United Kingdom UNITED KINGDOM 2024 - Olly Alexander - Dizzy

[ESC United Mod Team]

 

[theditz83]

Can someone please stop my thumbs clicking on comments sections of news stories about "Olly's embarrassing failure" from online press? It's absolutely infuriating...

Whiner A: They all hate us - we'll never do well, we should pack it in.
Sensible Person: You do remember it's only two years ago that Same Ryder came 2nd?
Whiner B: And it was well-publicised that he only did well because UK was giving all the help to Ukraine with their refugees. Nothing to do with the song or the singer - he'd finish last this year as well.

I mean, where do you even start with that?? Olly didn't finish last, but apparently that's how the noisy nay-sayers have categorised the 0 points from the public. And I'm also pretty sure a large number of other countries had valid claims on 2nd place in 2022 if rehoming refugees was the only criteria for success.

Another whiner also apparently claimed that the only reason we came runner-up was because the organisers needed a trusty broadcaster to take over the hosting for 2023, and that could only be the BBC. Pretty sure there have been a number of high-profile corruption scandals in recent years that would paint a vastly different picture of our broadcaster!!

The nationalist vitriol is just sooooo old now! I wouldn't actually care if we didn't take part anymore tbh - I watch Eurovision for the delights that all the other competitors bring, and I still remember how utterly bizarre it felt cheering on Sam in 2022. I'm just not programmed anymore to be waving our flag at our representative - Eurovision for me is a celebration of the rest of the competing countries and their acts.

 

[Storm]

Agree that the UK needs to either send better singers or make better use of how much the playback and prerecorded vocals allow lol. I feel like both this year and last year they might have had the worst sounding entries in the grand final. Wasn't a big fan of the staging either, not because of its sexiness but just a generel sense of confusion and distracting from the song. At the same time, I don't have a better stage concept for the song in my mind, not the easiest thing to come up with. Still enjoy listening to the audio track though.

 

[ESCConor]

What I have found very interesting so far from the social media reaction is that I havent seen as many people on social media blame politics, everybody hates us narrative etc, instead many, and I mean many people are saying to bring Sam Ryder back.

I thought id point it out cause thats very different from the past when we've had poor results.

 

[Augustas]

Imo Olly had the worst vocal capabilities together probably with Kaleen. I think staging was cool, professional, I did not find it too vulgar (it's Eurovision after all) and I am not even gay. However, this staging somehow reminded me Dance you off in 2018, where the performace looked like a video clip as well and did not connect with the public at all.

 

[Leydan]

What I have found very interesting so far from the social media reaction is that I havent seen as many people on social media blame politics, everybody hates us narrative etc, instead many, and I mean many people are saying to bring Sam Ryder back.

I thought id point it out cause thats very different from the past when we've had poor results.

Well you're lucky then because i have seen countless bitter reactions saying we should withdraw, Europe hates us and Sam only got 2nd because of politics and us helping Ukraine/they needed us to host in their place.

 

[CatTully]

The staging on this felt very try-hard in some way idk. The song is nothing special, though I didn't expect 0 points from televote lol.

 

[ESCConor]

Well you're lucky then because i have seen countless bitter reactions saying we should withdraw, Europe hates us and Sam only got 2nd because of politics and us helping Ukraine/they needed us to host in their place.

Unfortunately these kinds of comments come from UK locals who probably only watch the final every year and dont follow it all year round like we do.

 

[Rocket man]

I see the legend #samryder has been trending on UK twitter the last couple of days.

Look I swear the BBC overcomplicate it, I genuinely believe they want to win Eurovision now but just keep it simple.

- Vocals, a strong, powerful voice, someone you know when they get on that stage will always nail it vocally.
- Stage Presence, you need someone that can connect with the audience and command the stage, and build an emotional connection to the audience on tv.
- Artistry, you want someone that makes them distinct and original, whether it's their musical talent or creative mind.

Or sometimes find a song that is so good, it will win no matter what, like this one.

 

[crashworld]

So how is he doing chart wise? Any early projection? Or it's limping like a ED?
At least Mae got a top 10 hit despite that lackluster performance.

To be fair, in hindsight, does the song warrant that kind of staging? I know it's for the shock value, but unfortunately it didn't pay off entirely. Seems like a miscalculation.

But then again, it will be fine, it's not a double-zero treatment. Olly will just continue with his mainstream gigs. Don't think it has caused him anything with this participation, though I also don't think it helps too.

 

[AlekS]

My mom: "I like gays! " Thanx, mom! At the end, when choreo wh*ring intensified: "But this is too much."
My dad didn't like it, but he said Olly didn't deserve 0 points or even the bottom 5.
I've seen his performances before he was chosen by the BBC, so my main concerns right from the start were his vocals and questionable staging, and this is exactly what happened.

 

[Wolf7]

I loved the staging and voted for the UK but I will still say what I said before: The song didnt fit the vibe of the staging at all.
Like instead of an inoffensive pop song it could have used some good BPM trance/house song. Vocally Olly wasnt good either.
UK is on the right track, Mae was one of my favorites last year, it just seems that they have issues with the end package.

 

[MopManMoss]

Im not homophobic it was just too much and I felt the same with Poland 2014 for the record, also he couldn't sing well at all

Seems like Sam Ryder was merely a mirage rather than any serious revival i fully expect bambie to be the same lol being on eurosong 2025

 

[AlekS]

So how is he doing chart wise? Any early projection? Or it's limping like a ED?
At least Mae got a top 10 hit despite that lackluster performance.

To be fair, in hindsight, does the song warrant that kind of staging? I know it's for the shock value, but unfortunately it didn't pay off entirely. Seems like a miscalculation.

But then again, it will be fine, it's not a double-zero treatment. Olly will just continue with his mainstream gigs. Don't think it has caused him anything with this participation, though I also don't think it helps too.

 

[Lumina]

I had a bunch of people with me who didn’t engage in pre-ESC activities so they saw it for the first time.

All of them didn‘t get the performance or didn’t like it, even the gay couple that was with us. They said there was no need to present the song in such a matter. It didn’t appeal to them personally and they felt it was too much on stage, distracting from the song.

 

[crashworld]

Doesn't look like it's a hit in the making, especially in his own country. Maybe he is doing better in Apple Music? LOL.

 

[Chrisiam]

Dizzy is the first UK Eurovision track since Bigger Than Us whose Eurovision Youtube page upload did not trend in the UK (or at least no longer than a couple of days). The version on Olly's YouTube page did, but only for about three days or so.

I don't remember the exact figures, but Last Breath was trending in the YouTube music chart in the UK for about three weeks, Embers for about a month (maybe even a month and a half), Space Man was about a fortnight if just over, and I Wrote A Song about a week and a half. Dizzy came out and vanished from the public consciousness almost as soon as it arrived. And from what I hear it got next to no air time in the UK radio stations either.

Don't get me wrong, but Dizzy is a perfectly fine pop song. But when Olly was announced it is fair to say that everyone expected more, so when it came out people weren't that impressed. And even those of us who liked it didn't like it as much as we'd like. And in the end, it was just fine. And that is all it was.

 

[Leydan]

Dizzy is in the official charts top 10 trending^^

 

[AlekS]

Dizzy is in the official charts top 10 trending^^

Yep. #10 thanks to sales (currently at #10 on Itunes) and he can finish like this in the singles chart.
He flopped streaming. #65 on Apple Music. Out of Spotify top 200. Not in the top 20 on Youtube (streams, not trends).

 

[Leydan]

Yep. #10 thanks to sales (currently at #10 on Itunes) and he can finish like this in the singles chart.
He flopped streaming. #65 on Apple Music. Out of Spotify top 200. Not in the top 20 on Youtube (streams, not trends).

Yes, even on release it didn't enter the top spotify playlist which I thought it would. It's ironic tbh, before the song release the BBC team stated their aim was to have a commercial hit going into the contest and they absolutely did not achieve that

 

[theditz83]

Or sometimes find a song that is so good, it will win no matter what, like this one.

I hate this song and singer so much - irritates me no end!!!