United Kingdom UNITED KINGDOM 2026

[ESC United Mod Team]

 

[Harry]

RINA SAWAYAMA!!!!!!!!

Now I’ve got the annual tradition out of the way - can we PLEASE send some proper rock!

 

[Ewigkeit]

Jade Thirlwall or Ceechynaa if the whole Europe’s ready for that

 

[Harry]

Jade Thirlwall or Ceechynaa if the whole Europe’s ready for that

Pegging Martin Österdahl on the back of a bus

Douze pointe!!!

 

[SpiritofKeiino]

I'd like to see something from a different genre maybe than pop - rock, RnB, reggae, bhangra, folk?

 

[Chrisiam]

So, I'll pre-emptively ask, "What the hell just happened?".

 

[Fluke]

Can the UK ever send an actual rock band? And not some Wild Youth-type construct... really, what's stopping them?

 

[Harry]

Can the UK ever send an actual rock band? And not some Wild Youth-type construct... really, what's stopping them?

The British Bland Corporation are!

I want us to send some metal, go wild with it, but like hellllll would the BBC ever go for that.

 

[Chrisiam]

Honestly? Given that Norton has said in the past that he doesn't believe that rock/metal acts shouldn't really be at the contest it wouldn't surprise me if that was reflective of a wider opinion in the BBC.

 

[Leydan]

It will be an unknown singer/group with a pop song, and will come mid right side at best

 

[gigi_copp3]

BIRDY!

Or barely anyone who can sing

 

[Himan]

Just host a UK final, honestly your choices were bad.

 

[SpiritofKeiino]

I'd stick with an internal selection. The mix of song and vocals hasn't been quite right since 2023. Choose someone with a good song AND good performance ability.

 

[ESCConor]

Just host a UK final, honestly your choices were bad.

We need sustained success first before we move to a national final. I would stick with an internal selection for the time being.

 

[Himan]

Sure but if the ones who chooses are wrong... oh well it got way more jury points than expected honestly! So congrats on proving me wrong.

 

[Sean]

Has to be a different genre. Every song we've sent can be put into the 'pop' or 'ballad' category since at least 1995.

 

[SpiritofKeiino]

Ska, reggae, metal, grime, anything but pop.

 

[Rocket man]

Looking back at all the UK entries, it's why the 1990's decade was my favourite era for UK Eurovision entries because we were sending different genres of music mostly every year. It was much more interesting and risky from the UK.

I don't know why the BBC are so set in their ways about that it must only be pop music for Eurovision.

 

[bstream]

I have been one of the big “vocals first” supporters, but “vocals first” doesn’t mean vocals only.

As for the odds, looks like UK is in a similar spot to this time last year — right outside the top 10 most likely to win, and near/at most likely to lose. I’d assume this means another lower-mid-table finish.

So, I was right lol.

The issue remains. You need strong vocals, which they more or less achieved, but you also need a strong song. This isn't uniquely a UK problem, but it has been demonstrated (especially this year) that each country has different expectations placed on them. This is further supported by the statements from others in this and the previous thread about the UK being among the top 3 largest exporters of music and musical talent. The UK needs to submit not just "a" song, or even a "passable" song, but the cleanest and most stage-ready song they can muster in order to score a top 10 placing (or higher). Italy is rewarded year over year for this exact reason. While the BBC seems allergic to the idea of doing a British "Melodifestivalen" or a "Sanremo," they should at least invest the funds needed to produce a Sanremo-quality internally selected package of vocals + song + performance.

Mae Muller said during Eurovision week (https://x.com/maemuller_/status/1923129229127917954):

"sorry but they put me up there to sing a song which is meant to be sung with heavy auto tune (just the vibe of the song) with no proper background vocals, and i was nervous as hell which didn’t help but like they fed me to the LIONSSSS omfg"

I think this summarizes where the UK has been song-wise + how ill-prepared the artists feel throughout the whole process. Mae herself went one to have a song with several million streams the same summer she participated.

 

[Lietuvis]

Corporations only care about not offending anyone and playing it safe. It's how you end up with entries that receive 0 points from the public televote. James Newman was definitely not the worst in the Eurovision in 2021... But he may have been the most forgettable one.