The United Kingdom was one of the first countries which joined at the earliest stage of the Eurovision family in 1957. The UK has proofed over all these years a very high level of good music. This effort was rewarded with five victories. The last time Katrina & The Waves could get back the crown with a fulminant victory.
The UK and Ireland always had a slight advantage with the language, especially in those times when every county had to sing in it’s native language. A song in Danish really sounds different than in English. But with the new rules like no orchestra anymore, televoting and free choice of language, the advantage of the UK and Ireland has gone. Nowadays Azerbaijan or even France can sing in English. Furthermore the number of countries has increased, we are now at 43 countries this year. And the Eastern Europeans are very eager, more than the Western Europeans, to show their best acts. That’s probably the lesson which has to be relearned by the Western Europeans.

This year the UK really can offer a smash hit called “Even if”. It’s a groovy funk song, sung by a black dustman who became a star over night. Maybe this is the chance to show that Western Europe is still able to bring cool sounds into Eurovision and it’s back on track. Good luck for the United Kingdom!