Eurovision 2013 - 14/16/18 May 2013

It reminds me of the song 'Stay' by 'Shakespear's Sister'.

Was there ever an official answer why the BBC abruptly stopped offering people any say on the the song/artist choice? I've heard lots of theories (the accompanying programmes too expensive, the public always choosing awful acts) but not sure I've heard an official reason. Having grown up with the Song For Europe-type setup it still seems weird to have them seeing "here's the song you're getting" - kind of loses the investment the viewer had in the song had before.

No word from them, I just get the impression that as the BBC can do it, they will do it.

I think after the Olympics and all the stick it's had over the past year or so together with the Licence Fee freeze, the BBC cannot realistically afford to hold such an event for a fair few years, hence the sub-standard entries of late and no public televote.

I don't think it would benefit from switching channels however, ITV also just do not have the money nor the commitment to do such a thing. Remembering the time the UK was supposed to host the Junior Eurovision and ITV pulled out after a while because of the enormous costs.

There was talk of all countries being forced to hold a national televote this year but that got quickly shelved. I get the impression this ruling may be coming in the near future however.

I think we'd stand more chance with 'My lovely horse'.

They hardly did any better when they had the public voting. The Beeb would presumably argue that they've not done particularly well with the previous format so they may as well get the music industry to have a go instead.

Well the last times the public voted in 2009 we came 5th. I know the public voted 2010 but the singer was perfectly competent and was lumbered with an utterly awful song.
Then again when Blue was chosen for us in 2011 if it was just based on the televotes during the Final then we would have won it or come very close if memory serves me right?

So either way we do it is producing the same kind of results to be fair.

I think we'd have come 5th with Blue had it been just tele voting. The jury vote dragged that down, especially as there was a technical problem during the 'marked' rehearsal which led to the performance being poor.

TBH, I'm not averse to the Beeb choosing of their own volition - the Blue choice did quite well, and I thought that last year's song was very classy - unfortunately it suffered from being on first and the poor production.

This won't do very well, but it's still better (IMO) than the likes of Scooch and Andy Abrahams, or Josh from 2010 for that matter.

Time will tell.

I think the issue is a mixture. One-off shows are always expensive - as there is no economy of scale - and historically the selection show hasn't rated that well as a one-off. Not many channel controllers want to commission an expensive show that doesn't rate well...

To be honest, given the low ratings for previous selection shows, I'm not sure the wider UK viewing audience DID feel that they'd invested much in the selection of the song. Eurovision itself rates much higher than most selection formats after all.

The most successful selection format we've had was the Graham Norton/Lord Lloyd Webber format - which was commissioned as much to cope with the lack of a West End show to cast as it was to find Eurovision entrants. (It took the slot of Maria/Joseph and used a similar format - and I think was used as a quick replacement when they didn't have a West End show to cast?)

The UK music industry is so radically different (apart possible from Ireland's) from the rest of Europe, that we simply can't compare how the UK selects its entry (which will never be a mainstream, current, successful chart act with label support in the UK in the current industry) with how countries like Sweden, Norway, Malta etc. select their entry.

Yes - I'm not sure everyone realises how important the jury rehearsal is. It decides 50% of every countries' votes. It's as important as the live show since the jury were re-introduced recently.

From memory, and I may be wrong, it's the Friday evening rehearsal the jury vote on. (I think there is a final dress rehearsal on Saturday afternoon - but this is after the jury have voted?)

Turn around. Every now and then...........(keep it going. See if we can complete the whole song......)

I'm sure ITV pulled out of Junior Eurovision as it just wasn't popular enough.

Surely ITV could make Eurovision viable with a Melodifestivalen type of show to build it up? If they can organise The X Factor final in the o2, why not Eurovision? With the product placement laws relaxed there is plenty of scope for sponsorship.

Never going to happen. I don't even think Eurovision proper would work for ITV, it's one of those BBC things.

I suspect if The Voice doesn't get a third series, the budget might become available for the BBC to do another show again.