The United Kingdom is participating since 1957 in the Eurovision Song Contest, one year after the first song contest was held. Without any doubt, the UK is one of the most successful countries over the entire history of the contest, no other country could make so many top 3 positions, three times number 3, fifteen times number 2 and five times number one: “Puppet on a string” by Sandie Shaw (1967), “Boom-Bang-a-bang” by Lulu (1969), “Save your kisses for me” by Brotherhood of Man (1976), “Making your mind up” by Bucks Fizz (1981) and “Love Shine a Light” by Katrina & The Waves (1997). The golden days of the UK were long lasting until the end of the 90’s. When the countries from Eastern Europe came to the contest and every country did not have to sing in it’s native language anymore, the golden days were over. The last successful entry was “Come back” performed by Jessica Garlick in 2002, who came third. The UK was disappointed that there were so little “12 Points” anymore, which they were used to get over the decades. The Eastern European countries have shown more effort and strength to bring high quality entries. The classic ESC countries from Western Europe are challenged now.

This year you can see many good entries from Western Europe. And the UK has made a total makeover of the determination of the Eurovision entry. Due to the fact that the popular commentator Terry Wogan has quitted is job after unimaginable decades, the new show concept was named “Your country needs you”. This is a casting show, which seem to be very popular nowadays. The biggest surprise was that the BBC got the very very famous composer Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber as the composer for the UK entry. Everybody knows that he is mainly known for musicals like Phantom of the Opera. And the winning contestant was Jade. She will now appear on stage in Moscow with the song called “My time”. This is a musical styled ballad with, which is not that catchy by first hearing. It’s indeed a bit old fashioned and sounds a bit like a ballad from the 80’s by Whitney Houston. The UK was always known for excellent up to date songs in the Eurovision. So it might be a step back. The words “My time” will be used at least a hundred times, which is quite nerve racking. The great advantage is the late starting position in the final (23.), which should bring some extra points. If France sends Patricia Kaas, the UK can also do so and send an Andrew Lloyd Webber song. It’s quite interesting, which of these countries is going to shape up better.