A Swede who lives in Finland and who is lost in Euroland - the wonderful world of Eurovision
There is always some matter to discuss or just a song I want to share
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Friday, January 9, 2015

Runner-up: United Kingdom 1975

Every year since 1964, the BBC had internally selected a star - often somebody who was flavour of the month - to do a personal Song for Europe and perform all the songs in the national final.

The stars in question were not seldom unhappy about the songs they ended up going to Eurovision with, but the system had resulted in two victories and four second places. Why change a winning concept?

However, for the formula to work you need somebody with star quality willing to take on the task. In 1975, that seems to have been quite a challenge.

Not that The Shadows were unknown; they had been 60's superstars as Cliff Richard's backing group and even scored the odd hit single by themselves as well. They just didn't seem very hot at the moment. Mary Hopkin or Lulu they were not.

Also the song - the first out of four UK entries written by Paul Curtis - was a disappointingly tame little ditty. OK but not much more. And yet it ended up scoring heavily, taking the silver slot in Stockholm.

A deserved 2nd place?
Absolutely not. If the song was plain and ordinary, the live performance was unfocused and lazy. Not very charming at all. How this could beat Italy into third place remains a mystery.



The Shadows - Let Me Be The One (United Kingdom 1975)

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