United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

The United Kingdom chose their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 on the BBC programme Eurovision: Your Decision. It replaced the former selection programme, Making Your Mind Up after a string of bad results. It was broadcast on BBC One on Saturday 1 March 2008.

Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Country United Kingdom
National selection
Selection processEurovision: Your Decision
Selection date(s)1 March 2008
Selected entrantAndy Abraham
Selected song"Even If"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Final result25th, 14 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2007 • 2008 • 2009►

Andy Abraham was the winner of the contest with the song "Even If" and went on to represent the United Kingdom in Serbia.[1] As a member of the 'Big 4', the United Kingdom was one of five countries directly qualified into the final on 24 May 2008 and does not need to compete in either of the semi-finals, although it was able to vote in the second of the two semi-finals.

Before Eurovision

Early rumors

One of the rumours about the show was that the finalists of UK TV shows How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? and Any Dream Will Do would participate in a newly revamped Making Your Mind Up with songs written by the likes of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Gary Barlow.[2] This format was partially used in the final format, with one of the categories being 'Joseph Vs. Maria', with one artist from each show competing to make it into the semi-final.

There were wide sweeping rumours about which artists were going to try for Eurovision, one in particular was Bill Bailey however his tour in Australia kept him out, however he said that he might try out for next year. Ultimately, Terry Wogan announced on 13 February 2008 on his radio show, Wake Up To Wogan, that a new national final show would replace Making Your Mind Up.

Eurovision: Your Decision

Eurovision: Your Decision was the national final developed by the BBC in order to select the British entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Six acts competed in a televised show on 1 March 2008 held at the BBC Studio 8 in London and hosted by Terry Wogan and Claudia Winkleman, who replaced Fearne Cotton. The show was broadcast on BBC One between 19:00 and 21:30 GMT.

Competing entries

Six finalists were divided into three categories. The first category was girl groups. LoveShy is the creation of Emma Beard and Aimee Kearsley, two former members of girl group Clea while The Revelations were made up of three friends. The second category was Josephs v Marias, consisting of two finalists from reality TV shows How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? (Simona Armstrong) and Any Dream Will Do (Rob McVeigh). The final category was soloists, consisting of ex-Eastender star turned singer Michelle Gayle and former The X Factor participant Andy Abraham.[3] The six competing songs were released on 22 February 2008.[4]

Categories (Duels round)

Six acts competed during the first round of the televised final on 1 March 2008. An expert panel consisting of Terry Wogan, John Barrowman and Carrie Grant selected one song per category to advance to the final. An additional wildcard finalist was selected by Wogan out of the remaining non-qualifying acts. The panel selected "It's You" performed by The Revelations, "Changes" performed by Simona Armstrong and "Woo (U Make Me)" performed by Michelle Gayle as the three finalists. Wogan selected "Even If" performed by Andy Abraham as the wildcard finalist.[5]

Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Votes of the expert panel Result
Barrowman Grant Wogan Total
Duel 1 – Girl Groups
1 LoveShy "Mr. Gorgeous" Oscar Gorres, Teresia Bjarneby, Aimee Kearsley, Emma Beard 0 Eliminated
2 The Revelations "It's You" Adam Howorth X X N/A 2 Finalist
Duel 2 – Joseph Vs. Maria
1 Rob McVeigh "I Owe It All to You" Paul Barry, Mark Read 0 Eliminated
2 Simona Armstrong "Changes" Simon Ellis, Emma McGettrick, Mari Loretzen, Eleanor Wilson, Caroline Reed X X X 3 Finalist
Duel 3 – Soloists
1 Michelle Gayle "Woo (U Make Me)" Michelle Gayle, Morten Schjolin, Rashelle Davies X X X 3 Finalist
2 Andy Abraham "Even If" Andy Abraham, Paul Wilson, Andy Watkins 0 Wildcard

Final

The remaining four acts competed in the final. A public vote selected the top two songs, "Woo (U Make Me)" performed by Michelle Gayle and "Even If" performed by Andy Abraham, to advance to the second round, the superfinal. In the superfinal, the public vote selected the winner, "Even If" performed by Andy Abraham.[5][6]

Final – 1 March 2008
Draw Artist Song Result
1 The Revelations "It's You" Eliminated
2 Simona Armstrong "Changes" Eliminated
3 Michelle Gayle "Woo (U Make Me)" Superfinalist
4 Andy Abraham "Even If" Superfinalist
Superfinal – 1 March 2008
Draw Artist Song Place
1 Michelle Gayle "Woo (U Make Me)" 2
2 Andy Abraham "Even If" 1

Commentators and spokespersons

At Eurovision

As one of the 'Big 4' countries, UK automatically qualified for the final on 24 May 2008.In the final he performed second following Romania and preceding Albania. Although Andy did hope the song would make a good showing in Belgrade, his task was not made easy. He came last with only 14 points. Following Eurovision tie-breaking rules, the United Kingdom was placed last overall as it had fewer 12-point votes than Germany and fewer 10-point votes than Poland.

After Eurovision

BBC Eurovision host Terry Wogan called Abraham's song, "Even If", "the best UK entry for a while",[9] expressed frustration with the contest result and suggested that Britain follows Italy's suit and no longer enter the competition.[10] In his radio show on 27 May, Wogan remarked on a conversation with Abraham, who had said that he was not expecting a high vote for the usual 'block voting' reasons, and 'another reason' which Wogan was not prepared to discuss on air, presumed to be related to Abraham's race. In an interview, Swedish group Bodies Without Organs stated that if the UK put in more effort then they can win. They also mentioned in the interview that they had been invited to participate in a United Kingdom national final before, but refused as they were not allowed to write their own song.[11]

Points awarded by United Kingdom

Points awarded to the United Kingdom
Points awarded to the United Kingdom (Final)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

See also

References
  1. Schacht, Andreas (1 March 2008). "UK selects Andy Abraham!". www.eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2 March 2008.
  2. Reality stars to sing in Eurovision for Britain - Sunday Mirror Archived 23 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Royston, Benny (18 February 2008). "UK: Soloists, Girl Groups and Joseph Vs. Maria". Esctoday.
  4. Royston, Benny (22 February 2008). "United Kingdom: Songs online". Esctoday.
  5. Lewis, Cole (1 March 2008). "Live: United Kingdom – National Final Results". Esctoday.
  6. "UK selects Andy Abraham!". eurovision.tv. 1 March 2008.
  7. Press Office (2 May 2008). "Eurovision Song Contest 2008: BBC coverage". BBC. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  8. "Talking Shop: Carrie Grant". BBC News. 21 May 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
  9. "Russia scoops Eurovision victory". BBC News. 24 May 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  10. Staff writer (25 May 2008). "Wogan 'may quit Eurovision role'". BBC News Online. Retrieved 25 May 2008.
  11. Levine, Nick (1 August 2008). "Music - Interview - BWO - Digital Spy". Digital Spy. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
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