Eurovision Song Contest - Belgrade 2008

I wasn't thinking only on UK....It was just example-"what if....",you can copy/paste that same sentence for all countries which are outside of "3 block-voting regions(ex-SSSR,Scandinavia and ex-Yugoslavia)",and just input instead of UK for example Spain,France,Malta,Ireland,Bulgaria,Czech Republic...The result would be the same even if some popular singers like Robbie for UK,or Iglesias for Spain would compete.They would be in top 7 for sure but for the win they would not recieve enough points from these blocks....Can you imagine Cypruss not to give 12 pts to Greece and oposite,Macedonia for Albania 12pts,Bosnia to Serbia and oposite,all ex SSSR to Russia and Ukraine and among the rest of them,Scandinavians among eachother?Of course not!!!And If Robbie or Iglesias,for example,decide to compete they would represent their countries not themselves alone,and there politics is entering...Someone from Russia would vote for excellent Robbie or Iglesias but would he vote for UK or Spain before voting for Ukraine,Lithuania,Estonia?And imagine the same situation in ex-Yugoslavia,and Scandinavia...Of course,don't forget lot of people which are living in abroad,they would still vote for their own origine countires,not for UK and Spain...

The BBC wouldn't blatantly break an agreement like that. If they have agreed to show the contest on BBC One - they will. If the contract says that the final has to be on BBC One - it has to be on BBC One. This is not something that the BBC can hide after all...



The EBU provide a LOT of the news footage of European events that you see on BBC News via the EVN (Eurovision News Exchange), and the BBC often use EBU facilities at major European news events, sharing them with other EBU members as a cost effective way of sharing facilities.

The BBC is, and always has been, a major and significant member of the EBU - and a lot of the EBU co-ordination is carried out by the BBC (and their partners) at TV Centre.



Except that we DO use it... And knowingly breaking an agreement or contract is not something a professional organisation does.



A lot of European TV is very different to ours - and the UK is pretty lucky with the stuff we have. That said I've seen some great shows on Italian, Spanish, French, German, Swedish, Norwegian and Danish TV. I've also seen some dross and some really, really boring stuff. Bit like the UK then...



"The Europeans" - are you not including the UK in that? I kind of consider myself European... I certainly don't feel like an alien when I'm in mainland Europe, Scandinavia etc. - I feel far more out of place in the US if I'm honest.

Expanding on Noggin's comments above - The EBU are the rights holder for the Olympics, the BBC do not have direct rights to broadcast the Olympics or put crew into any venues, with everything done as a small part of the EBU contigent, which includes sharing commentry, round-ups, technical facilities, interview slots and much more. In Athens, they occupied less than 1/10th of the EBU facility space.

The EBU produces a very very small number of programmes, with the two contests done as showcase events of their network and facilities. They are not the purpose of their existance - that is to enable the diverse range of broadcasters to work together and pool resources, facilities and knowledge to develop better productions across Europe (and beyond).

I sincerely hope not.

I'm not going to lie to you Marky - I'm very disappointed.

Thanks to all who filled me in with the explanations as to what the EBU does. I am certainly more enlightened. But, I don't feel European! I feel BRITISH! Always have, always will. I am of course European by geographical location, but I am foremost English and officially British.

I am English and feel English.

I am British and feel British.

I am European and feel European - and don't see a conflict with the above!

I don't feel French, I don't feel German, but when in France or Germany, or Sweden, or Denmark, or the Netherlands or Italy, I feel like a fellow European.

That said - I grew up on the South Coast of England - closer to France than London - and I suspect that has informed my view a bit.

I'm Scottish and I like to feel everyone. I'm particularly fond of the Greek.

But regardless of how you feel, as long as the UK is a member of the EU, you are also European.

I would rather feel European than feel British - I look at the state of Britain and rather wish I wasn't here.

I guess the way people feel about themselves is a matter of personal belief and opinion. If someone feels European then that is fine. I don't. The way other Europeans present their shows, their cultures etc is totally different, in my personal opinion, and I will add, I am not intending or desiring to diss anyone elses opinion, to the way I see us. we are more "Americanised" than the rest of Europe but I am not saying that is a good thing. I believe the Brits are more like Americans, Australians and Kiwis than Europeans. Maybe it's because of the language I don't know, but that is the way I feel. I do not feel European in France. I feel intimidated. I felt European in Germany because they were really nice. I felt British in Malta because they like the British and treat you as British. I guess it's where you go and how you conduct yourself. At the end of the day though, I feel British and English more than anything else.

That's why the Eurovision Song Contest is so bizarre now. It illustrates just how different we are!

But shouldn't that be what the Eurovision is all about? Of course it illustrates how different we are - it should be a celebration of how different we are, and how we can appreciate those differences.

That is where the contest has lost its way - because there's nothing different any more. It's all the same middle-eastern inspired techno sh*te.

Your time to put it right will come, James. You'll see.