml

 

Readers Comments underneath)

 

 

'The Guardian'

 

1)

 

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/2008/05/e...eopolitics.html

 

 

(Readers Comments underneath)

 

2)

 

http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2282174,00.html

 

 

 

'The Independent'

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/comme...ics-834332.html

 

 

(Readers Comments underneath)

Edited May 26, 200817 yr by zeus555

 

 

SORRY! - I copied the Links wrongly. I have corrected them now.

Thanks for posting these :)

Or maybe we should do what most of Scandinavia & Eastern Europe do and take the competition seriously.

 

Take this year's winner from Russia:

 

They sent an artist who has won the MTV Europe award for best Russian act for the past three years running. An artist who has sold over 25 million records in 4 years, had 8 #1 singles in Russia, has worked with top R'N'B producers Timbaland, & Danja & top songwriter Ryan Tedder (Bleeding Love, Apologize) and duetted with Nelly Furtado. And has had #1 singles in 13 different European countries before his current ESC winning song.

 

Take last year's winner from Serbia:

 

They sent an artist who has won the MTV Europe award for best Serbian act on two previous years. An artist who has sold over 12 million records in 4 years, had 5 #1 singles in Serbia, and had #1 singles in 6 other different European countries before her 2007 ESC winning song.

 

 

......

 

Now compare that to the UK who in the past six years have sent:

 

2008: an ex-dustbin man and a reject from a TV National music talent show who had been dropped from his record contract.

 

2007: A third rate Steps tribute act, who's reformed for a laugh, and to there surprise won the right to represent the UK

 

2006: Some bloke who looked like Gazza's brother, who had a couple of novelty dance records as hits beforehand.

 

2005: a reject from a TV National music talent show to join Girls Aloud who had been dropped from her record contract.

 

2004: a reject from a TV National music talent show who did not even have a record contract.

 

2003: Some duo I'd never heard of before who could not hold a tune to save their lives.

 

 

The point I'm making is that Lewis Hamilton would not race in Formula 1 driving a Mini Metro; a local pub football team would not represent England at the Football World Cup...etc, so why the hell have any Brits got the right to moan about Eurovision when that is exactly what the UK have been doing is totally beyond me.

BRILLIANT post TiP! Can I borrow it?

 

Hey! Thisispop - Scooch were FIFTH rate Steps - 3rd rate Steps is far

too big a compliment! (They were also 10th rate ABBA!). Scooch actually

auditioned to be in Steps in the 1990's - but they were rejected - in favour

of the members of Steps who had all the Hits.

 

The trouble is that the ESC is seen - in the UK - as such a waste of time now,

that any 'Big Act' who entered it for us, would be taking a gigantic risk - worrying

if they'd come last, & get ridiculed in the European & UK Media etc.

And if that humiliation would affect their Career - their future Career.

 

Benny & Bjorn, from ABBA, regard the ESC as a load of garbage now, & would

never write a Song for it - they have said so. They see it as something that now

belongs in the past.....(After all - I think they know that 'Waterloo' would have no

chance in the 2000's - the Voting would see it end in 5th to 10th place - maybe

even lower).

 

Or maybe we should do what most of Scandinavia & Eastern Europe do and take the competition seriously.

 

Take this year's winner from Russia:

 

They sent an artist who has won the MTV Europe award for best Russian act for the past three years running. An artist who has sold over 25 million records in 4 years, had 8 #1 singles in Russia, has worked with top R'N'B producers Timbaland, & Danja & top songwriter Ryan Tedder (Bleeding Love, Apologize) and duetted with Nelly Furtado. And has had #1 singles in 13 different European countries before his current ESC winning song.

 

Take last year's winner from Serbia:

 

They sent an artist who has won the MTV Europe award for best Serbian act on two previous years. An artist who has sold over 12 million records in 4 years, had 5 #1 singles in Serbia, and had #1 singles in 6 other different European countries before her 2007 ESC winning song.

......

 

Now compare that to the UK who in the past six years have sent:

 

2008: an ex-dustbin man and a reject from a TV National music talent show who had been dropped from his record contract.

 

2007: A third rate Steps tribute act, who's reformed for a laugh, and to there surprise won the right to represent the UK

 

2006: Some bloke who looked like Gazza's brother, who had a couple of novelty dance records as hits beforehand.

 

2005: a reject from a TV National music talent show to join Girls Aloud who had been dropped from her record contract.

 

2004: a reject from a TV National music talent show who did not even have a record contract.

 

2003: Some duo I'd never heard of before who could not hold a tune to save their lives.

The point I'm making is that Lewis Hamilton would not race in Formula 1 driving a Mini Metro; a local pub football team would not represent England at the Football World Cup...etc, so why the hell have any Brits got the right to moan about Eurovision when that is exactly what the UK have been doing is totally beyond me.

 

Spot on TiP... We cant complain about our sh!t placings if we send total sh!t..... The facts are, until we actually start taking this seriously, it's gonna be bottom five every time.... Russia and Serbia are winning because they're sending professional acts with proven chart and sales clout and with established, large fanbases all over Continental Europe; we're sending rejects, amateurs and losers no bugger ever heard of.... We deserve to fail, they deserve to win, simple as....

 

There is an AWFUL report on Eurovision in todays Sun. :puke2:

 

Terry Wogan can fuck off for all Eurovision cares!

i agree in one sense about the uk entries but andy abraham for example now dont get me wrong the song was c**p and i hate his music but no one can deny he can sing

 

i think people need to look at the song writers been used as its a good song with a good melody that needs going in to the competition but ireland and the uk are both making the same mistakes and are paying the price for it (even though i love the turkey)

 

i'm 100% NOT Xenophobic. I see all people as being equal. I read a great deal

about History, & know that Europe has never been at peace for as long as it

has been in the past Decade. Western Europe has never been so at peace since

the 1940's!

 

I 100% loathe & hate War - so the 'Pax Europa' is fantastic.

 

However, I still see the ESC as somewhat pointless now. There are

Voting patterns - and even someone who disagrees with me on that, has

admitted that the UK would NOT have Won had we sent the Russian Entry

in. He says we'd simply have 'Done better' - not hard when you are LAST!

 

'THE SUN' - There are many Comments under 'The Sun' Link that I gave (OP)

- 3 Pages of them - and some are ignorant, rude, & totally intolerant of

Europeans on the Continent. I cannot - ever - agree with using the ESC

Results to condemn Russians etc. as people. That is wrong. We are all Human Beings.

 

DIMA BILAN - As I am Gay, think Dima is attractive, & he seemed to like

showing his Torso off at the ESC, I wondered if he likes to pose naked. HE DOES!

I found his Nude poses in Google Images - very nice too!

 

 

i agree in one sense about the uk entries but andy abraham for example now dont get me wrong the song was c**p and i hate his music but no one can deny he can sing

 

Just being able to "sing a bit" is hardly what makes a good rock/pop star though, Andy Abraham may as well just be doing Karaoke tbh, same with the likes of Leona Lewis...

 

Frankly, many of my favourite Rock or Pop Stars of all time are people with little or no technical ability (such as Sabbath-era Ozzy, Johnny Rotten, Jim Morrison and Ian Curtis) , but hey, they all had an unbelievable presence and attitude about them which just sets them apart, not to mention the sheer strength of the material also.... Abraham is no-mark with an utterly forgettable song..... If even the people within Britain cant be arsed with the song, how can we expect the rest of Europe to...?

 

The winner had a song written and produced by Timbaland ffs..... :lol: :lol: Who wrote ours...? Two blokes down the pub it would appear......

The BBC have more or less confirmed that the UK will be participating next year btw.

 

...the BBC has insisted that it will continue to provide funding for as long as the competition is a ratings winner. An average of 7.1 million viewers tuned in for the contest on Saturday night.

I'm sorry to anyone from the united Kingdom but the country as a whole seems to think they should always do well in everything and with little effort. Then when the uk fails......oh no it's not thier fault, of course it's those eastern countries giving votes to thier friends. Heaven forbid the idea that it could actually be the uk's own fault. :o

 

(I'm mostly aiming this at Terry Wogan to be honest)

Edited May 26, 200817 yr by Sabrewulf238

I'm sorry to anyone from the united Kingdom but the country as a whole seems to think they should always do well in everything and with little effort. Then when the uk fails......oh no it's not thier fault, of course it's those eastern countries giving votes to thier friends. Heaven forbid the idea that it could actually be the uk's own fault. :o

 

(I'm mostly aiming this at Terry Wogan to be honest)

Oh I agree. A majority of the country just thinks we have this "right" to do well in everything. I mean look at the football situation in England - there's always someone to blame when the team crashes out at an early stage in the World Cup or Euros. No danger of that happening this year anyway...

Russia winning this year isnt a political thing, perhaps its a good song? SURELY NOT :o

 

The only reason we keep underperforming is because we keep sending unbearable rubbish which isnt remotely appropriate for the contest, if countries from western europe kept winning each year, would the eastern european countries be in uproar over it? Nah, I dont think so.

Of the last 10 ESC's (1999 - 2008), the UK has only been in the Top

TWELVE Finalists once - 3rd in 2002 - with Jessica Garlick.

 

This is after coming 1st on 5 occasions, & 2nd on 15 occasions. (No other

Country has been 1st or 2nd on 20 occasions, in total).

 

Now, IF - IF - the UK sends a GOOD Song in, & we still fail to break into

the final Top 12 - then, we should leave the Contest, I think.

 

Some people are saying that the Countries that once formed the USSR,

& Yugoslavia, have a 'similar taste in Music', & that is why they give high Votes

to each other - over all.

 

IF that is the reason why the UK gets low Votes, then is there any point in us

entering? Or do we have to sound Serbian, Ukrainian, or Russian, to get high Votes?

 

So, whether the UK gets low Votes for sending rubbish to Enter, or because of 'Political'

Voting, or because 'Eastern' Europe does not like our 'sounds' - does it matter?

 

Surely, what matters is that we keep doing badly in the Contest, & we should leave

it, IF we send a decent Entry in & still do poorly?

 

I can tell you now - that IF the UK does send a Song in, that MANY in the UK think is

brilliant, & it still gets a poor Score - THEN many of even the biggest defenders of

the ESC will start to think - 'A Waste of time!'.

 

Many in the UK are at that stage already.....

Edited May 26, 200817 yr by zeus555

zeus555, I don't really think Ukraine or Russia's songs this actually sounded like the were from those countries. Believe could have been entered for the Uk and I wouldn't have noticed.

 

I think the taste we're talking about is mostly........a taste in great, youthful and modern music.

 

I wish Shady Lady had been for Ireland and not ukraine :(

Edited May 26, 200817 yr by Sabrewulf238

Our Teams crash out in this or that Football Tournament, because they often play

c**p - but, it is UP TO THEM on the Pitch - The ESC is NOT up to how well we Sing,

who we send to perform, or how great the Song is. It is SOLEY down to other

Countries Votes.

 

So, it is useless to compare the UK's fate in the ESC to the England Football team etc.

 

Our Football Teams have their fate in their own hands - or feet! - our Entries in the

ESC are dependent on OTHERS to decide their fates.....

 

NOTE - DIMA - BUT, would the UK have Won - or come in the Top 5 - had WE sent

one of our Singers doing the Dima Song - in exactly the same way?

Edited May 26, 200817 yr by zeus555

Paul Gambaccini (arguably Britain's greatest music expert & writer of books on Eurovision pointed out (On Radio 4's today programme))

 

1) Dima is a multi-million selling megastar with 3 MTV awards

 

2) His performance was great - eg the piano girl, the Stradi, the Russian Olympic winning Ice skater etc.

 

3) Andy couldn't even win X factor, looked awful, danced badly & sounded like an Uncle at a Karaoke

 

4) Wogan chose Andy personally against a public vote and so had a personal credibility thing going on

 

5) The cost of the UK's contribution (£200K) if we pulled out would pay for just 10 minutes of an episode of Dr Who

 

6) Maybe we should pull out of Wimbledon because we don't win that either

 

7) It's all sour grapes

 

The interview is hear & its at the very end of the programme about 2hrs 54min.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/mainf...dio4/today_mon

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Whilst multiple Ivor Novello & Q Magazine winning songwriter Guy Chambers (Message In A Box, Is It Like Today, Angels, Let Me Entertain You, Millennium, No Regrets, Rock DJ, Eternity, Feel, Come As You Are, Real To Me, Out Of The Blue, Afterglow, etc) was on Radio 2's Richard Allinson show today making similar points.

 

He was also explaining the fact that Eastern Europe has very different taste than the UK, using the excellent example of a song he co-wrote Melanie C's First Day Of My Life which did not reach the UK Top 75. Yet it was an enormous hit all over Europe (selling close to 2 million copies in total - #1 in Germany, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland; #2 in Austria; #3 in Russia, Ukraine; Czech Republic... etc).

 

He stated that he would be prepared to write for Eurovision, and that he had spoken to a couple of serious artists who would be interested in representing the UK. But NOT while the BBC (and he seemed to have a guarded dig at a certain Irish broadcasting legend) treated Eurovision as the joke it is being treated like currently, as it needs to change its negative attitude to the competition.

NOTE - DIMA - BUT, would the UK have Won - or come in the Top 5 - had WE sent

one of our Singers doing the Dima Song - in exactly the same way?

 

I can think of only two current British male artists who could have performed that song Shayne Ward & Daniel Bedingfield. As neither have had nowhere near the same international profile & international success as Dima, then of course they would not have won as many votes.

 

When we send an internationally well known artist like a Leona Lewis, Coldplay, Sugababes, Katie Melua or Melanie C (the last two are realistic bets because they have large international success especially East of Berlin, but are regarded as a bit of a joke in the UK), with a song penned and produced by a Gary Barlow, Guy Chambers, Brian Higgins, Cathy Dennis.... and get a bad result, then I will change my tune.

 

But in my opinion the UK's attitude to Eurovision stinks..... as too many people blindly agree with Terry Wogan's comments without looking at the truth, Ireland did badly because they sent a puppet Turkey & the UK did rubbish because we sent a talent show reject former bin man.

 

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