What is the best British Eurovision entry?

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there are some of these I haven't heard, admittedly. But can any other European country boast of so many established artists in their Eurovision canon? I somehow doubt it.

Poll Results

Option	Votes
1996 Gina G - Just a Little Bit	4
2006 Daz Sampson - Teenage Life	4
1982 Bardo - One Step Further	4
1967 Sandie Shaw - Puppet on a String	3
1977 Lynsey De Paul & Mike Moran - Rock Bottom	2
1968 Cliff Richard - Congratulations	1
1998 Imaani - Where are you?	1
1971 Clodagh Rodgers - Jack in the Box	1
1993 Sonia - Better the Devil you Know	1
1970 Mary Hopkin - Knock Knock - Who's There?	1
2007 Scooch - Flying the Flag (for You)	1
1981 Bucks Fizz - Making Your Mind Up	1
1991 Samantha Janus - A Message to Your Heart	0
1990 Emma - Give a Little Love Back to the World	0
1989 Live Report - Why do I Always Get it Wrong?	0
1988 Scott Fitzgerald - Go	0
1992 Michael Ball - One Step Out of Time	0
1994 Frances Ruffelle - We Will be Free (Lonely Symphony)	0
1997 Katrina & the Waves - Love Shine a Light	0
1995 Love City Groove - Love City Groove	0
2005 Javine Hylton - Touch My Fire	0
2004 James Fox - Hold On To Our Love	0
2003 Jemini - Cry Baby	0
2002 Jessica Garlick - Come Back	0
2001 Lindsay D - No Dream Impossible	0
2000 Nicki French - Don't Play that Song Again	0
1999 Precious - Say it Again	0
1987 Rikki - Only the Light	0
1986 Ryder - Runner in the Night	0
1985 Vikki Watson - Love is	0
1969 Lulu - Boom Bang-a-bang	0
1966 Kenneth McKellar - A Man Without Love	0
1965 Kathy Kirby - I Belong	0
1964 Matt Monro - I Love the Little Things	0
1963 Ronnie Carroll - Say Wonderful Things	0
1962 Ronnie Carroll - Ring-a-ding Girl	0
1961 The Allisons - Are you Sure?	0
1960 Bryan Johnson - Looking High, High, High	0
1957 Patricia Bredin - All	0
1972 The New Seekers - Beg, Steal or Borrow	0
1973 Cliff Richard - Power to all our Friends	0
1984 Belle & the Devotions - Love Games	0
1983 Sweet Dreams - I'm Never Giving Up	0
1980 Prima Donna - Love Enough for Two	0
1979 Black Lace - Mary Ann	0
1978 Co-Co - The Bad Old Days	0
1976 Brotherhood of Man - Save Your Kisses for me	0
1975 The Shadows - Let me be the One	0
1974 Olivia Newton-John - Long Live Love	0
1959 Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson - Sing, Little Birdie	0

― Grandpont Genie, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 08:42 (eighteen years ago)

or indeed artists whose names rhyme and are almost the same - it had to be the eighties - Vikki and Rikki, who sadly were not the actresses playing minor yellowcoats in Hi-de-Hi.

― Grandpont Genie, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 08:43 (eighteen years ago)

Wasn't Rikki (a) a bloke and (b) the son of Bill Maynard?

Anyway it has to be Bardo; Kathy Kirby a close-ish second.

― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 08:47 (eighteen years ago)

really?
why didn't we enter in 1958?

― Grandpont Genie, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 08:49 (eighteen years ago)

Rationing was still on?

― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 08:50 (eighteen years ago)

Brits weren't invited to the signing of the Treaty of Rome and left Eurovision in a huff.

― Billy Dods, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 09:00 (eighteen years ago)

Tommy Steele sustained a severe twisting injury while shooting a hilarious wrestling photo session with the Kaye Sisters and Cliff Richard wasn't famous enough yet.

― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 09:03 (eighteen years ago)

Eurovision seems to be good for titular self-fulfilling prophecy re: Rock Bottom, Go, Why do I Always Get it Wrong? and Don't Play that Song Again.

― Grandpont Genie, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 09:07 (eighteen years ago)

Rock Bottom came second! (Lynsey de Paul in suit and tie, sigh...)

― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 09:10 (eighteen years ago)

The old skool me sez 'Power To All Our Friends' or 'Let Me Be The One'. The best artist is Sandie Shaw, obviously, yet I am hesitating to vote for Puppet.

The best recent-ish ones were Gina G and Daz Sampson.

Oh bollocks, I'm going to vote for Teenage Life.

― Dr.C, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 09:17 (eighteen years ago)

Remarkable how, from 1967-79, Britain persisted with the oompah-oompah formula, with the exception of the New Seekers (it's there in Mary Hopkin and Brotherhood of Man, but cleverly disguised).

― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 09:25 (eighteen years ago)

of course there was the unique waltz variant on oompah-oompah as purveyed by the unwilling but jointly victorious Lulu.

― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 09:33 (eighteen years ago)

Clodagh Rodgers all the way.

― DavidM, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 09:36 (eighteen years ago)

Voted Imaani, but most UK entries have tended to be horrid third rate acts singing horrid songs. No wonder why they usually end up in the bottom 5 these days.

― Geir Hongro, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 09:46 (eighteen years ago)

How many "nul points" have Norway had, again?

― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 09:49 (eighteen years ago)

Way too many, considering we often host National top acts. But we have better statistics than UK from after the televoting started. :)

― Geir Hongro, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 09:53 (eighteen years ago)

There was a clip of Clodagh on the TOTP2 Eurovision special last weekend. I have to say: what a game old trouper! Something of the Gracie Fields there, in an odd sort of way. We were really quite impressed.

A blog-pal of mine has been running a "vote for the best UK ESC entry" thingy for the past few weeks, so there are MP3s and Youtubes to be had there.

It's neck and neck between Bardo and Gina G for me. But Gina j-u-s-t swings it.

― mike t-diva, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 09:55 (eighteen years ago)

i saw 'Rock Bottom' on TOTP2 the other day - there was something quite charming about the duo, wouldn't happen nowadays etc.

― blueski, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 09:57 (eighteen years ago)

But we have better statistics than UK from after the televoting started. :)

Not true, Geir:
1998: UK 2nd, Norway 8th.
1999: UK 12th, Norway 14th.
2000: UK 16th, Norway 11th.
2001: UK 15th, Norway 22nd (and thus barred from competing in 2002).
2002: UK 3rd, Norway N/A.
2003: UK 26th, Norway 4th.
2004: UK 16th, Norway 24th.
2005: UK 22nd, Norway 9th.
2006: UK 19th, Norway 14th.

Which makes a score of:
UK - 5 points.
Norway - 4 points.

Woo-hoo.

― mike t-diva, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 10:06 (eighteen years ago)

OK so we haven't overtaken the UK until the semi finals started and UK tended to be automatically qualified for a final the entry wasn't otherwise good enough to entry. (Our 2004 entry was horrid though, obviously dragging our statistics down)

― Geir Hongro, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 10:11 (eighteen years ago)

1982 Bardo - One Step Further
1983 Sweet Dreams - I'm Never Giving Up
1984 Belle & the Devotions - Love Games

That's my three favourites, right there. Not that I'm voting, like, but I'm just saying. Classic classic classic. Fuck a Scooch.

(also, Kenneth McKellar!!!!)

― ailsa, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 17:08 (eighteen years ago)

Dunno. It's OK to like 80s pop, it's just that UK 80s pop in 82-84 was so much more exciting than those entries ever managed to be.

Even though "I'm Never Giving Up" had some kind of charm, at least in its synth-based studio version. But it was way behind "Eurovision" and "Video Video" as far as great synthpop entries from the early 80s went.

― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 10 May 2007 00:28 (eighteen years ago)

Fuck's sake Geir, you're not getting a CHOICE to vote for the most exciting UK 80s pop of 82-84 (or songs from other countries), you're getting a choice of UK Eurovision songs. Your schtick is plenty irritating enough without criticising people for not preferring things that aren't even an option.

― ailsa, Thursday, 10 May 2007 07:20 (eighteen years ago)

My main point anyway is that UK Eurovision entries have been more third rate than most other countries'.

Their best era was probably from the late 60s until the mid 70s, as then the UK would send acts that were at least close to the top. But as none of them won, they quit doing that too, and then when the virtually unknown Brotherhood Of Man won, the UK have stuck with third rate acts most of the time (other than Katrina & The Waves, who won)

― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 10 May 2007 08:21 (eighteen years ago)

the virtually unknown Brotherhood Of Man won

not true, Brotherhood of Man had a hit with United We Stand back in 1970!

― Grandpont Genie, Thursday, 10 May 2007 08:47 (eighteen years ago)

with an entirely different line-up!

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 10 May 2007 08:51 (eighteen years ago)

what were K&TW doing in the eleven years between "Sun Street" and their Eurovision appearance? I don't recall any touring or record releases. Did the band reform for Eurovision. Did they, indeed, have the same line-up as on their brace of sunshine songs in the mid eighties?

― Grandpont Genie, Thursday, 10 May 2007 08:55 (eighteen years ago)

Did they actually evolve from the 1970 version into the "kisses" version, in a "Pete Frame" stylee, or did they just buy the name off the shelf?

xpost I think so: Kimberley Rew and Katrina fwkeflkh was it.

― Mark G, Thursday, 10 May 2007 08:56 (eighteen years ago)

Oh there's a thread about totally different line-ups somewhere - Soft Machine and Napalm Death featured heavily IIRC.

― Dr.C, Thursday, 10 May 2007 08:58 (eighteen years ago)

I know that the 1970 line up included Tony "four appearances on the same TOTP" Burrows!

― Grandpont Genie, Thursday, 10 May 2007 08:58 (eighteen years ago)

Same producer - Tony Hiller - who revived the brand name in '75 with Martin Lee and Lee Sheridan; see abysmal 1975 Barry Blue-penned Euro smash but UK number zero "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby."

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 10 May 2007 09:13 (eighteen years ago)

BARDO was great wasn't it? i can still recall it after 25 years despite not having heard it in 25 years, so that must count for... something.

― pisces, Thursday, 10 May 2007 09:30 (eighteen years ago)

I could've taken one step closer and I would've been there
You could have hit me with a feather and I wouldn't have cared
All this time I didn't get anywhereeeeeeeeeee

That was it wasn't it? Far more memorable than any Norwegian entry I think.

― Matt #2, Thursday, 10 May 2007 09:39 (eighteen years ago)

The great New Pop Eurovision entry kept in seventh place for POLITICAL reasons in favour of the Singing Nun (Next Generation).

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 10 May 2007 09:42 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4HHutNMisE

― Matt #2, Thursday, 10 May 2007 09:45 (eighteen years ago)

"You could have turned around and hit me" but yeah.

― Mark G, Thursday, 10 May 2007 09:49 (eighteen years ago)

Whilst I'm fully could confident that I could belt out entire verses and choruses of everything from '67 to '78 if I was called upon to do so, there are only 4 songs from '79 onwards (Bucks Fizz, Sonia, Gina G and Katrina & The Waves fwiw) that I'm 100% convinced I could even hum a recognisable rendition of if you held a gun to my head.

I'm not sure which this says most about: my age (I would have been 4 in '67, which is probably why I don't remember anything before that); my listening habits; my taste in music; or the quality of our Eurovision entries.

― Stewart Osborne, Thursday, 10 May 2007 10:28 (eighteen years ago)

I do not recall:
1957 Patricia Bredin - All
1959 Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson - Sing, Little Birdie
1962 Ronnie Carroll - Ring-a-ding Girl
1963 Ronnie Carroll - Say Wonderful Things
1964 Matt Monro - I Love the Little Things
1965 Kathy Kirby - I Belong
1966 Kenneth McKellar - A Man Without Love
...
1983 Sweet Dreams - I'm Never Giving Up
1984 Belle & the Devotions - Love Games
1985 Vikki Watson - Love is
1986 Ryder - Runner in the Night
1987 Rikki - Only the Light
1988 Scott Fitzgerald - Go
1989 Live Report - Why do I Always Get it Wrong?
1990 Emma - Give a Little Love Back to the World
1994 Frances Ruffelle - We Will be Free (Lonely Symphony)
1998 Imaani - Where are you?
1999 Precious - Say it Again
2000 Nicki French - Don't Play that Song Again
2001 Lindsay D - No Dream Impossible
2004 James Fox - Hold On To Our Love
2005 Javine Hylton - Touch My Fire

― Mark G, Thursday, 10 May 2007 10:32 (eighteen years ago)

"Sing Little Birdie" was a Junior Choice favourite for many years.
"Say Wonderful Things" ("to me") was a lusty waltz. My mum liked him.
"I Love The Little Things" was below par Tony Hatch.
"I Belong" is fantastic Fireball XL5-type pop; it lost only to France Gall and Serge G.
"I'm Never Giving Up" (NOT! Giving In!) was a sub-Bucks Fizz effort as might have been composed for Junior Showtime; not the same Sweet Dreams as the controversial duo who had the 1974 hit with Abba's "Honey Honey."
"Love Games" - bad Motown pastiche.
"Only The Light" - think Michael Ball B-side.
"Go" - overwrought ballad which would have been number one in 1968 for Solomon King or similar.
"We Will Be Free" - bad Massive Attack pastiche.
"Hold On To Our Love" - bad James Blunt pastiche.
"Touch My Fire" - one of many identikit Eastern-type rhythm-dominate numbers.
Don't recall the rest.

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 10 May 2007 10:42 (eighteen years ago)

Have to be a tad un-nationalistic and say Norway doesn't have the greatest Eurovision record. Then again, can't think of that many countries that have since the introduction of the new scoring system, apart from maybe Ireland's (what was it, mid-nineties?) streak. It's definitely improved in recent years though, and it's not like the best songs always rank high that contest, see Jahn Teigen's horribly underrated nill pointer "Mil Etter Mil" for example.

― the Dirt, Thursday, 10 May 2007 10:59 (eighteen years ago)

""Sing Little Birdie" was a Junior Choice favourite for many years."

Junior Choice? I remember "The Ugly Duckling" and that one that went "Chick-chick-chick-chick-chicken / Lay a little egg for me" (sort of proto St. Winifred's School Choir) but "Sing Little Birdie" doesn't ring any bells at all I'm afraid.

"think Michael Ball B-side."

I'd really rather not if it's all the same with you.

"bad James Blunt pastiche."

Wow, that really is pretty bad!

― Stewart Osborne, Thursday, 10 May 2007 12:53 (eighteen years ago)

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