Why Is The UK So Bad At Eurovision?

The Independent

Is the UK really doomed to fail at Eurovision—or are we just stuck with an old stereotype? In this episode of Decomplicated, we dig into the UK’s love-hate relationship with Eurovision. From political voting myths to genuinely bad entries (sorry!), are we actually worse than everyone else, or just the victims of outdated assumptions? Can we ever escape "nul points" and reclaim our musical pride?

Transcript

00:00Welcome to Vienna, our 27 competing countries!

00:05Every year, Eurovision comes around, and here in the UK, we sit down full of hope.

00:11We watch the points roll in, and then we slump into the sofa muttering,

00:15Well, Europe does hate us.

00:17But are we really that bad at Eurovision? Are we truly the laughingstock of Europe's biggest party?

00:22But, before we cry only teardrops, and then spiral into hard rock hallelujah,

00:28let's take a closer look at the school board.

00:33First, before we start handing out blame, it is worth asking, why does Eurovision matter so much anyway?

00:39Eurovision isn't just a singing competition.

00:42It began in 1956, designed to bring Europe together after the devastation of World War II.

00:48At the time, only seven countries participated, and the contest was won by Switzerland with a song called Reframe.

00:58What a banger. Since then, it's exploded into the biggest live music event in the world.

01:13Watched by over 160 million people every year, which is more than the Super Bowl.

01:18It launched careers, united countries, and gave us some truly unforgettable pop culture moments.

01:25Eurovision essentially is just one huge party. I think it's a celebration of music.

01:29I think the people that go to Eurovision do so because they just love it.

01:32They love the community atmosphere.

01:34They love the fact that also you get to meet so many different people from all corners of Europe.

01:38You get to learn about new cultures. You get to see what their music scene is like.

01:42And it is basically just supposed to be this, you know, beautiful coming together of like-minded people.

01:47Since the 2000s, the UK's Eurovision record hasn't exactly been glittering.

01:53In 2003, we had our infamous null points moment with Gemini.

01:57We sent Scooch in 2007, a song about airplanes that didn't really take off.

02:02And year after year, the UK seemed to land somewhere towards the bottom of the scoreboard.

02:07With results like that, it's no wonder that we've come to believe that we're truly terrible at this.

02:12So I hear you asking, what the f*** happened?

02:14Well, first, Eurovision changed.

02:17By the late 90s and early 2000s, it wasn't just cheesy ballads anymore.

02:21It became a huge spectacle of pop, staging and performance.

02:26Meanwhile, the UK often sent songs that felt a little behind the times.

02:31We weren't keeping up with how quickly Eurovision was evolving.

02:35Historically, the UK doesn't always send people that can really deliver those big, big notes that Eurovision voters love.

02:41In that arena.

02:43So it's a big ask, you know, you kind of want someone with a very strong voice and also a really memorable song.

02:48And it's, yeah, it's a hard thing to do and definitely hard to get right every year.

02:52The competition has also skyrocketed.

02:54Back in the 1990s, Eurovision was a much smaller competition, with around only 22 to 25 countries competing.

03:01Plus, there were no semifinals, which meant that if a country entered, they got to perform in the finals.

03:06Today, it's a global scale production.

03:09Over 37 countries enter and only 26 get to make it to the grand final.

03:14The UK is one of the big five, which means that we automatically qualify.

03:18But other countries have to battle it out just to make it to the semis.

03:22Which is lucky for the UK if you've seen our recent track record.

03:25And finally, we just don't seem to take Eurovision very seriously as a country.

03:30While other countries seem to spend months trying to pick their perfect entry, we just seem to go with whoever was free on a Tuesday afternoon.

03:38I think one of the big problems from the UK is that we don't tend to send artists that really reflect what's going on in the UK music scene.

03:45The UK obviously has such a huge and brilliant, strong representation across rap, hip-hop, jazz, you know, pop music, indie, rock.

03:55And I find the stuff we tend to send to Eurovision tends to feel like dated pop or sort of more like the scraps.

04:02You know, things that you wouldn't necessarily hear on the radio or you wouldn't hear on people's playlists.

04:07Whereas in Eurovision and other countries, they tend to send the best of the best.

04:11They have these big competitions where you sort of whittle it down to the finalists.

04:15And they send people that tend to be quite big in their countries already.

04:19And yes, every year somebody says that it's because Europe hates us.

04:24Brexit, Iraq, politics, it's basically whatever the latest theory is.

04:28Some people even accuse other European countries of block voting.

04:32Block voting is when countries give disproportionately high points to their neighbours or political allies.

04:38Think Greece or Cyprus or Nordic countries backing one another.

04:42It's not officially part of the rules, but it does show up in the data.

04:46A 2012 study by the European Broadcasting Union found that regional alliances do affect results,

04:52though not enough to override a great song.

04:55As for Brexit, some people do think that it tarnished the UK's image.

04:59Between 2016 and 2021, the UK averaged just over 46 points per year at Eurovision,

05:05a dip from the roughly 61-point average it held in the decade before the Brexit referendum.

05:10Once a reliable mid-table presence, the UK has faced a series of disappointing results,

05:15including a no-points finish in 2021, which fuelled the ongoing debate over whether poor performances,

05:21political shifts or changing tastes are to blame.

05:24But the truth is, studies show that while block voting does exist, good songs still win.

05:30Even with political tensions, acts like Sam Rider prove that with a brilliant song and a brilliant performer,

05:36we can absolutely win the hearts and votes of Europe.

05:39In 2022, Sam Rider's Spaceman brought the UK to second place with a massive 466 points,

05:47our best performance in over two decades.

05:50And that wasn't politics, that was just Europe loving a good song.

05:54And here's where the narrative flips.

05:55Historically, the UK isn't even that bad at Eurovision.

05:59We're actually one of the most successful countries ever.

06:02Wait, that can't be right.

06:03We've entered Eurovision 65 times.

06:06We've won five times with legends like Sandy Shaw, Lulu and Bucks Fizz.

06:11And we've come second place 16 times, which is more than anyone else.

06:15Which means that between the 50s and the 90s, the UK actually came in the top five position more than half the time.

06:21So yeah, historically, we've done pretty well.

06:22I think it's only recently when we haven't been performing as well.

06:25I think we tend to kind of put the blame out and say, oh, well, it must be for this reason.

06:29It must be for that reason.

06:30It's all political.

06:32But to be honest, again, like Eurovision fans, they just love the music.

06:36And yes, there might be a tiny bit of political voting here and there.

06:39But for the most part, I think people really are voting for the best song, the best performance,

06:43you know, the best stage design, like the costumes, all of it.

06:46It really is a production.

06:48And I think when you have it, which the UK is quite good at doing,

06:52that's when we kind of see the results come in and they're not as good as we'd like them to be.

06:56And hosting Eurovision in 2023 for Ukraine showed the UK is still a major player.

07:01Culturally, musically and logistically.

07:04I think basically there's kind of like that two sides.

07:06I think sometimes people vote for what some might consider a novelty song,

07:09but to me, it's always something that just stands out more in comparison to the other contestants.

07:14And the other side of it is the ballad, which again, Eurovision voters love.

07:18If you look at the kind of, especially the last 15 years of Eurovision winners,

07:21a lot of ballads in there, beautiful voices, quite like, you know, cinematic instrumentation.

07:27So why are we so bad at Eurovision?

07:29Well, we're not.

07:31We might have hit a slump, sure.

07:33We might have even forgotten about how important Eurovision can be.

07:36But with the right songs, right performers, and just a little bit of glitter,

07:41we can absolutely come back on top.

07:43And I wanna go...

07:51Sean Bradley, my friends!

07:54Thank you!

07:56Classy Dante!

07:58.

07:59Hey!

08:03.

08:05jeu

08:13.

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