United Kingdom UNITED KINGDOM 2022 - Sam Ryder - Space Man

[escYOUnited]

If I was an astronaut, I'd be floating in mid-air
And a broken heart would just belong to someone else down there
I would be the centre of my lonely universe
But I'm only human, and I'm crashing down to earth

If I was an astronaut, I'd have a bird's eye view
I'd circle 'round the world and keep on coming back to you
In my floating castle, I'd rub shoulders with the stars
But I'm only human, and I'm drifting in the dark

I'm up in space, man
Up in space, man
I've searched around the universe
Been down some black holes
There's nothing but space, man
And I want to go home

If I was an astronaut, I'd speak to satellites
My navigation systems would search for other life
But I'd be up here thinking 'bout what I'd left behind
'Cause I'm only human with the real world on my mind

I'm up in space, man
Up in space, man
I've searched around the universe
Been down some black holes
There's nothing but space, man
And I want to go home

Gravity keeps pulling me down
As long as you're on the ground, I'll stick around
Stick around
I'll stick around

I'm up in space, man
Up in space, man
I've searched around the universe
Been down some black holes
There's nothing but space, man, no
Oh, I'm in the wrong place, man
Nothing but, nothing but, nothing but space, man
Nothing but, nothing but, nothing but space, man

I've searched around the universe
Been down some black holes
Nothing but space, man
And I want to go home​

 

[Chrisiam]

Well part of that is fuelled by the BBC doing a "Who might represent us in 2022?".

Who could represent the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022?

Could Bill Bailey, some drag queens, a rock band, a bhangra act or Ed Sheeran restore some pride?

www.bbc.co.uk

Its an interesting read for an article almost totally devoid of substance. I mean, there are some interesting suggestions on there, the issue is that the interesting ones are ones the BBC would never send a bhangra act, Little Boots has suggested that she might try it (though the BBC has reworked that tweet as another Drag Race cross over) but she has been saying that since like 2014, a rock band has been generically suggested by a producer who has worked for Bring me the Horizon and Funeral for a Friend but that is too spicy for the BBC, and a random suggestion of an indie band called The Sherlocks who sound great but again might be too much for the Beeb, H from Steps says he wants them to do it but as we know half the band doesn't so they are out, and Bill Bailey whilst he would be an 'interesting' candidate (I mean he can actually dance which most UK acts can't) he (Like most acts who have wanted to represent the BBC in the past) got frigged around the last time he tried to enter and I imagine the BBC would do the same if it was a little too different for their liking.

Also interestingly looking at Little Boot's tweet Ladytron said they were wanting to collaborate with her after tweeting that they want to enter next year.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1396211279568703490

So contrary to my worries since Saturday there are a lot of acts out there who are showing an interest in it, some credible, some interesting, and some, well, Frock Destroyers, but my worry is that despite the good will that has been pouring out for James and the desire by these acts to do it the BBC will just want to play it safe again.

 

[seagull]

Frock Destroyers are what you send to EuroClub, not Eurovision-period.

It's good old-fashioned BBC risk aversion to the max. Instead of embracing that they are in a Darwinian struggle for survival or to avoid total irrelevance, they can't compute that they have to take this ultra-serious and send someone who really knows what they are hell they doing and then stay the f**k away from their staging and PR campaign.

I'd be TOTALLY up for Little Boots, at least we know she'll bring something people actually enjoy.

 

[A-lister]

I wouldn't be surprised if this Drag act will go in 2022 but it continues to prove how out of touch BBC is with all of this.

That is NOT the solution to the problem!!!

 

[ESCConor]

Why dont the BBC take an actual gamble and send a song in Welsh/Gaelic?

that would be taking a risk and not playing it safe.

 

[Chrisiam]

I am not sure if they will put forwards a drag act though, however that is dependant on what happens between then and now; will the BMG relationship continue? Will other record labels step forwards? Will we go back to national selections? Will the UK still be in the contest? How much creative control will the BBC have on their next entry?

The problem is that whilst doing something with Frock Destroyers or some other Drag Race act makes sense in a cross promotional sense for the BBC the issue is that if they put FD or an other Drag Race act forwards it will only harm their own branding and could put people off from entering future Drag Race shows; if someone doesn't want to do Eurovision they aren't going to do a show which has positioned itself as a selection show (even if its for the sake of one season).

And besides, it takes us back to the core issue again which is that the BBC plays it too safe. Even if there is a drag act out there or even one on Drag Race who is a great act, the kind of which would make us all go "GET THEM IN NOW!" the Beeb isn't going to do it as it would be too much of a risk for them. And if they did they'd be sent with a potentially uninspired and bland song that the BBC forced them to take.

 

[rasmuslights]

I wouldn't be surprised if this Drag act will go in 2022 but it continues to prove how out of touch BBC is with all of this.

That is NOT the solution to the problem!!!

If that happens ughh.. I have faith it won't..

I think Fleur East will represent them next year.

 

[Chrisiam]

I dunno, earlier this year she was asked about it and she seemed rather dismissive of doing it at all. I don't remember exactly what she said and don't want to misquote her but it was essentially her saying "I don't want to do it because its all political now".

 

[Ianp16]

Foxes 2022?

 

[Ali_]

Coincidentally I was thinking the exact same thing last night.

I remember that after the 2019 contest there were some saying that the BBC should pull out of Eurovision and do a "Great British Song Contest" instead. But, truth is they could do that without pulling out of the contest.

Do that as the national selection with artists from across the British Isles (and possibly beyond if the show becomes popular enough to include other British territories) with the winner being crowned the best act in the UK and then they are sent off to Eurovision.

Do it over five weeks (A week for each region in the UK) with the top act/top two acts from each region going to the finals with week six being the finals. It would build up hype for each act regardless of if they win in the end and it would make them more well known in the Eurovision bubble if people are invested in seeing their favourite act going through to the finals.

Only hard requirements I'd like to see is that there would be no celebrity judging panel and the acts taking part can't be some reality TV reject, they need to be an established act; sure they can be unsigned or under the radar so to speak, but they can't just be someone who has spent most of their life as an 'artist' singing into their hair brush as most X Factor dweebs seem to be.

I mean internal selection does prevent against that to a degree but the less control over the end result the BBC has the less chance we end up with something that is nice but not nice enough to vote for.

I love this concept in theory, not sure how it would actually play out (and really don't see it happening but this is a place to throw around any ideas never mind how realistic they are). There is musical diversity across the UK and it would be amazing for more local sounds to be heard by esc fans across Europe and beyond rather than a handful of bog standard pop songs which could be from anywhere.
Looking at the top songs this year the thread between them all is authenticity. I watched with my sister who likes watching Eurovision but just as a Saturday night affair and the songs she loved the most were Ukraine, Russia, The Netherlands (she voted for these 3), Lithuania and Italy.

 

[Chrisiam]

Yeah needless to say it is something I'd love to see happen. And its something the BBC could do and with time build up to be a credible spotlight for talent both for Eurovision and in music generally.

The issue is them wanting to do it and do it in a way that isn't like the X Factor or The Voice, without all the drama and sob stories, and the willingness to allow a more diverse selection of acts on it then they have had in other national selection shows.

And without someone in the company championing it or the public demanding it I can't see it happening. At least not any time soon any way.

 

[Ianp16]

The sad thing is that no one with enough money, the right connections or enough talent to produce a good result cares enough about ESC in the UK. This is the cold hard truth. All the elements need to be in the right place. Like someone has mentioned, even a song that looks right on paper and is performed well isn't even guaranteed a good result. Imagine if Dua Lipa had entered last year with Don't Start Now. Such a mega-hit wouldn't even be guaranteed a top 5 placement. That's how crazy it is. No idea how this could change. We need a miracle. And with the destiny of the actual united kingdom in jeopardy due to the likely Scotland referendum in the next 3-10 years, I don't think anyone with considerable talent even wants to get behind the UK.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. I just can't get my head around how things could drastically improve.

 

[rasmuslights]

I dunno, earlier this year she was asked about it and she seemed rather dismissive of doing it at all. I don't remember exactly what she said and don't want to misquote her but it was essentially her saying "I don't want to do it because its all political now".

I think it was her sister who said that... I think she said it was a nice idea, maybe in the future but I'm not representing the UK this year ... also not sure but sth. like that

 

[A-lister]

Sugababes are making their comeback (with their original line-up), I personally find them one of the best girl groups that ever were. Except for the past line-ups, they were cool, edgy and felt organic.

What do you guys think, would they be up for the challenge? Would they be a good choice?

I mean I don't think they'd be up for it tbh, but I could see juries voting them big time because they all have great vocals and harmonies and with the right song hopefully the public could too.

 

[seagull]

I don't care about who it is per say, as long as they are not a lazy option or a joke or just beige as hell and we score something next year. I will support my country's entry regardless if it's relatively weak or not because it's my country's entry, but I'd rather not feel despair and embarrassment about it or be left saying "it's not that bad, really..." every bloody year!

I agree with the poster above regarding the political dimension. I come from the hardcore Unionist South of Scotland (right next to England), so my perspective is a bit wonky compared to someone who say lives in Renfrewshire or West Lothian or Fife, SNP voting heartlands. The majority of the creative industries have a left-wing lean, the majority of left-wing voters in Scotland (and Northern Ireland) vote for separation, there isn't necessarily the 'buy in' to the country that the act is supposed to be representing and added to all our other woes, questions about whether the act really wants to be competing under that flag or whether they are only in it for the exposure and they actually want to break-up the country is NOT needed. It would be like a very nice, tea-spilling, terribly apologetic and British version of Jamala's infamous question during Vidbir 2018.

It's also worth noting that Wales debuted in the Junior Contest in 2018 and in the Eurovision Choir contest in 2019. Scotland had a Gaelic language entry in the Eurovision Choir contest in 2019 overseen by BBC Alba (a broadcaster whose very existence is controversial given the very small numbers of people who understand the language it broadcasts in and its tendency to not use English subtitling excluding everyone else. There's also the added issue that the Scots language tends to be under-represented in favour of Gaelic because the Highlands are more the version of Scotland the SNP wants to present rather than the more Unionist-leaning Lowlands, we'd have to have Police cars with "Police" written in THREE languages on them if it wasn't). The SNP are very keen to enter separately and were trying to make it happen from as early as 2008. The direction of travel is separate entries in the smaller Contests until a decision is made probably in 2023 or 2024, at least if it's a 'yes, if it's a 'no', then they will ignore the result and keep campaigning for more Referenda, legal or otherwise until they get the result they want.

I do think it's probably too late to make a big change in placings. The last really believable time to recover in a sustainable way was after the 15th place in 2017 when there was a flicker of more interest and staging we could at least be proud of. They seemed to have some kind of strategy, find an experienced live performer (in that case someone from the West End), pair them with a song, do a sympathetic revamp and stage the s**t out of it and that reached 111 points, drawing for third place with Jessica in 2003 in the list of highest British points tallies since the Blessed Katrina after Jade in 2009 with 173 points and Imaani in 1998 (with fewer countries) and 166 points. And then we got SuRie and God bless her, she was shafted on multiple levels. Realistically, I think we're in a 'last hurrah' phase of our history, or the dying embers, no pun intended and now is about going out as gloriously as we can because the BBC left it too late to start to magically get good again.

 

[Sean]

Coincidentally I was thinking the exact same thing last night.

I remember that after the 2019 contest there were some saying that the BBC should pull out of Eurovision and do a "Great British Song Contest" instead. But, truth is they could do that without pulling out of the contest.

Do that as the national selection with artists from across the British Isles (and possibly beyond if the show becomes popular enough to include other British territories) with the winner being crowned the best act in the UK and then they are sent off to Eurovision.

Do it over five weeks (A week for each region in the UK) with the top act/top two acts from each region going to the finals with week six being the finals. It would build up hype for each act regardless of if they win in the end and it would make them more well known in the Eurovision bubble if people are invested in seeing their favourite act going through to the finals.

Only hard requirements I'd like to see is that there would be no celebrity judging panel and the acts taking part can't be some reality TV reject, they need to be an established act; sure they can be unsigned or under the radar so to speak, but they can't just be someone who has spent most of their life as an 'artist' singing into their hair brush as most X Factor dweebs seem to be.

I mean internal selection does prevent against that to a degree but the less control over the end result the BBC has the less chance we end up with something that is nice but not nice enough to vote for.

Basically Melodi Grand Prix but without the bullshit wildcard and prequalifier rules? I'm in

 

[Mrm]

Juries seem to really like black vocals..
Austria 2018
Sweden 2019
Malta 2021

Just a small suggestion for the UK..

These 3 songs are smth UK can come with, easy as hell..

 

[Leydan]

Ehm no, only recognized independent countries should take part. We can't turn Eurovision into the UnitedKingdomVision , but you're actually onto something though, you could have a national selection (a bit similar to Bundesvision that was in Germany) where the different countries of the UK compete with a couple of entries each...

In fact, I think that concept (if executed well) could potentially turn out popular for the BBC.

Its something a lot of us has probably thought. The thing is though is that the British public are very 'bloc-y' in how they vote. In every show with a vote people mostly vote for their local artist rather than what is best. Its actually rumoured that is how Javine Hylton failed to make it into Girls Aloud all them years ago despite being a far better singer than Sarah Harding. Sarah was from Manchester and Javine from London - and London are less likely to vote for their own. I guess its the same in most countries, but I feel like an England vs wales vs Scotland vs N.Ireland show (which I think would be a cool show for music diversity) would just end up being who can outvote the others - even if people don't consciously know they're doing it.

 

[hungo]

how the british public votes is not important. I mean the songs they can vote for are just grab. constantly each year.

 

[Alaska49]

at this point the BBC suddenly dropping dead and ITV/channel 4 picking eurovision up instead is the occam's razor way for UK to do well in eurovision again because BBC will just never care

 

[Chrisiam]

They'll care about it when/if ITV ends up doing Junior Eurovision again and ends up getting decent results as it was doing when they were in charge of it; the UK came second in the first year, third in its second, and fourteenth in its final year but ITV had pretty much given up by that point due to low viewing figures so it makes sense the drop in results happened so swiftly.

Because if ITV or some other broadcaster were to do that and start to get decent results from it in comparison to the main contest that is only going to result in a lot of awkward questions being asked of the Beeb.

That is wishful thinking I'll grant you, but it isn't beyond the realms of possibility to happen.