Eurovision 2013 - 14/16/18 May 2013

Just because viewers in Britain enjoy the camp spectacle of the event, it doesn't (or shouldn't) necessarily follow that we can't put forward a song that wouldn't be out of place in the UK charts.

I'm not suggesting we "take the show more seriously" - but for Christ's sake, this song is woeful, and Bonnie is as baffling a choice as Englebert.

Taking into account the fact that in our culture we're not likely to see a current chart act touch the show - there must be a dozen up and coming bands and performers that would jump at the chance; and two dozen songs that would make it into the top ten any week of the year.

Instead, this is yet another song you'd see advertised on a Christmas compilation CD - something I wouldn't dream of buying, and something I wouldn't give a point to if another country entered it.

Perhaps the selection team should be given a blind listening test to ten Eurovision songs and see where they would rank this.

Its feeble.

I think this is more baffling on the basis before Englebert we hadn't had Englebert perform so badly the year before.

I think the issue that I have, and the issue that the rest of Europe have with us, is the point that our entry seldom reflects what is popular in this country at the time. To us, it trivialises the contest and puts credible people off entering. To the rest of Europe, it gives the impression that we aren't serious, as they know full well just how good and popular - worldwide - our music is.

For what it's worth, I really like Bonnie Tyler and her song, but is it going to win? It depends on how she performs it on the night but I doubt it.

In honesty, the UK have never sent what is reflective in the UK charts. But as a result we have won 5 times and come second more times than any other country. When Bucks Fizz won the UK chart was full of electronica and New Romance and Punk and Scar! When Katrina won it was all house music and dance!

No current chart act will ever be allowed to enter by their label. In fact very few labels will let any of their acts, successful or not, enter.

So you have a very limited pool to chose from.

When the BBC tried sending nobodies (Josh Dubovie, Daz Sampson, Jemini for instance) - the lack of experience and weak performance were embarassing.

When the UK audience were given someone approach almost decent to send (Cyndi), they ignored it and sent Scooch...

I guess the only other avenue open at the moment is looking for X Factor contestants who didn't make it through? But many of them are vocally weak and inexperienced performers.

At least by sending someone like Bonnie Tyler, we have a seasoned performer, who should be able to deliver performance and vocal. Sure, the song is quite bland - and I doubt it will get to the left hand side of the leaderboard (though the Country sound is quite popular across Europe) - but at least Bonnie can hold a note, and has had some success across Europe (and a lot more recently than Englebert)...

The Lloyd Webber year we sent Jade Ewen was the nearest we came - and that only happened because the BBC found themselves with a schedule hole at short notice and needed to use Lloyd Webber (but he didn't have a show to cast)

We can't do a Melodifestivalen, and its unlikely a BBC One controller will commission a multi-week talent show in addition to The Voice. The obvious solution is to make The Voice the selection show. But that won't happen. It's not a credible prize, and totally changes the dynamic of what the show is doing.

I think the issue with unknowns is their experience. Performing to the whole of Europe in a huge stadium is no mean task. Look at Ireland's attempts using a similar format. Some years the performances were only a bit better than Jemini...

Unknowns doesn't necessarily mean no experience though.

It was EXACTLY the point, given my comment was a response to a post saying Eurovision wouldn't be viable to ITV.

It depends what you mean by experience I guess. You can spend years playing small venues and remain unknown. But it's unlikely you'd be experienced on the level of playing 10,000+ seater venues and remain a total unknown?

You need talent, experience, charisma AND a decent song.

The other issue is that lots of other countries enter people who are far from unknown, and often well known in neighbouring countries. The reason Cyprus and Greece vote for each other is not purely "political" (in fact I'm never sure politics are relevant at all) it's because they listen to each others music. The same is true in Sweden/Norway/Denmark and Russia/Ukraine/Belarus etc.

Agreed about the political argument. Like I always say, if it was "all political these days" like people grumble, then how the hell did Germany win? Noone likes them!

Why does Eurovision have to be viable for ITV though? That's not the point! It's very viable for the BBC as it is, so the ITV question is purely hypothetical. And as has been explained at length, an MF-type competition where established acts - and some less established to be fair - compete across the weeks isn't going to happen in the UK, so again it's hypothetical.

(Getting one mainstream label on board for Eurovision would be a miracle. Getting more than one label on board for a pre-show would probably bump the Exec above Mother Theresa in the miracle stakes...)

Exactly.

If it did we'd have sent acts like :

Kim Wilde, Ultravox, Roxy Music, Adam and the Ants, Madness, Phil Collins or err... Shakin' Stevens.

Making Your Mind Up was pretty dated in UK chart terms - but that was, no doubt, why it did well. Along with the dress reveal of course.