United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999
Paul Varney | ||||
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Finals performance | ||||
Final result | 12th, 38 points | |||
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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The
Precious performed fifth at the international contest, and at the close of the voting process the UK finished in 12th place, receiving 38 points from 10 countries. At the time this result was the UK's second-worst placing in its competitive history, and was the nation's first finish outside of the top 10 countries in 12 years. "Say It Again" charted in several singles charts in Europe following the contest, and following further limited commercial success as a group Precious subsequently disbanded in 2001.
Background
Prior to the 1999 contest, the United Kingdom had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 41 times since their first entry in 1957 and had competed in all but two editions of the contest.[1] Before this year's event, the UK had won the contest 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.[2] The nation had also finished in second place on fifteen occasions, more than any other country. At the previous year's contest, the UK finished in second place out of twenty-five competing entries with the song "Where Are You?" performed by Imaani amassing a total of 166 points.[1]
Per the rules of the 1999 contest, as the UK featured among the 17 countries with the highest average scores over the past five editions, they were permitted to enter the upcoming contest, and the BBC were subsequently included on the European Broadcasting Union's (EBU) list of the 23 countries that had signed up to partake in the contest.[3] The BBC opted to select its chosen entry for the contest through a national final, The Great British Song Contest 1999.[4][5]
Before Eurovision
The Great British Song Contest 1999
The BBC organised a public selection process to determine its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1999. The Great British Song Contest was organised for the fourth time, and a similar format to that used for previous contests was implemented: following a public submission process, eight songs were selected to compete in a semi-final broadcast on BBC Radio 2, where listeners would choose four entries via televoting to progress to a televised final on BBC One, where a second round of public voting would determine the winning song that would represent the UK at Eurovision.[4] More than 840 songs were submitted to the competition; a 40-song shortlist of these entries was presented to a panel of music professionals representing the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, which reduced the number of potential entries to 20, and BBC contest organisers then selected the eight semi-finalists from this shortlist on 21 January 1999.[4]
Semi-final
The eight semi-finalists were featured on the Radio 2 shows
Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Result |
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1 | Alberta | "So Strange" |
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Finalist |
2 | Cheryl Beattie | "Fly" |
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Eliminated |
3 | Energia feat. Ann McCabe | "All Time High" | Marc Andrewes | Eliminated |
4 | Jay | "You've Taken My Dreams" |
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Finalist |
5 | Leanne Cartwright | "Wait Until the Morning" |
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Eliminated |
6 | Precious | "Say It Again" | Paul Varney
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Finalist |
7 | Sister Sway | "Until You Saved My Life" |
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Finalist |
8 | Susan Black | "Separate Lives" | Susan Black | Eliminated |
Final
A free promotional CD featuring extracts of the four finalists was released and made available in high street record shops.[9] Ahead of the final each of the four participating acts performed their competing entries on Top of the Pops on BBC One, with one act appearing each week over four editions: Precious appeared on the 12 February 1999 edition; Sister Sway on 19 February 1999; Alberta on 26 February 1999; and Jay on 5 March 1999.[10]
The final was held on 7 March 1999, hosted by
Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Alberta | "So Strange" | 51,708 | 2 |
2 | Jay | "You've Taken My Dreams" | 43,765 | 4 |
3 | Precious | "Say It Again" | 52,457 | 1 |
4 | Sister Sway | "Until You Saved My Life" | 51,398 | 3 |
Promotion
Ahead of the contest, Precious made several appearances on UK television programmes to promote their entry to the British public. The group made appearances on
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 1999 took place at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, Israel, on 29 May 1999.[17] According to the Eurovision rules, the 23-country participant list for the contest was composed of: the winning country from the previous year's contest; the 17 countries, other than the previous year's winner, which had obtained the highest average number of points over the last five contests; and any countries which had not participated in the previous year's content.[3] The UK was one of the 17 countries with the highest average scores, and thus were permitted to participate.[3] The running order for the contest was decided by a draw held on 17 November 1998; the UK was assigned position five, following Croatia and preceding Slovenia.[3][17]
Precious took part in technical rehearsals at the venue on 24 and 26 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 28 and 29 May.
At the end of the contest, the UK placed equal 12th, with Belgium, receiving a total of 38 points.[24][25] This marked the UK's second-poorest placing in the contest at that time, and was the UK's first finish outside of the top 10 countries since 1987.[1][26][27] The contest was watched by a total of 8.91 million viewers in the UK.[27][28]
Voting
The same voting system in use since 1975 was again implemented for this event, with each country providing 1–8, 10 and 12 points to the ten highest-ranking songs as determined by a selected jury or the viewing public through televoting, with countries not allowed to vote for themselves.[3] This was the second contest to feature widespread public voting, and the UK opted to implement this method to determine which countries would receive their points, with an 8-member back-up jury assembled in case technical failures rendered the telephone votes invalid.[3][27] Around 323,000 valid votes were registered in the UK in total during the five-minute voting window, which determined the UK's points.[27] Colin Berry was appointed the spokesperson and announced the results of the UK vote during the broadcast.[27]
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After Eurovision
Following the contest, "Say It Again" reached a peak of number 6 on the
Ahead of the
References
- ^ a b c "United Kingdom–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ "Winners–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Rules of the 44th Eurovision Song Contest, 1999" (PDF). European Broadcasting Union. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ a b c Roxburgh 2020, p. 347.
- ^ a b "Precious song for Europe". BBC News. 12 March 1999. Archived from the original on 17 October 2002. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d Roxburgh 2020, pp. 347–356.
- ^ "BBC Radio 2–1 February 1999". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "BBC Radio 2: Great British Song Contest". BBC Genome Project. 28 January 1999. Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g Roxburgh 2020, pp. 356–366.
- ^ Roxburgh 2020, p. 356.
- ^ "BBC One: The Great British Song Contest". BBC Genome Project. 4 March 1999. Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "BBC Two: Top of the Pops". BBC Genome Project. 4 March 1999. Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ a b Roxburgh 2020, p. 366.
- ^ a b "Precious–Filmography". bfi.org.uk. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "BBC One: Precious: A Band for Britain". BBC Genome Project. 20 May 1999. Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ a b "Precious–Say It Again". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
- ^ a b c "Jerusalem 1999–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ a b Roxburgh 2020, pp. 367–369.
- ^ "Precious are Eurovision favourites". BBC News. 25 May 1999. Archived from the original on 14 September 2007. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Scandinavians tipped for Eurovision success". BBC News. 29 May 1999. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ a b Roxburgh 2020, p. 370.
- ^ "BBC One: The Eurovision Song Contest". BBC Genome Project. 27 May 1999. Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "BBC Radio 2: The Eurovision Song Contest". BBC Genome Project. 27 May 1999. Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Final of Jerusalem 1999". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Sweden in Eurovision heaven". BBC News. 30 May 1999. Archived from the original on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ O'Connor 2010, pp. 156–159.
- ^ a b c d e Roxburgh 2020, pp. 379–382.
- Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
- ^ a b "Results of the Final of Jerusalem 1999". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ "Eurovision: Where every UK entry has reached on the Official Singles Chart". officialcharts.com. Official Charts Company. 11 March 2021. Archived from the original on 11 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100: 23 May 1999-29 May 1999". officialcharts.com. Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Precious–full Official Charts History". officialcharts.com. Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 14 November 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Precious–Precious". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
- ^ Roxburgh 2020, pp. 370–378.
- ^ Fane Saunders, Tristram (16 May 2020). "Britain's Eurovision Song Contest entries: where are they now?". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 February 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ "Jenny Frost: My life, loves and loss after Atomic Kitten". Belfast Telegraph. 10 April 2012. Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-1-84732-521-1.
- Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: ISBN 978-1-84583-163-9.