United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Country  United Kingdom
National selection
Selection process Internal Selection
Selection date(s) 7 March 2015
Selected entrant Electro Velvet
Selected song "Still in Love with You"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • David Mindel
  • Adrian Bax White
Finals performance
Final result 24th, 5 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2014 • 2015 • 2016►

The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Still in Love with You", written by David Mindel and Adrian Bax White. The song was performed by the duo Electro Velvet. British broadcaster BBC announced that it would internally select the entry that would represent the United Kingdom at the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. BBC held an open submission period for interested artists and songs to submit their bids in addition to considering proposals from record companies and their own BBC Introducing platform. After receiving approximately 300 submissions, an expert panel selected the song "Still in Love with You" performed by the duo Electro Velvet as the British entry. The artists and song were presented to the public in a special presentation show titled Our Song for Eurovision 2015 broadcast via the BBC Red Button service in March 2015.

As a member of the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), the United Kingdom competed directly in the final on 23 May 2015 and did not have to qualify from one of two semi-finals held on 19 May and 21 May. However, the United Kingdom was obligated to vote in the second semi-final. In the United Kingdom's fifty-eighth Eurovision appearance on 23 May, "Still in Love with You" finished in twenty-fourth place out of 27 competing songs with 5 points.

Background

Prior to the 2015 Contest, the United Kingdom had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-seven times since its first entry in 1957.[1] The United Kingdom has, thus far, won the competition five times: in 1967 with the song "Puppet on a String" performed by Sandie Shaw, in 1969 with the song "Boom Bang-a-Bang" performed by Lulu, in 1976 with the song "Save Your Kisses for Me" performed by Brotherhood of Man, in 1981 with the song "Making Your Mind Up" performed by Bucks Fizz, and in 1997 with the song "Love Shine a Light" performed by Katrina and the Waves. To this point, the nation is noted for having finished as the runner-up in a record fifteen contests. Up to and including 1998, the UK had only twice finished outside the top 10, in 1978 and 1987. Since 1999, the year in which the rule was abandoned that songs must be performed in one of the official languages of the country participating, the UK has had less success, thus far only finishing within the top ten twice: in 2002 with the song "Come Back" performed by Jessica Garlick and in 2009 with the song "It's My Time" performed by Jade Ewen. For the 2014 contest, the BBC selected Molly Smitten-Downes through their BBC Introducing platform, which supports new and unsigned artists. Performing the song "Children of the Universe", she placed 17th.

BBC confirmed that the United Kingdom would participate in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest on 9 September 2014.[2] On 6 October 2014, the BBC announced the first details regarding the selection of the British entry.[3]

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

On 6 October 2014, BBC announced an open submission for interested artists to submit their songs in the form of a video recording.[4] The submission period lasted until 7 November 2014. In addition to the submissions they received from the public, the BBC also considered entries from record labels and the BBC Introducing platform.[5] A panel of experts listened to all entries by 14 November 2014 and shortlisted artists were informed no later than 21 November 2014.[6] On 24 February 2015, the executive producer and head of delegation of Eurovision for the BBC, Guy Freeman, announced in his blog that the British artist and song would be revealed on 7 March 2015 on the BBC Red Button service via a show entitled Our Song for Eurovision 2015.[7][8][9] The BBC also confirmed that their entry came from their online submission process,[10] which received just under 300 applications.[11]

On 7 March 2015, the song "Still in Love with You" written by David Mindel and Adrian Bax White and performed by the duo Electro Velvet was revealed as the British entry during the 10-minute show Our Song for Eurovision 2015, hosted by Scott Mills. Electro Velvet consisted of singers Alex Larke and Bianca Nicholas, who formed the duo specifically for the Eurovision Song Contest.[12]

At Eurovision

Electro Velvet during a press conference

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation.[13] As a member of the "Big 5", the United Kingdom automatically qualified to compete in the final on 23 May 2015. In addition to their participation in the final, the United Kingdom was also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. During the semi-final allocation draw on 26 January 2015, the United Kingdom was assigned to broadcast and vote in the second semi-final on 21 May 2015.[14]

In the United Kingdom, the semi-finals were broadcast on BBC Three with commentary by Scott Mills and Mel Giedroyc.[15] The second semi-final was simulcast on BBC Radio 2 Eurovision, a pop-up DAB station, with commentary from Ana Matronic.[16] The final was televised on BBC One with commentary by Graham Norton and broadcast via radio on BBC Radio 2 and Radio 2 Eurovision with commentary by Ken Bruce.[17] The British spokesperson, who announced the British votes during the final, was Nigella Lawson.[18]

Final

Electro Velvet at a dress rehearsal for the final

Electro Velvet took part in technical rehearsals on 17 and 20 May,[19][20] followed by dress rehearsals on 22 and 23 May. This included the jury final where professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries.[21] After technical rehearsals were held on 20 May, the "Big 5" countries, host nation Austria and special guest Australia held a press conference. As part of this press conference, the artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. The United Kingdom was drawn to compete in the first half.[22] Following the conclusion of the second semi-final, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final. The running order for the semi-finals and final was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. The United Kingdom was subsequently placed to perform in position 5, following the entry from Estonia and before the entry from Armenia.[23]

The stage show featured two stage prop staircases from which each member of Electro Velvet made their entrance. Bianca Nicholas was dressed in a cerise pink 1920's style dress while Alex Larke was dressed in an aubergine coloured suit. The duo was joined by two female backing vocalists, Scarlette Douglas and Sophie Carmen Jones, dressed in purple and two male backing vocalists, Chris Arias and Ryan Heseltine, dressed in black and white. The background LED screens displayed Art Deco designs and flashing lights, which would transition to neon colours. An additional feature of the performance was that each performer's outfit was equipped with lights that would turn on when the stage transitioned to darker neon colours.[19][20][24]

At the conclusion of the voting, the United Kingdom finished in twenty-fourth place with 5 points.[25][26]

Voting

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member were released shortly after the grand final.[27]

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that the United Kingdom had placed twenty-fourth with the public televote and twenty-third with the jury vote. In the public vote, the United Kingdom scored 7 points and in the jury vote the nation scored 12 points.[28]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to the United Kingdom and awarded by the United Kingdom in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:[29][26][30][31]

Points awarded to United Kingdom

Points awarded by United Kingdom

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the British jury:[27]

References

  1. ↑ "United Kingdom Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  2. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (9 September 2014). "United Kingdom: BBC confirms participation in Eurovision 2015". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  3. ↑ Weaver, Jessica (6 October 2014). "United Kingdom: BBC call for song submissions". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  4. ↑ Storvik-Green, Simon (6 October 2014). "BBC launches open selection for 2015 British entry". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  5. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest: BBC asks public for entries". BBC News. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  6. ↑ Freeman, Guy (6 October 2014). "Looking forward to 2015". BBC. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  7. ↑ Freeman, Guy (24 February 2015). "Coming soon: The UK Eurovision reveal". BBC Eurovision Blog. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  8. ↑ Weaver, Jessica (7 March 2015). "Tonight United Kingdom's act presented.". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  9. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (24 February 2015). "United Kingdom entry to be revealed on 7th March". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  10. ↑ Lewis, Pete. "United Kingdom: Entry revealed on 7 March". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  11. ↑ "United Kingdom: "Our song is a contrast to last year" – Guy Freeman". Escxtra.com. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  12. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (7 March 2015). "Electro Velvet to represent the United Kingdom". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  13. ↑ Siim, Jarmo (10 February 2015). "Australia to compete in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  14. ↑ Escudero, Victor M. (26 January 2015). "Allocation Draw results: Who's in which Semi-Final?". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  15. ↑ BBC Three Entertainment (27 April 2015). "Mel Giedroyc to join Scott Mills as co-host of BBC Three's Eurovision Song Contest Semi Finals coverage". BBC. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  16. ↑ "BBC Radio 2 Eurovision Returns!". BBC Eurovision. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  17. ↑ "Electro Velvet unveiled as UK Entrant for Eurovision Song Contest 2015". BBC Media Centre. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  18. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (23 May 2015). ""Good evening Vienna" - Voting order revealed". eurovision.tv. EBU. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  19. 1 2 Roxburgh, Gordon (17 May 2015). "Electro Velvet swing into action". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  20. 1 2 Roxburgh, Gordon (20 May 2015). "Light and smooth as velvet for the UK". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  21. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (22 May 2015). "Decision night for the 40 juries around Europe...and beyond". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  22. ↑ Omelyanchuk, Olena (20 May 2015). "LIVE: Day 10 at the Wiener Stadthalle". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  23. ↑ Storvik-Green, Simon (22 May 2015). "Running order for Grand Final revealed!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  24. ↑ "Electro Velvet: Still in love with you". eurovisionartists.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  25. ↑ Storvik-Green, Simon; Roxburgh, Gordon (24 May 2015). "Sweden wins 2015 Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  26. 1 2 "Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Grand Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  27. 1 2 Bakker, Sietse (1 May 2015). "Exclusive: Here are this year's national juries!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  28. ↑ Quinn, Angus (24 May 2015). "Eurovision 2015 Split Results: Who Did the Jury Hurt?". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  29. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 2015 First Semi-Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  30. ↑ "United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Second Semi-Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  31. ↑ "United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Grand Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
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