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UK national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest

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History

A Song for Europe is the British national preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest. This is broadcast by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). Over the years, this has has gone through many names. Examples are: the more widely known "Song For Europe", "The Great British Song Contest" and its current guise "Making Your Mind Up", which was also the title of the 1981 winning entry by Bucks Fizz.

The format of "Song For Europe", and the manner in which the winner is chosen, has gone through many mutations. In its early days, there was a round of semis, with the winner chosen by regional juries situated across the country. This was used until 1960. In 1961 the winner was chosen by a jury of 140 people, but from 1962-63, the regional juries returned.

From 1964 up until 1975, an artist would be chosen by the BBC, and the artist would sing all six songs in the selection, and the public (bar 1964 and 1971) would choose by postcard which song they would like to represent them in the contest. In its early days of this format, only "light entertainment" singers were used; such as Kenneth McKellar and Kathy Kirby. However, the poor result of McKellar in Luxembourg prompted the BBC to use well known artists, which was them implemented and led to a run of successful results for the UK. This idea was set to have been dropped due to the low numbers of postal votes cast in the contest of 1975, won by "The Shadows".

In 1976, a new system was put into force. Twelve songs would be performed and the winner would be chosen by the regional juries across the country. The 1979 "A Song For Europe" final was never broadcast on television, thanks to a strike by BBC staff, so the songs were presented on Terry Wogan's radio show, while the juries had to judge using cassette recordings. The 1980 result led to a tie break between Prima Donna's "Love Enough For Two" and Maggie Moone's "Happy Everything". To resolve this, every jury was called back to announce their favourite. Prima Donna won, with eight juries to Maggie Moone's six.

By 1981, the number of songs had dropped, and interest had started to wane. Five out of eight songs in the 1984 event were written by Paul Curtis, who was unsurprisingly responsible for the winner; "Love Games".

After a poor result from Rikki in 1987, the regional juries were disbanded, and the final decision given to the public. This proved to be a success, accruing two second places and a sixth place (Zagreb, 1990). However, a disappointing 10th place in Rome obtained by Samantha Janus led the BBC to rethink the way this was being run.

As a result, the system that was used between 1964-1975 was resurrected. Michael Ball was the first in 1992, and went on to win second place. Sonia was also second the year after. However, in 1994, a then unknown Frances Ruffelle was offered the job. Interest was low, and her final position in the Eurovision Song Contest held in Dublin was a disappointing tenth.

A dramatic modernisation was introduced in 1995 in an attempt to boost the profile of the contest. Pop supremo Jonathan King was drafted in to made the event more modern. The 1995 event had a diverse range of songs and some relatively well-known acts performing, such as Londonbeat who had a hit with "I've Been Thinking About You", pop-combo Deuce and former Page 3 icon and singer Samantha Fox. These were all beaten by rap act "Love City Groove", whose eponymous song could only manage a disappointing tenth in Dublin that year. On a positive note, the songs by Love City Groove and Deuce made the top 10 of the UK singles charts, while the entries from Dear John, Londonbeat and Sox reached the lower reaches of the charts.

The following year, a semi-final was introduced. All eight songs were performed on "Top of The Pops" on March 1st, and the public voted to decide the four finalists. The results were announced the following day, but there was no information given on who finished where. On the 8th of March the final was held, with Gina G winning very easily with her dance number "Ooh Ahh Just A Little Bit". The song became an instant hit in the charts, but not in the Eurovision Contest itself. In Oslo, Gina could only manage 8th place, but was perhaps consoled by her Europe-wide hit with the song.

This format was retained again, but with an added twist. All eight contestants would be heard on Ken Bruce's radio show on Radio 2, with a public vote to decide the four finalists. The four would perform on "The National Lottery Show" until 1998, and then on "Top of the Pops" in 1999. The final itself would just consist of repeats of the performances made in the above shows, in a special programme on a Sunday afternoon. This produced a win for Katrina and the Waves in 1997, and a second for Imaani in 1998, but disappointment in 1999 for Precious.

In 2000, the same format contuined, but the final four songs were performed live in "A Song For Europe", still shunted to a graveyard Sunday afternoon slot. The result proved disappointing. Nicki French got the UK's worst ever placing at the time, a mere 16th in Stockholm with "Don't Play That Song Again". Many people had their doubts about this format, yet it continued the following year, and another poor showing for the UK. Lindsay D only got one place higher than Nicki French in Copenhagen. The entries from Six Chix in 2000 and Luke Galliana which didn't make the 2001 final became minor hits, with the latter just failing to make the Top 40, but became a popular hit on cable request line music channel The Box.

The 2002 "A Song For Europe" generated a lot of publicity, because three of the four acts that made the final were relatively well-known. Surf "n" Turf consisted of Jonathan Maitland who is a TV presenter of consumer advice shows such as "Watchdog" and "House of Horrors". Tricia Penrose is an actress who plays Gina in the 60's retro drama "Heartbeat" on ITV1, and Jessica Garlick had made the final stages of another ITV1 show "Pop Idol". The standard of songs was stronger than previous years, and Jessica Garlick had a runaway victory of nearly 70 000 votes with her ballad "Come Back". The song was also a success in Eurovision with it finishing joint third with hosts Estonia.

2003 saw disappointment, although a new voting format. All four of the live performances were very poor, and the new voting system of regional televoting, where 9, 10 and 12 points were awarded to the top three songs, led to a mediocre winner. Jemini's "Cry Baby" won by two points over the much stronger "Help Me" by Emily Reed. Confidence in the UK entry was low for both fans and the public, and in the actual contest held in Riga, Jemini picked up the UK's worst-ever showing, scoring "nul point" and finishing last, due to a very poor performance and a mediocre song. Of course, since Eurovision Song Contest are awarded purely on the basis of talent, and not political affiliations, European disapproval of the US-UK invasion of Iraq was totally irrelevant.

Changes had to be made, and the 2004 selection was totally different. Gone was the "Song For Europe" name, and here was "Making Your Mind Up". The radio semi-final was also gone, and the six songs would be performed live in a Saturday night show. This raised the image of the competition, although there was much criticism about the fact that four of the six acts were from reality TV shows. The winner, chosen by 70% regional televoting (regions awarding 0,2,4,6,8 and 12 points) and 30% SMS and Interactive voting, was James Fox, who finished fourth in the second series of "Fame Academy" with his gentle ballad "Hold On To Love". Confidence in Mr. Fox was mixed, and the song itself only finished 16th at the contest in Istanbul. Some fans were content, but some criticised the BBC for entering obscure artists.

For 2005, six songs dropped to five, and the show was relegated to an early Saturday evening slot on March 6th, to avoid a clash with "Celebrity Fame Academy". The press focused on two performers. Javine Hylton who is a relatively well-known urban singer and Katie Price, aka Jordan, a large-breasted page 3 model. The voting itself was the same format as the previous year, but this time an online jury decided between the two. Javine came out on top with her ethno-urban song "Touch My Fire". Fans were divided with the decision, and at the 50th Eurovision Song Contest held in Kiev, Javine finished 22nd out of 24 particpants in the final. To date, "Making Your Mind Up" has failed totally to produce success in Eurovision.

What system will be used in 2006 is unknown.


Winners

A Song For Europe 1957-1995

  • 1957 - All - Patricia Bredin
  • 1958 - Did not enter Eurovision.
  • 1959 - Sing Little Birdie - Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson (Britain's first 2nd placing)
  • 1960 - Looking high, high, high - Bryan Johnson (The brother of Teddy, the previous years particpant)
  • 1961 - Are You Sure? - The Allisons
  • 1962 - Ring-a-Ding Girl - Ronnie Carroll
  • 1963 - Say Wonderful Things - Ronnie Carroll (The first performer to represent the UK twice, also the only UK entrant to represent the UK in consectutive years)
  • 1964 - I Love the Little Things - Matt Monro
  • 1965 - I Belong - Kathy Kirby
  • 1966 - A Man Without Love - Kenneth McKellar (Holder of the UK's worst placing until 1978 - 9th)
  • 1967 - Puppet On A String - Sandie Shaw (The UK's first ever winner)
  • 1968 - Congratulations - Cliff Richard (Lost to the winning entry, 'La La La', from Spain by 1 point)
  • 1969 - Boom Bang a Bang - Lulu (Winner on a tie-break with France, the Netherlands and Spain)
  • 1970 - Knock, Knock, Who's There? - Mary Hopkin (Finished 2nd to Dana's "All Kinds Of Everything")
  • 1971 - Jack In The Box - Clodagh Rodgers
  • 1972 - Beg, Steal or Borrow - The New Seekers
  • 1973 - Power to All Our Friends - Cliff Richard (The last solo artist to represent the UK twice)
  • 1974 - Long Live Love - Olivia Newton-John (Actor in the musical "Grease")
  • 1975 - Let Me Be The One - The Shadows
  • 1976 - Save Your Kisses For Me - Brotherhood of Man (Third winner for the UK in Eurovision Song Contest)
  • 1977 - Rock Bottom - Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran
  • 1978 - The Bad Old Days - Co-Co (Then Holders of the UK's worst placing in 12 years - 11th)
  • 1979 - Mary Ann - Black Lace (Of "Agadoo" fame)
  • 1980 - Love Enough for Two - Prima Donna
  • 1981 - Making Your Mind Up - Bucks Fizz (Fourth UK victory in Eurovision Song Contest. Cheryl Baker had participated in 1978 as a member of "Co-Co")
  • 1982 - One Step Further - Bardo (Female member of the duo was Sally Anne Triplet who was a member of Prima Donna, two years before. She is the last person to be part of the UK Eurovision entry twice.)
  • 1983 - I'm Never Giving Up - Sweet Dreams
  • 1984 - Love Games - Belle and The Devotions
  • 1985 - Love Is - Vikki Watson
  • 1986 - Runner In The Night - Ryder
  • 1987 - Only The Light - Rikki (Then holder of the UK's worst placing in 9 years - 13th)
  • 1988 - Go - Scott Fitzgerald (Lost to winner Céline Dion, the Swiss representative, by one point)
  • 1989 - Why Do I Always Get it Wrong? - Live Report
  • 1990 - Give a Little Love Back to The World - Emma
  • 1991 - A message To Your Heart - Samantha Janus
  • 1992 - One Step Out of Time - Michael Ball
  • 1993 - Better The Devil You Know - Sonia Evans
  • 1994 - We Will Be Free (Lonely Symphony) - Frances Ruffelle
  • 1995 - Love City Groove - Love City Groove

Great British Song Contest 1996

  • 1996 - Ooh Aah Just A Little Bit - Gina G (Became a world-wide hit after her Eurovision partipation)

A Song For Europe 1997-1998

  • 1997 - Love Shine A Light - Katrina and The Waves (The UK's 5th and last winner. She won by a huge 70 point margin over the Irish entry)
  • 1998 - Where Are You? - Imaani (Lost to Israeli transsexual Dana International by 7 points)

Great British Song Contest 1999

Song For Europe 2000-2003

  • 2000 - Don't Play That Song Again - Nikki French (Then Holder of the UK's worst placing in 13 years - 16th)
  • 2001 - No Dream Impossible - Lindsay Dracass
  • 2002 - Come Back - Jessica Garlick ("Pop Idol" contestant who is responsible for the UK's best result this decade - joint 3rd in Tallinn)
  • 2003 - Cry Baby - Jemini (Holders of UK's worst-ever Eurovision finish and the UK's only "nul points")

Making Your Mind Up 2004-

  • 2004 - Hold On To Our Love - James Fox
  • 2005 - Touch My Fire - Javine Hylton (Has the UK's second worst-ever showing of 22nd place)

Other contenders

Other names that have appeared in "A Song For Europe" are:

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