Eurovision 2015 - 60th Anniversary Edition

Exactly. The BBC get good ratings (BGT hit them a bit this year) and don't have to worry about hosting...

But it's embarrassing. Sweden went there to win. We didn't.

I think the BBC should make more of an effort with the song selection like 2014. I have no problem with the way the show currently goes out or the piss taking from GN etc.
Apparently there was some major backstage drama trying to find a song this year. So we will almost certainly have a new selection procedure nezt year.

Like the above posters say, I love the camp slapstick attitude the Brits have to Eurovision. In fact, contrary to popular belief, most countries take that attitude. That doesn't mean the song they send is terrible. In terms of ratings, of course it doesn't matter for the BBC but there comes a point when viewers and fans start questioning whether their public broadcaster is misusing their funding or not. A number of recent entries have not only been terrible but also 'in house jobs'. The acts are often managed by, or songs written by, people with strong BBC links. If the BBC is so transparent that it won't even let us text vote, maybe it should be more transparent with its selection. 2013 was a small step forward. At least they explained BBC introducing. Now it's back to square one.

The last UK song that did relatively well, "I Can" by Blue, was selected by the BBC behind closed doors. While it still wasn't exactly a return to form, it was a decent performance, well staged by a respected band who are still well known in Europe. I still feel closed doors selection can work.

Apart from "It's My Time" in 2009, when the UK viewers have had anything to do with choosing an entry we've ended up with Josh Dubovie (last), Andy Abraham (25th), Scooch (22nd), Daz Sampson (19th) and so on. In fact, you have to go all the way back to 2003 before you find an act selected by the British viewers that did well, Jessica Garlick (3rd).

So what was so good about 2003 and 2009? Simply the songs IMO. There's a lot of stuff written about the contest but as I see it, the song remains the most important thing to get right. Enter a knockout song, you stand a great chance of a top result.

You mean 2002. 2003 was the Jemini "nul points" tragedy.

Deejay is right about what he's saying. And yes it must be 2002 not 2003.

It is about accountability as much as anything and also giving the act a bit of confidence that the majority of the UK Eurovision fan base are behind them.

I'm not sure the Eurovision fanbase are significant - I don't think they are a huge proportion of the UK audience. (And I speak as a Eurovision fanbase member...)

Why does the BBC spend a ton on extra content for the BBC Three shows? The semis are going to be watched by hardcore fans, ergo, they'll want the EBU feed. The audience who tune in for a p!sstake rock up on Saturday

As a member of the Eurovision fan base in the UK and Ireland I think it's safe to say there is little interest in how the UK does.

I think the BBC Three Semi-final coverage is quite heavily packaged to try and fit it in to the BBC Three demographic, hence having a Radio 1 presenter involved and in-vision, along with a BBC Three-friendly face (Mel was a bit of a coup this year as she's more than just BBC Three friendly).

Given that BBC Three are effectively corporately forced to carry it (otherwise BBC One couldn't show the finals), they are doing what they can to commission wrapper content that possibly moves it closer to their audiences. I suspect it is a conversation along the lines of "We really didn't want this on our channel, but can you please make it a bit more 'BBC Three' so it doesn't stick out quite so much?"

There have also historically been really dire semi-final interval acts and break fillers... The Austrian VTs this year were terrible, and anyone who could survive the Moscow 2009 coverage of the semi-finals uninterrupted is a better man than I. It is a pity that BBC Three have to commit to the opt-outs before they see the host show though - as the Nordics have historically done a much better job in this regard, at least in UK-friendly terms.

I'm also not sure the BBC Three audience is JUST hardcore ESC fans. It would be interesting to know how many of the 800,000 watching SF1 this year were hardcore, and how many were just people who watched.