UK and the car crash entries

Up until now I managed to stay under the impression that Electro Velvet could turn out to be a bit of a positive surprise in Vienna. That they could add a bit of humour and cheek and perhaps even have a shot at top ten on a good day.

Today they had their first rehearsal and got the most uniformly negative reception of the year from people on location. So much for hoping, I guess.

The problem is - as usual - that the performance isn't good enough. In a parallel universe "Still In Love With You" could have been a modest radio hit if sold well but these singers are nowhere near good enough to deliver like they should.

Very much like Jemini back in the day. I remember calling it the niftiest little pop song the UK has entered in a while, but then came that outrageously amateurish performance that still makes me shiver. Where hardly a single note hit home correctly. Where the over-excited shouting of "Come on, Latvia!" was only the last of an impressive numbers of nails in the coffin. And then some people had the nerve to blame the final result on politics.

After Jemini, no UK entry has felt really professional. At least not as professional as we would have the right to expect. Some years there has been an absence of failure but not the huge amount of talent we would have the right to expect. UK is the King of Pop in Europe. We all know what they are capable of. We all wonder why we have to put up with sub-standard like this.

Honestly, the last time the UK really showed their muscles were in 1998 where Imaani really shone and made it look very easy to be better and classier than most. The rest of us wanted to cling to that illusion. We didn't want the dream to shatter. We wanted the UK to be superior, someone to look up to, someone to admire and be a bit jealous of.

After the nul points in Riga we just couldn't close our eyes anymore. We want pop perfection and we get Electro Velvet. And that surprise top ten placing feels way out of reach.



Jemini - Cry Baby (United Kingdom 2003)