It’s Not Political
May 27, 2008 – 12:59 amCongratulations Dima Bilan and Russia! Woo! To nobody’s surprise, the United Kingdom came last in the Eurovision Song Contest and there is again talk of politcal voting.
Let us compare Russia’s entry to the United Kingdom:
Russia chose a singer who has won both Artist of the Year and Song of the Year at the MTV Russia Music Awards more than once. He has had several number one hits in Russia and is launching an international career. Russia invested over €10million and Bilan was accompanied on stage by one of Russia’s top violinists and an Olympic figure skater.
The United Kingdom sent a bin man.
Now maybe I’m being unfair. I like Andy Abraham and I think he is good. Personally I feel that he was on par with Shane Ward and either of them could have won X-Factor and deserved it. On Saturday night, he gave the performace of his life for his country. He sang well, he performed well but I just don’t think the song was right for Eurovision.
I believe that with a good song and a good singer, the United Kingdom could still do well and could even still win again. We last won in 1997 with Love Shine A Light and came third in 2002 with Jessica Garlick’s Come Back. She performed second on the night (statistically the worse spot) and I believe with a better draw, she could have won. Since Jessica Garlick, we’ve had a string of poor songs. When we don’t the competition seriously, the rest of Europe won’t take us seriously and won’t vote for us.
The options this year that the BBC gave the British public to vote on were poor. Let’s select a decent song next year and see what happens.