United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003
A Song for Europe 2003 | ||||
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Selection date(s) | Semi-final: 27–31 January 2003 Final: 2 March 2003 | |||
Selected entrant | Jemini | |||
Selected song | "Cry Baby" | |||
Selected songwriter(s) | Martin Isherwood | |||
Finals performance | ||||
Final result | 26th, 0 points | |||
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "Cry Baby" written by Martin Isherwood. The song was performed by the duo Jemini. The British entry for the 2003 contest in Riga, Latvia was selected via the national final A Song for Europe 2003, organised by the British broadcaster BBC. Eight acts competed in the national final which consisted of a semi-final and a final, during which the winner was selected entirely through a regional televote.
In the final of the Eurovision Song Contest, the United Kingdom performed in position 15 and placed twenty-sixth (last) out of the 26 participating countries, failing to score any points. This was the first time the nation had placed last in the history of the competition and also the first time the nation received
Background
Prior to the 2003 contest, the United Kingdom has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-five times.
The British national broadcaster, BBC, broadcasts the event within the United Kingdom and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. BBC announced that the United Kingdom would participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 on 3 September 2002.[2] BBC has traditionally organised a national final featuring a competition among several artists and songs to choose the British entry for Eurovision. For their 2003 entry, the broadcaster announced that a national final involving a public vote would be held to select United Kingdom's entry.
Before Eurovision
A Song for Europe 2003
A Song for Europe 2003 was the national final developed by the BBC in order to select the British entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2003. Eight acts competed in the competition which consisted of a semi-final between 27 and 31 January 2003, and a televised final on 2 March 2003. The semi-final was broadcast on BBC Radio 2, while the final was broadcast on BBC One.[3]
Competing entries
On 3 September 2002, BBC announced an open submission for interested artists to submit their songs.
Semi-final
The eight competing acts were premiered during
Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Fenix | "Do Anything for Your Love" |
|
Eliminated |
2 | Mimi | "Ever Since That Night" |
|
Advanced |
3 | S.K | "First Night" |
|
Eliminated |
4 | Esther Hart | "Wait for the Moment" | Danny Davies | Advanced |
5 | Tricity | "Cry Baby" | Martin Isherwood | Advanced |
6 | Emily Reed | "Help Me" | Simon Hill | Advanced |
7 | Gallico | "Smile" |
|
Eliminated |
8 | Ben Plus One | "Rainy Day in Summer" |
|
Eliminated |
Final
Four acts competed in the televised final on 2 March 2003 held at the
Draw | Artist | Song | Televoting regions | Total | Place | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Southern England |
Wales | Northern Ireland |
Midlands | Northern England |
Scotland | |||||
1 | Jemini[a] | "Cry Baby" | 10 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 68 | 1 |
2 | Simon Chapman | "Now and Forever" | 0 | 4 | ||||||
3 | Mimi | "Ever Since That Night" | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 54 | 3 |
4 | Emily Reed | "Help Me" | 12 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 64 | 2 |
12 points
N. | Song | Regions giving 12 points |
---|---|---|
4 | "Cry Baby" | Northern England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales |
2 | "Help Me" | Midlands, Southern England |
At Eurovision
As a member of the "
In the United Kingdom, the show was televised on BBC One with commentary by Terry Wogan and broadcast on BBC Radio 2 with commentary by Ken Bruce. The British spokesperson, who announced the British votes during the final, was Lorraine Kelly.
The United Kingdom's last-place finish was greeted with much consternation in the British media. Terry Wogan, long-time commentator on the contest for the BBC, said that the UK was suffering from "post-Iraq backlash".[20] Chris Cromby from Jemini said, in reference to the group's off-key vocals, "The monitors were off. Maybe it was sabotage, but we couldn't hear anything... we used the floor monitors, the others used their own."[21]
Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to the United Kingdom and awarded by the United Kingdom in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Ireland in the contest. It was later revealed that Turkey would have been awarded with 12 points from the nation had a backup jury be used.
Points awarded to the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom did not receive any points at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest.[22]
Points awarded by the United Kingdom
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Notes
References
- ^ "United Kingdom | Country profile | Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
- ^ a b "Song For Europe". britishacademy.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2002. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ Walsh, David (27 January 2003). "Song for Europe songs available now!". Esctoday. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ Bakker, Sietse (27 November 2002). "BBC wants something else". ESCToday. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
- ^ Grech, Deb (29 October 2003). "Nikki French interested to represent UK again". ESCToday. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
- ^ Raeven, Rianne (2 November 2002). "BBC received 700 Song for Europe entries". Esctoday. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ Raeven, Rianne (2 November 2002). "BBC received 700 Song for Europe entries". ESCToday. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
- ^ a b Bakker, Sietse (17 February 2003). "Esther Hart replaced by the United Colours of Sound". ESCToday. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
- ^ Walsh, David (27 February 2003). "UK: A further change in the line-up". ESCToday. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
- ^ "Eight finalists announced for the UK entry in The Eurovision Song Contest 2003". BBC. 10 January 2003. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ "Press Office - A Song for Europe 2003 finalists - BBC". bbc.co.uk. 31 January 2003. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ "A Song for Europe 2003 • semi-final". 4lyrics.
- ^ "Song for Europe 2003". songs4europe.com. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ Bakker, Sietse (31 January 2003). "British final four selected, 30,000 people voted". ESCToday. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
- ^ Walsh, David (2 March 2003). "United Kingdom: Jemini to Riga". Esctoday. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ "Press Office - Eurovision 2003 - BBC". bbc.co.uk. 2 March 2003. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ "Top 5 'What Ifs' of Eurovision". escYOUnited. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ Bakker, Sietse (28 November 2002). "Draw to be made public Friday 17:00 CET". ESCToday.com. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
- ^ "Final of Riga 2003". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
- ^ "Turkish delight at Eurovision win". BBC News. BBC News. 24 May 2003. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
- ^ "Eurovision flops blame equipment". BBC News. 26 May 2003. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
- ^ a b "Results of the Final of Riga 2003". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
- ^ Barak, Itamar (29 May 2003). "BBC: Russia indeed failed to score in the UK". ESCToday. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
- ^ "BBC release details of UK vote". doteurovision.com. 5 June 2003. Archived from the original on 5 June 2003. Retrieved 8 April 2021.