It has taken some years to have another national final in the United Kingdom. On BBC 4, not the most watched British TV channel, the song for Stockholm has been determined in a lovely made TV show. Last year’s winner Måns Zelmeröw opened the show with his winning entry “Heroes”. He will also be the host of this year’s ESC in Stockholm together with Petra Mede, who has been the only host in the 2013 edition.

Out of six candidates, the duo Joe and Jake could gain the majority of the public votes. There has been an expert jury, consisting of the former UK winner Katrina Leskovic (Katrina & The Waves). The jury was only able to comment the entries but had no voting rights. Katrina was also performing on stage with her winning entry from 1997 “Love Shine A Light”.
Unfortunately, none of the songs has been of that quality, with which Katrina could capture the European hearts. All songs were of medium quality, but there was no ESC winner among them.

It’s great to see that the UK is giving it another try after all the years of disappointment. The audience in the TV studio was enthusiastic and showed how much the UK people really love the ESC. There has also been a “best of Terry Wogan’s comments”. Terry Wogan was also responsible for the reputation of the ESC in the UK. Of course, his comments are legendary, but it has also pushed the event in the trash corner. Nowadays, other countries do even have more contemporary entries as the motherland of pop, the UK.

Author: Bernd LemmermannEmail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Public relations, Editor, Journalist

About me:
As one of the founders of eurovisionlive.com I am responsible for the interviews with the singers and the editorial content. My passion for the Eurovision Song Contest exists since my early childhood. The exotic music, different cultures and languages have given a lot of inspiration to me. Since my very first ESC in Dublin 1994 I particularly appreciate the get together and friendship of all the nationalities and Riverdance was a thrill!