In March 2016, a deal was announced between the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Australian broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) awarding the rights to create a version of the Eurovision Song Contest for countries in Asia.
Initially the contest was expected to start in 2017 but that slipped to October 2018 due to organisational and political issues.
This week we heard that the Eurovision Asia Song Contest was cancelled, and as of now, the EBU has no plans to hold such an event. But this news came solely from Wikipedia – and with no confirmation from the EBU it could be that a 2019 launch is still possible.
However it looks like Australia will get another entry in the next European contest – and, no doubt, get a better result than the British entry … again!
If you think that this introduction looks familiar – that may be because it is a direct copy of what was posted here two years ago. Grandad could have also said much the same for 2017 – but didn’t bother.
In the next few days the BBC are due to announce their shortlist of songs for the 2018 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. Then, following the pattern of recent years, a Eurovision You Decide show will allow a public vote to select the final entry. This year the show will be on Wednesday 7 February in Brighton and makes an attempt to gain some much needed credibility through employing 2015 winner Mans Zelmerlow alongside Mel Giedroyc.
Looking back over recent contests it is clear that it’s neither the singer nor the song that determines who gets the most votes in the final. A statement that is clearly supported by the way in which Australia was robbed of victory by the unoriginal and politically-themed song from Ukraine in 2016.
As always finding the UK entry is down to the BBC – and their plan is that all public entries will be carefully considered and shortlisted by a representative panel of official UK Eurovision fan club (OGAE UK) members. At the same time, entries are also being sought from leading professional songwriters, including BASCA members, with guidance from Record Industry Executive and Music Consultant for the BBC, Hugh Goldsmith.
Certainly the Swedish hosts laid out a spectacular show; one of the best. And the presenters managed to carry off their multi-talented performances in all three live shows with few, if any, glitches. And right up to the final round of scoring things looked set fair. Australia were well ahead in the jury voting and the UK entry was about midway down the field – a situation that seemed to fairly reflect the quality of the songs and their performances. But then the scores from the phone-in votes hit the fan and everything fell apart. Britain’s placing went down like a burst balloon. Poland went from having just 7 points at halfway to suddenly having 229 points and eighth place. Australia’s substantial lead over everyone else evaporated as Ukraine was given a massive 323 points for reasons that were clearly unrelated to the appeal of the song. Favourite Russia finished third.
However the Swedish producer of this year’s contest, Christer Björkman, has put the blame for Britain’s attitude – amongst both the public and any potential performers – down to Terry Wogan’s commentaries. Björkman claimed that Wogan’s commentary style had raised a generation of viewers believing this was a fun kitsch show that had no relevance whatsoever.
In fact they even made the charts! It was an unofficial iTunes chart, in 69th place and for just two days – but it was a start. And tonight’s scheduled appearance on the Graham Norton Show could be a big enough boost to get You’re Not Alone back in the charts again.
With the demise of BBC3 the UK contest – and the two semi-finals from Sweden in May – are moving to BBC4. A choice that disappointed fans hoping for a BBC1 or 2 slot. However the channel should make little difference how that all the digital services are fully operational nationwide (so they tell me).
anyone that is interested should now be recovered enough remember the results from last night. So here are some less-reported facts about Eurovision 2015.
For the future we still have the option of letting Scotland choose the UK song for 2016 – if only to see if Europe just hates the English. Another approach would be to allocate points based upon broadcaster size – since this is how the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) allocates subscription fees. The UK still would not win – and may even do worse – but at least the voting would reflect the scale of viewer support. And finally ITV / Channel 4 are also EBU members so the whole problem could be handed over to them – if they are crazy enough to accept. But really the UK should simply withdraw from the contest until better song writers and singers take a serious interest and want to take part. It would not reduce our EBU fees – but it might improve the health of stressed British viewers.