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So my prediction came true. The UK didn’t win Eurovision last night. In fact, we crashed out and came joint last, polling votes from just Ireland and San Marino.

There has since been the inevitable talk of block voting by Eastern Europe, which saw Russia triumph, and Wogan is hinting that he may call an end to his 30 or so years of BBC commentary, bowing out before next year. Some say it should go further than that, and the UK should pull out altogether, withdrawing its funding like a petulant child taking its bat and ball home because the other kids won’t let it win.

Well, for one thing, I think Wogan leaving could be the best chance we have of reviving the UK’s Eurovision fortunes. He isn’t exactly known for championing the show, and he doesn’t seem to see that we simply don’t write the kind of songs that have a chance of winning any more. New Europe does. A defeatist attitude like that is almost certain to put us off really trying to win.

And if you think Eastern Europe only gets points from Eastern Europe, think again. Look at the voting patterns for this year’s contest and you’ll see that of the big four (UK, Germany, France and Spain, each of which is guaranteed a place in the final without even trying), we ourselves showed a definite bias towards the entrants from the old Soviet bloc.

Each country had 58 points to award in total (1 to 8, plus a 10 and a 12), with three of those four giving more points to the East than the West. Spain gave Eastern Europe 36 points, with the remaining 22 going to the West. From Germany, 39 headed East and just 19 headed West. In France, it was 36 to the East and 22 to the West. Only the UK gave more points to Western Europe, but it was a close-run thing. We gave Western Europe 31 points, and those in the East 27.

What does this prove? Only the UK seems not to appreciate the talent coming out of Eastern Europe, and that’s why we can’t write songs that will appeal to the new mass of the continent. As a result, we lose every time.

As for the winner, Dima Bilan… well, it’s not surprising he won. We didn’t like his entry at the party, placing him last in our votes, but he is a massive star in Eastern Europe. Twice now he’s won Artist of the Year and Song of the Year gongs from MTV.

And Russia wasn’t the only country to field a star. The Ukraine’s Ani Lorak is massive at home, and as such she polled a respectable second.

We entered a talent show runner-up and sulked when we bombed out.

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eurovision, eurovision song contest, terry wogan, dima bilan, ani lorak

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 25th, 2008 at 4:35 pm and is filed under Europe, Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.