So the 67th Eurovision Song Contest was a game of two halves for the UK: stepping up as host nation in place of Ukraine, it delivered a flawless extravaganza, perfectly walking the tightrope between paying solemn tribute to Ukraine’s current plight and presenting an undiluted celebration of the unity of music with all the humour, goodwill and sometimes outright bonkers business that offers.
And, then on the night of the Grand Final, it could only start to shuffle its score sheets awkwardly as, pretty soon, it became clear the UK’s entry, sung by Mae Muller, was not going to do very well.
Ultimately, while Sweden scored a historic victory with Loreen winning for a second time, the UK came second from the bottom of the board with a measly 24 points.
So what went wrong? Already, by Sunday morning, the opinions were flowing in the British press. The BBC – who hosted the event – wrote that: “No-one votes against you at Eurovision, they vote for the songs they like.
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