is there nul point?

By Catherine Jones on Jan 8, 09 10:30 AM

Remember the car crash TV that was hapless Liverpool Eurovision "nul points" entry Jemini?
Can you hum the tune to Andy Abrahams' Euro entry from last year? Did you wish Scooch might scoot? And whatever happened to Daz Sampson?
Eurovision was just about the only big event Liverpool Capital of Culture (and world capital of pop) had no chance of hosting last year.
Now the ritual Euro-humiliation is coming round again.
And am I the only one who feels we're just humiliating ourselves even more with a Lord of the realm running round Russia and almost falling to his knees to beg for the Eastern block vote?

What, asked Andrew Lloyd Webber in plaintive tones, is the problem with the UK? Why won't you vote for us? What don't you liiiiiiiike us?
The young Russians he spoke to provided him a few home truths.
They said the country which gave the world the Beatles doesn't try hard enough, fielding no mark entrants singing no mark songs.
Oh, and we take the p*** out of it.
Taking the mickey out of Eurovision has become part of being British and that's unlikely to change.
And alas, pyschologically it has a knock-on effect on their other points.
The last time we fielded an entry with an established music artist - Katrina and the Waves - we won.
During the contest's heyday in the 1960s and early 70s, the UK was represented by "names" - Matt Monroe, Sandie Shaw, Lulu, Cliff, Mary Hopkin, Clodagh Rogers, The New Seekers, Olivia Newton-John and The Shadows - and never came lower than fourth.
We had a little resurgence in the early 1990s with Scouse songstress Sonia and Hairspray star Michael Ball both coming second, then Katrina and the Waves' victory in 1994.
Since Jemini's parlous performance in 2003, it's been downhill all the way.
The only way the UK, purveyors of pop to the world for so long, can get back on top of Eurovision - if we want to that is - is to persuade someone of stature to sing for us.
Alas, Lloyd Webber and the Beeb may have trolled across to Russia to ask their opinion, but they're not taking their advice.
Instead we have yet another How Do You Solve A Problem Like Eurovision-style competition packed with starry-eyed wannabes......