Where will the UK finish this Saturday?

WILL R SAM WIN?


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It’s not a GREAT SONG, but his charisma, singing ability, and the staging really elevate it on what isn’t a particularly strong year, it also fills a bit of niche being an uplifting ballad in a sea of quite MISERABLE ONES.

On balance I do think it deserves top 5 at least.
 
I know I’ve been a bit of a voice of misery RE the UK this year, but I do think we have an excellent chance at the top ten, and I actually think we have a a strong chance to win the Jury vote. The vocal is really impressive.

I would ask you all to be 100% honest with yourselves though. Do you genuinely, truly love the SONG, or do you just love him + the novelty of hope?

Because everything I’ve seen and heard so far, including the nonexistant Chart/Spotify action suggests that it’s the latter. Which does make me think the televote could be a bit of an egg on face moment.
It may yet prove to be an egg on face moment, however to be fair, last time I checked on the chart/spotify front the only ones which seemed to have gained traction outside of their home charts are Ukraine, Italy and Sweden(which so far seems mostly limited to Scandinavia).

Netherlands and Spain for instance have only started to put in appearances this week(much like Sam).

So I would say that yes, whilst it probably means that Spaceman isn't going to be a televote stormer, there's nothing(yet) to say it could be shitshow either. plus the fact that the vast majority of the audience will go into this blind and see the live perfomance for the first time.

Again, not living in false hope but theres no reason to not be somewhat hopeful either.
 
Setting my hopes at 4th-5th. Ukraine and Sweden are the ones I think will likely beat us, but want to keep my expectations in check so not going for 3rd.
 
I would ask you all to be 100% honest with yourselves though. Do you genuinely, truly love the SONG, or do you just love him
I won't argue that he elevates the song, but I don't see why this should be an obstacle. I feel that this is a situation where we have at least a dozen of very good songs and ultimately the difference will be made by the qualities each performer brings along. And he does bring a lot.
 
I’m happy to go on record as genuinely loving the song. Theatrical soft-rock with a shitload of adlibs by a guy with long hair and tattoos? If that doesn’t sound like exactly the sort of thing that would get a 12 from me then you don’t know me at all.
 
The hype is always a thing whenever it looks like we've got a sniff of top ten, but I do genuinely think the song is a cut above most of what we've sent in the last decade. If it means anything, it's basically the only entry we've had where casual friends have sent it to me unprompted saying they really like it.
 
There's nothing wrong with being super positive folks, it isn't going to 'jinx' the result - at the very worst we are going to be badly wrong, but we've been wrong plenty of times before and carried on!
 
There's nothing wrong with being super positive folks, it isn't going to 'jinx' the result - at the very worst we are going to be badly wrong, but we've been wrong plenty of times before and carried on!
I’m wrong about the UK on an annual basis and I hope to be wrong again this year now I’ve declared I don’t think we’ll win.
 
And MOREOVER (because I’m not finished), the entire journey of the 2022 UK entry on Moopy has been an utter riot - from randomly speculating about TAP artists (whatever happened Claudia Valentina? Who knows?), to the Great Jack Zavoretti LIE, to announcing Sam well in advance of the BBC. A total joy.
 
It’s my favourite of the year. I don’t really see a problem with him elevating it. That happens all the time. Sound of Silence and Fuego would not have been runner-up with less competent performers.

I don’t think Ukraine will win and then the UK is definitely one of the favourites. If I go with what I see in the Dutch media I wouldn’t be surprised to see 24 points going your way.
 
It’s my favourite of the year. I don’t really see a problem with him elevating it. That happens all the time. Sound of Silence and Fuego would not have been runner-up with less competent performers.

I don’t think Ukraine will win and then the UK is definitely one of the favourites. If I go with what I see in the Dutch media I wouldn’t be surprised to see 24 points going your way.

There’s an interesting point there- about how the other countries’ media is viewing us. A positive “the UK is actually good!” narrative could do us wonders.
 
There’s an interesting point there- about how the other countries’ media is viewing us. A positive “the UK is actually good!” narrative could do us wonders.
One of the comments I’ve seen most on YouTube is people from other countries saying they like it because we’ve sent something that ‘sounds British’ this year. I feel like it might tap into the sound other countries expect us to send but never do.
 
One of the comments I’ve seen most on YouTube is people from other countries saying they like it because we’ve sent something that ‘sounds British’ this year. I feel like it might tap into the sound other countries expect us to send but never do.

If this doesn't win, we should send Dick Van Dyke next year.
 
I do feel like we are in for our best result in a good few years but I can´t help but feel like some people are getting a bit carried away with winner vibes.

I´d be very dissapointed at this point if it wasn´t on the left hand side of the scoreboard(and I think it will be), but I feel like a lot of people are going to feel quite gutted if he "only" comes 8th, 9th etc. for example.

Which would in reality be nothing to be sad about and a real return to form for the UK.
 
I do feel like we are in for our best result in a good few years but I can´t help but feel like some people are getting a bit carried away with winner vibes.

I´d be very dissapointed at this point if it wasn´t on the left hand side of the scoreboard(and I think it will be), but I feel like a lot of people are going to feel quite gutted if he "only" comes 8th, 9th etc. for example.

Which would in reality be nothing to be sad about and a real return to form for the UK.
This is the drum I keep banging. Right now it seems very likely Saturday will be a success for us. I’m not fussy what form that success takes - this time last year I’d have ripped off my arm to come 9th so if that’s where we end up I’ll be celebrating.
 
I do feel like we are in for our best result in a good few years but I can´t help but feel like some people are getting a bit carried away with winner vibes.

I´d be very dissapointed at this point if it wasn´t on the left hand side of the scoreboard(and I think it will be), but I feel like a lot of people are going to feel quite gutted if he "only" comes 8th, 9th etc. for example.

Which would in reality be nothing to be sad about and a real return to form for the UK.
If I compare this to my experience in 2013 I did get carried away a bit with thinking Birds could challenge for the win so I get what you are saying. I was still extremely happy with 9th though.

However, I do feel Space Man has a much broader appeal than Birds did and I think it has the uplifting mood Europe wants right now (instead of for example Greece or Italy). I hope things will get more clear after seeing his performance after semi 2. I'm also curious to see if the Spanish performance is really as amazing as a lot of the people who have seen it say it is.
 
I think also just as much as how we do on Saturday, I'm probably as focused on where we go from here. The BBC has had *loads* of times over the last two decades where results have reached the point where they've needed to do a 'we're okay again!' reboot and got a face-saving result, but without fail we've always ended up completely collapsing again the year after.

I'm not going to expect us to do well every year because not every country does, but given it's a once a year thing and pretty much the only non-sporting thing other than Call the Midwife and Strictly the BBC can count on to get north of 6 million viewers these days, I would at least like roughly this level of ambition most years going forward!
 
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I think also just as much as how we do on Saturday, I'm probably as focused on where we go from here. The BBC has had *loads* of times over the last two decades where results have reached the point where they've needed to do a 'we're okay again!' reboot and got a face-saving result, but without fail we've always ended up completely collapsing again the year after.

I'm not going to expect us to do well every year because not every country does, but given it's a once a year thing and pretty much the only non-sporting thing other than Call the Midwife and Strictly the BBC can count on to get north of 6 million viewers these days, I would at least like roughly this level of ambition most years going forward!

I think this is also an interesting viewpoint but I'm not sure I entirely agree that there ever was a "reset".

Jade was the last time we did "well" and it was luck that ALW decided to get involved. The BBC really did see that as a great template and acted on it, but stupidly they gave Waterman carte blanche and so we got that DRECK the year after.

Both Molly and Lucie were decent but not spectacular (the former ruined by a poor performance) and the results were not good enough to have opened up anyone of interest actually coming forward to fight past the "it's all political" chants.

Don't get me wrong, I think the BBC's attitude has been all wrong for some time, but I do think a good result Saturday really should open the way for things to change and bigger and better acts to come forward in a way they haven't before because the stars haven't aligned (space pun intended).
 
I almost hope people in the UK don’t get winner vibes - because then even a decade-best result (top 10 even) could (and I worry would) be spun as a disappointment and confirmation that it’s all politics etc

Second behind Ukraine would be pretty decisive though.

Mind you, nul points last year but there was a feeling that it was a more pragmatic reaction to it, amazingly
 
I think this is also an interesting viewpoint but I'm not sure I entirely agree that there ever was a "reset".

Jade was the last time we did "well" and it was luck that ALW decided to get involved. The BBC really did see that as a great template and acted on it, but stupidly they gave Waterman carte blanche and so we got that DRECK the year after.

Both Molly and Lucie were decent but not spectacular (the former ruined by a poor performance) and the results were not good enough to have opened up anyone of interest actually coming forward to fight past the "it's all political" chants.

Don't get me wrong, I think the BBC's attitude has been all wrong for some time, but I do think a good result Saturday really should open the way for things to change and bigger and better acts to come forward in a way they haven't before because the stars haven't aligned (space pun intended).
I'd put down both Blue and Molly as times when the BBC felt like it was actively trying again. Lucie more a matter of luck than anything else, as that year's selection was basically following on from the 2016 process after Electro Velvet did so badly.
 
Am I right in saying if Sam does well in the competition and then gets decent returns on a hit song it would then open the door to more hit chasing acts to jump on board with something decent? I think as the songs generally bomb, and then you don’t really hear of the artist again it doesn’t seem quite as appealing to throw your name in to the hat even though your song is getting played to hundreds of millions of viewers across Europe.
 
Am I right in saying if Sam does well in the competition and then gets decent returns on a hit song it would then open the door to more hit chasing acts to jump on board with something decent? I think as the songs generally bomb, and then you don’t really hear of the artist again it doesn’t seem quite as appealing to throw your name in to the hat even though your song is getting played to hundreds of millions of viewers across Europe.

I mean a European hit would be great motivation for a record company. But I think the real holy grail in terms of reputation would for our entry to actually be a HIT in the UK!

I mean what’s the last UK entry that was an actual substantial hit? Scooch were top 5 but I’m sure that didn’t last?

Is it Precious?!
 
I mean a European hit would be great motivation for a record company. But I think the real holy grail in terms of reputation would for our entry to actually be a HIT in the UK!

I mean what’s the last UK entry that was an actual substantial hit? Scooch were top 5 but I’m sure that didn’t last?

Is it Precious?!

Yes, sorry that’s what I meant. If they could actually get a HIT from it, then surely it would open the door to more acts wanting to take part? At the moment it seems to be a bit of a poisoned challis.
 
@Diddy Precious got to #6 back in ‘99. The last big hit was Katrina and The Waves back in ‘97 after their victory.
 
I think Diddy's point was more that Precious hung around the chart a little longer than Scooch, although admittedly more so at the arse end. Even Katrina 'only' had two weeks in the top ten, the same as both Precious and Scooch.
 
Am I right in saying if Sam does well in the competition and then gets decent returns on a hit song it would then open the door to more hit chasing acts to jump on board with something decent? I think as the songs generally bomb, and then you don’t really hear of the artist again it doesn’t seem quite as appealing to throw your name in to the hat even though your song is getting played to hundreds of millions of viewers across Europe.

It doesn't even need that. Just showing that we can do well and it isn't just politics should open the doors to a lot more decent/ serious/ experienced acts. It won't be overnight, but you will get more than you did previously and after a couple of decent years I would expect us to begin to put things back onto an even keel again, rather than the shame that surrounds the contest for UK acts now. Also, whilst someone like Sam has potential way beyond Eurovision, but also a decent Eurovision performance is a often career for life- hell, even Nikki French managed it.

Obviously UK acts have a more solid launchpad than European ones internationally, but look at the Swedish blueprint- their big stars go for Melodifestival because it's HUGE in their country but they see it as a chance to break out too. If we get over this stupid idea that we're the best and above the contest, it could happen to our acts too...
 
It doesn't even need that. Just showing that we can do well and it isn't just politics should open the doors to a lot more decent/ serious/ experienced acts. It won't be overnight, but you will get more than you did previously and after a couple of decent years I would expect us to begin to put things back onto an even keel again, rather than the shame that surrounds the contest for UK acts now. Also, whilst someone like Sam has potential way beyond Eurovision, but also a decent Eurovision performance is a often career for life- hell, even Nikki French managed it.

Obviously UK acts have a more solid launchpad than European ones internationally, but look at the Swedish blueprint- their big stars go for Melodifestival because it's HUGE in their country but they see it as a chance to break out too. If we get over this stupid idea that we're the best and above the contest, it could happen to our acts too...

I have always been of the ilk that all it takes is a good song and a good performance on the night with a competent singer. The MoR nonsense we have been sending year in year out is deserving of the positions we have received. I am not saying this song is GROUNDBREAKING, far from it, but he has a fantastic vocal and I think he can pull it off on the night. I can’t see The UK winning, but surely anything is better than previous performances?

I think if Sam starts the ball rolling with a decent result, and they follow it up with another appealing song and performance next year then it certainly opens the door for a more established act to want to take part without it being a career ending prospect.
 
I think Diddy's point was more that Precious hung around the chart a little longer than Scooch, although admittedly more so at the arse end. Even Katrina 'only' had two weeks in the top ten, the same as both Precious and Scooch.

Oh I wouldn’t know. I was just agreeing with him that Precious were the last “hit” before Scooch then Katrina and the Waves before that.
 
I mean it’s definitely something that there have been Eurovision hits in the UK, but I guess Euphoria is ten (!) years ago now.
 

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