To think the UK should not fund the Eurovision Song Contest?

[NowIsTheSpringOfOurDiscontent]

Or bother entering obviously.

It’s a humiliation and everyone hates us so we hardly get any votes. None this year due to Brexit and the Covid vaccine probably.

Poor James . He certainly didn’t deserve NIL points!

@ForgedInFire

There is no way that our song was worse then the cringe-fest that Germany offered up

It really was. At least the German entry was fun.

@ForgedInFire

There is no way that our song was worse then the cringe-fest that Germany offered up

At least Germany was memorable

@Duckypoohs 'He deserved nil points it was cringy and fucking awful, it was embarrassing. Why send a fat nondescript bloke singing a, shite song off key who was dressed as the back seat of a Ford fiesta???'

You are harsh but spot on. We didn't deserve to get any points tonight. Loved the Iceland entry I've been practising the dance with my teenager tonight, alcohol may have been involved

It really isn't. No one here in the Netherlands that I have spoken to hates the UK or it's people. My British husband has not encountered hate, if anything he has encountered pity. Dutch people would vote for the UK if only they would send in a decent song.

@ATieLikeRichardGere

Well we are unlikely to send a decent song, so we should still bow out.

We always get Nil Points, I dont think you can blame Brexit this time

A huge amount to of Brits watch it that's why they get so much money from the BBC. One of the highest rated programmes of the year. Most people who watch it know we won't win (or get points) but watch it because it's a fun, surreal and entertaining evening.

This. Entirely this. We don't expect to do well but love the show anyway.

FWIW I don't think our entry was the worst by any means but, heighho that's how it goes. I was relieved in the end the Swiss entry didn't win. I mean, that was dross wasn't it? Why did it get so high in the table?

I thought French entry was the best. I even preferred Germany to Switzerland

It was a terrible song and a lackluster performance, why should anyone vote for that?

Russia did well

It's really not because of brexit. We sent in one of the worst entries, we were unlucky to get the absolute least points but there was only 3 points between us and Germany which was awful but at least memorable.

4 countries got nothing in the public vote.

I honestly think it would have looked better to send James to sing in his parka with the hood up, than to make him dad-dance in that disgusting shiny coat-top garment like he was the entertainment at the end of the pier.

We're the ones taking the piss out of Eurovision.

I would be gutted if we stopped funding Eurovision it's so much fun, and it's a way to stay connected with our near neighbours. The contestants and crowd clearly loved James even if the song was a weak entry, and him being a good sport about losing really matters.

I do think maybe the big 5 shouldn't automatically get to the final though! 3 of us were right at the bottom with points, maybe we'd try harder if we knew we had to get past the semi finals.

It also wasn't a memorable song. Germany might have been bad but at least it stuck in your head for the wrong reasons. Embers was the musical equivalent of magnolia paint.

France isn't especially liked in Europe but they did quite well.

I watched the entire thing and I can’t even remember the uk entry !
Maybe that’s the issue (and the whole thing’s rigged )

🤣

Don’t be daft, OP. The UK audience for Eurovision is usually the highest or second highest in Europe. As a nation we love it, despite doing really badly.

I’m pretty sure we send shit acts on purpose so we don’t have to pay to host it.

In the past, we've stepped in no fewer than four times when a country that won the previous year pleaded poverty and inability to host it the following year - one of the 'poor little' countries was France!

ilovemaisie has it right, though - we pay for membership of the EBU, of which Eurovision is a teeny, tiny part. Subs are based on your member broadcaster's turnover, so the richest western nations with the biggest populations and international media presence automatically pay loads more.

Italy flounced from the contest for a number of years, claiming it lacked seriousness and they, the spiritual home of music, never won - but they still had to pay massive subs to the EBU as a large, rich, prominent broadcaster throughout; hence when they decided to start participating in the ESC again, the pre-qualifying Big 4 that had been set up in the meantime was automatically extended to the Big 5 to include them.

@SnapDragonCat

Agree there's not much point in it when it's more about xenophobia than how good the song is though

I'm marvelling at the idea of the UK accusing Europe of xenophobia.

'The song was shit, the performance of it was shit and he looked like he had wandered in from a Wetherspoons.'

This is true. The other acts were in a different league.

Well we did win with the slightly cheesy katrina and the waves song tbh. I think that was still when it was only judges votes.

Oh, I didn't know that year wasn't just a phone vote. That explains it! Now I've looked it up and Wikipedia indeed says for that year 'Twenty countries had jury members and five countries used televote to decide which songs would get points.'

If anyone else is interested in how the voting system has changed over the years, see here. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_at_the_Eurovision_Song_Contest#Voting_systems

We should enter a great, original and memorable song. Slow growers are no good - it has to make an instant impact. Being more creative with the staging wouldn’t hurt, either.

But for some reason, we never do this, so we can’t test the theory that everyone is prejudiced against us.

We need to send an artist as talented as those sent by the winning countries.

I honestly think it would have looked better to send James to sing in his parka with the hood up, than to make him dad-dance in that disgusting shiny coat-top garment like he was the entertainment at the end of the pier.

I agree and AIBU or is it always the bloomin' same? I mean, can you actually imagine the UK sending in a Lordi or a Maneskin or even someone like France's Barbara Pravi?

It's ironic that a nation famous for innovative pop music always sends in safe, Variety Show-style acts.

But we, as a nation, vote for our entry. Who on earth is voting for these bland songs sung by bland people?

Though I think we also have an internal jury that votes, so maybe they override the public.

OK, just watched UK's performance... OMG that song was truly dire! The whole thing was all kinds of wrong and I can see why it got nil points.

I felt a bit sorry for the singer, he's probably a nice bloke but really has no business being on stage in a professional capacity - pub karaoke is about his limit. I wonder if he did it for a bet?