Not sure whether he's being serious or not, but could the BBC just be presuming that bigger talent would not want to enter therefore have not asked. Unlikely I think but I think there's some truth in that potentially.
You do realise how James Blunt operates on Twitter don't you?
Get a much different 'class' of viewer, if so, fine. The respect of the Record Labels and artists would return too.
I'm confused. The ESC gets a really healthy audience in the UK - it's one of the strongest audiences of any of the countries in both volume and share. It's a pretty big audience - so what 'class' of viewer do you think it currently has and needs to lose, and be replaced by what kind of viewer?
The BBC are presumably pretty happy with the audience on the Saturday night - and that's quite an important element of the show to the BBC I suspect...
People like Eurovision, but they don't like it for the reasons DVB Cornwall wants them to like it for. So they have to be deprived just to suit his view of the world. No real logic to his comments.
Get a much different 'class' of viewer, if so, fine. The respect of the Record Labels and artists would return too.
Eurovision has NEVER had the respect of record labels in the UK.
RS
Rob_Schneider
This "credibility" thing is just baffling, do you think Abba and Celine Dion are upset over what the contest did to their careers? It made Abba and it motivated Dion's label to give her an English-language recording deal allowing her to crack America.
Lulu had a decent career post Eurovision too.
People forget that this contest has made huge stars in the past. Ironically, if the UK won in 1988 we might never have been introduced to pretty much the biggest selling female artist of all time.
RS
Rob_Schneider
On the class of viewer thing, yes... Norton is a million times better than the awful Terry Wogan, and anyone who "only watched for Terry" needs to be shot. I want us to be more like Sweden... The Malmo contest was not a piss take, but a party. They pitched it so right, it was a feeling of celebration without resorting to being condescending.
This "credibility" thing is just baffling, do you think Abba and Celine Dion are upset over what the contest did to their careers? It made Abba and it motivated Dion's label to give her an English-language recording deal allowing her to crack America.
We are talking about credibility within the UK. English language acts do not need as much help with exposure across Europe, which is one of the reasons record labels over here have never taken it seriously.
The fact that out of nearly 60 winners there are only a handful of artists that have broken through speaks volumes.
On the class of viewer thing, yes... Norton is a million times better than the awful Terry Wogan, and anyone who "only watched for Terry" needs to be shot. I want us to be more like Sweden... The Malmo contest was not a p*** take, but a party. They pitched it so right, it was a feeling of celebration without resorting to being condescending.
They might as well give the contest to S4C if they strip all the irony of our coverage.
Talking about Malmö, takes me back to the commentary from Ana Matronic, a shame she was regulated to the pop-up station for last years contest, I thought her commentary was great.
This "credibility" thing is just baffling, do you think Abba and Celine Dion are upset over what the contest did to their careers? It made Abba and it motivated Dion's label to give her an English-language recording deal allowing her to crack America.
Apples and Oranges. Eurovision exposure can make or break acts like Abba and Celine Dion. UK acts are successful without it - and labels have never seen it as a marketing tool as other countries do.
Quote:
Lulu had a decent career post Eurovision too.
But "Shout" and her film "To Sir With Love" were pre-Eurovision. She was successful before and AIUI really wasn't that keen on the whole ESC thing...
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People forget that this contest has made huge stars in the past. Ironically, if the UK won in 1988 we might never have been introduced to pretty much the biggest selling female artist of all time.
Yes - it's made a few big European stars (Celine is Canadian but Francophone) - but the UK has always been the anomaly.
We did well when the language rule was in force (as did Ireland) because only the UK, Ireland and Malta could enter English language songs... We've not done well since.
I agree that the contest has moved faster than the UK perception of the contest has - and if the Netherlands had won last year or the year before tat would have given the show a real kick and may have sped up the speed of perception change. However, arguably, Conchita winning did it no favours in the UK.
We'll win it when the BBC want us to win it. We made a massive effort in 1996 with Gina G, we didn't win due to the archaic voting method used at the time (a series of middle-aged juries who preferred pleasant Irish ballads over some mad Eurodance stomper). So we made an equally massive effort in 1997 and won the thing by a landslide. What then really hurt us was the 1999 language rule change which allowed all countries to sing in any language they wished - suddenly the UK and Ireland didn't have the English advantage anymore, and if you skip Jessica Garlick and Jade Ewen, our performance goes down very very quickly after that.
The contest is in a
hugely
better position than it was a decade ago, when a combination of 1) Eastern European bloc voting, 2) Far too many countries competing/voting in the final so the bloody thing lasted forever and 3) Terry Wogan, all added up to it feeling like a 21st century anachronism. 2009 was a huge return to form with no more Wogan, a great UK result and a brilliant winner resulting in a UK top 10 hit, paving the way for Loreen's (amazing) 'Euphoria' to be genuinely huge in this country and around the world three years later. The moment the UK want to win it, we'll send a bloody good song - for now we're happy to hide in the background, apologetically sending in mediocre songs that don't have a chance and revelling in everyone pretending it's all political when we come 25th place.