wibble

So it’s all over for another year, and again a poor showing for the UK entry. While in some ways it wasn’t the best song, I find it hard to believe that Scooch only managed to get two countries voting for them.

Unlike 2003, where the ‘nul points’ was seen as a political statement about the opposition to the Iraq war, over the last few years it must be partly down to the quality of the songs offered by the UK.

That said, the ‘friendly’ voting does detract from the whole idea that is Eurovision. Sure, it may be that the Eastern European countries like the same type of music, and would therefore vote for each other (but this doesn’t explain how Finland won last year). However, I think some steps need to be taken to rein this in somehow.

Some thoughts I’ve had on this (which are unworkable!):

• No country can award 12points to the same country 2 years in a row - unworkable because it’s too difficult to keep track of
• A country can’t vote for it’s immediate neighbours - unworkable as some smaller countries they have too many bordering countries
• Scale back on the number of countries entering - I think the contest is currently too long, not that this will help with the voting
• Split the whole contest into two - Western/Eastern (yeah right - double the budget etc…)

Other possibilities I’ve seen:

• Hold a separate Eastern European and European semi-final and the top 12 of each go through to the final
• No longer have televoting and go back to a jury system - I think this is unworkable as it becomes more of a jury of ‘arty’ types deciding on a song rather than what the public like

As I’ve seen elsewhere, what is needed from the UK is a proper singer and a decent song. Yes, Scooch were once a proper band, but the start of the song on the night didn’t do them any favours.

So, roll on Eurovision 2008 in Serbia