A Song for Europe

Judges:
Carrie Grant (2004, 08, 16)
Lorraine Kelly (2004)
Harry Hill (2004)
Bruno Tonioli (2005-06, 10, 17)
Jonathan Ross (2005-06)
Natalie Cassidy (2005)
Patrick O'Connell (2005)
Kelly Osbourne (2006)
Fearne Cotton (2006)
John Barrowman (2007-08)
Mel Giedroyc (2007)
Andrew Lloyd Webber (2009)
Alesha Dixon (2009)
Duncan James (2009)
Lulu (2009)
Arlene Phillips (2009)
Emma Bunton (2009)
Dima Bilan (2009)
Pete Waterman (2010)
Jade Ewen (2010)
Katrina Leskanich (2016)
Jay Revell (2016)
Sophie Ellis-Bextor (2017)
CeCe Sammy (2017)
Rylan Clark-Neal (2018-9)
Rochelle Humes (2018)
Tom Fletcher (2018)
Marvin Humes (2019)
Mollie King (2019)

Broadcast

as Festival of British Popular Songs: BBC Television Service, 7 May 1956 to 12 February 1957 (11 episodes in 2 series)

BBC Television Service, 2 February 1959 to 31 March 1995 (1967 as part of The Rolf Harris Show, 1968 & 73 as part of Cilla, 1969 & 75 as part of Lulu, 1970-72 as part of It's Cliff Richard, 1974 as part of Clunk-Click, 1985-88 & 90-92 as part of Wogan)

(Broadcast on BBC Radio 2 (long wave only) in 1977; not broadcast in 1979 - see Trivia)

as The Great British Song Contest: BBC1/BBC Radio 2, 1 March 1996 to 12 March 1999 (1996 & 99 as part of Top of the Pops and 1997-98 as part of National Lottery Draw)

BBC One/BBC Radio 2, 14 January 2000 to 2 March 2003

as Making Your Mind Up: BBC One, 28 February 2004 to 17 March 2007 (4 specials)

as Your Decision: BBC One, 1 March 2008

as Your Country Needs You: BBC One, 3 January 2009 to 12 March 2010 (5 episodes in 1 series + 1 special)

as You Decide: BBC Four/Two, 26 February 2016 to 8 February 2019 (4 specials)

Synopsis

The UK qualifying competition for the Eurovision Song Contest.

This has followed various formats over the years. In the nineties having one singer sing six to eight songs for the public to choose from via phone vote was all the rage, then having different acts sing different songs was "in". The conclusion has been reached via different ways over the years, veering between a straight phone in popularity contest, Eurovision-esque regional points scoring and back to straight phone voting again.

Casablanca sing their hearts out in 1983.

After the triumphant 0 points scored by Jemini in 2003, it changed its name to Making Your Mind Up in 2004 in an attempt to look like it was making more of an effort, although it's hardly Melodifest.

In 2008, the format was monickered Your Decision, and made more use of Wogan who was given various casting votes and a wildcard to ensure that the judges didn't step out too far of line with the popular vote.

At the start of 2009, the format was again renamed to Your Country Needs You with Andrew Lloyd Webber seeking a performer or performers to sing a song - which he would write the music and Diane Warren would write the lyrics for - to represent the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest. It started with a reality show style talent hunt and six finalists were chosen. The Emperors of Soul, The Twins, Mark, Jade, Charlotte and Damien were the six acts. For the first and second weeks they would perform a song and then the panel gave their critical view. The phone lines were then opened for you, the great British public, to vote. The votes were then totalled up and the bottom two were then left on stage for Andrew to decide who he wished to keep in the contest. The semi-final saw each contestant having to sing twice with the phone lines opening after each act had sung once. In the final, Dima Bilan (last year's Eurovision winner) was invited into the studio to sing his winning entry and the final three sung a song of their choice, their best song of the series and their version of Andrew and Diane's song It's My Time. The lines were opened after the first song and the winner was announced who then reprised their version of the song they would be singing in Moscow.

A much curtailed format of Your Country Needs You was introduced in March 2010. Rather than taking place over four weeks, the selection process took place in just one show. In the programme, six acts performed live, after which the judges, led by Pete Waterman, whittled the field down to three. The chosen acts then each performed the UK's entry for Eurovision, That Sounds Good To Me, which Pete Waterman, together with his old partner Mike Stock had written for the contest. Once each act had performed the song, the phone lines opened, and the public voted on who they wanted to perform the song, representing the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo.

The BBC decided to drop the format in 2011, and instead opted to make a decision internally as to who would represent the UK at that year's contest. They chose reformed boyband Blue, comprised of Lee Ryan, Simon Webbe, Antony Costa, and Duncan James. There was a token nod to the format in the title of a documentary aired a few weeks before the contest - Eurovision: Your Country Needs Blue. Blue would eventually finish in 11th place in Dusseldorf, three places behind X Factor irritants Jedward, representing Ireland.

After five years of internal selections had produced very modest results, Eurovision You Decide was resurrected in 2016. A one-off final, in which Mel Giedroyc and a guest host present six songs for the viewers' approval. Behind the scenes, respected music producer Hugh Goldsmith sought something good, the songs were validated by Eurovision fan group OGAE, and many performers came from musical theatre and other talent shows. After four years, none of the chosen songs had made any sort of impression on the voting audiences, and the BBC selected its own entry once more.

Champions

Includes results of The Festival of British Songs in 1956, which ran independently of the Eurovision Song Contest.

From 1956-63, 76-91, 95-2008 and 2016-19, the entries were songs and performers, viewers voted on the song as sung by that performer. From 1964-75 and 92-94, the performer was chosen by the BBC and the viewers voted on the song. From 2009-10, the song was chosen by the BBC and the viewers voted on the performer.

From 2011-15 and since 2020, both song and performer were chosen by the BBC without viewers voting. We include these to make a complete list of BBC entries to the Eurovision Song Contest.

Year	Song	Performer	Composer	Lyricist
1956	Everybody Falls In Love With Someone	Denis Lotis and the Keynotes	Peter Hart	Norman Newell
1957	All	Patricia Bredin	Reynell Wreford	Alan Stranks
1958	(no contest)
1959	Sing, Little Birdie	Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson	Stan Butcher	Syd Cordell
1960	Looking High, High, High	Bryan Johnson	John Watson
1961	Are You Sure?	The Allisons	John Allison, Bob Allison
1962	Ring-a-ding Girl	Ronnie Carroll	Syd Cordett	Stan Butcher
1963	Say Wonderful Things	Ronnie Carroll	Philip Green	Norman Newell
1964	I Love the Little Things	Matt Monro	Tony Hatch
1965	I Belong	Kathy Kirby	Peter Lee Sterling	Phil Peters
1966	A Man Without Love	Kenneth McKellar	Cyril Ornadel	Peter Callander
1967	Puppet on a String	Sandie Shaw	Bill Martin and Phil Coulter
1968	Congratulations	Cliff Richard	Bill Martin and Phil Coulter
1969	Boom Bang-a-bang	Lulu	Alan Moorhouse	Peter Warne
1970	Knock, Knock (who's There?)	Mary Hopkin	John Carter and Geoff Stephens
1971	Jack in the Box	Clodagh Rodgers	John Worsley	Johnny Arthey
1972	Beg, Steal or Borrow	The New Seekers	Tony Cole, Steve Wolfe, Graeme Hall
1973	Power to All Our Friends	Cliff Richard	Guy Fletcher	Doug Flett
1974	Long Live Love	Olivia Newton-John	Valerie Avon & Harold Spiro
1975	Let Me Be the One	The Shadows	Paul Curtis
1976	Save Your Kisses for Me	Brotherhood of Man	Tony Hiller, Lee Sheriden, Martin Lee
1977	Rock Bottom	Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran	Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran
1978	The Bad Old Days	Co-Co	Stephanie de Sykes & Stuart Slater
1979	Mary Ann	Black Lace	Peter Morris
1980	Love Enough for Two	Prima Donna	Stephanie de Sykes & Stuart Slater
1981	Making Your Mind Up	Bucks Fizz	John Danter	Andy Hill
1982	One Step Further	Bardo	Simon Jefferis
1983	I'm Never Giving Up	Sweet Dreams	Ron Roker, Jan Pulsford, Phil Wigger
1984	Love Games	Belle and the Devotions	Paul Curtis and Graham Sacher
1985	Love Is	Vikki	James Kaleth and Vikki Watson
1986	Runner In the Night	Ryder	Brian Wade	Maureen Darbyshire
1987	Only the Light	Rikki	Richard Peebles
1988	Go	Scott Fitzgerald	Julie Forsyth
1989	Why Do I Always Get It Wrong?	Live Report	Brian Hodgson and John Beeby
1990	Give a Little Love Back to the World	Emma	Paul Curtis
1991	A Message to Your Heart	Samantha Janus	Paul Curtis
1992	One Step Out of Time	Michael Ball	Paul Davies, Tony Ryan, Victor Stratton
1993	Better the Devil You Know	Sonia	Brian Teasdale and Dean Collinson
1994	We Will Be Free (Lonely Symphony)	Frances Ruffelle	George De Angelis, Mark Dean
1995	Love City Groove	Love City Groove	Paul Hardy, Jay Williams, Tatsiana Mais, Stephen Rudden
1996	Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit	Gina G	Steve Rodway	Simon Tauber
1997	Love Shine a Light	Katrina and the Waves	Kimberley Rew
1998	Where Are You?	Imani	Scott English, Phil Manikiza, Simon Stirling
1999	Say It Again	Precious	Paul Varney
2000	Don't Play That Song Again	Nikki French	John Springate, Gerry Shephard
2001	No Dream Impossible	Lindsay D.	Russ Ballard, Chris Winter
2002	Come Back	Jessica Garlick	Martyn Baylay
2003	Bye Bye Baby	Jemini	Martin Isherwood
2004	Hold On to Our Love	James Fox	Gary Miller	Tim Woodcock
2005	Touch My Fire	Javine	Javine Hilton & John Themis
2006	Teenage Life	Daz Sampson	John Matthews, Daz Sampson
2007	Flying the Flag (For You)	Scooch	Russ Spencer, Morten Schjolin, Andrew Hill, Paul Tarry
2008	Even If	Andy Abrahams	Andy Abraham, Paul Wilson, Andy Watkins
2009	It's My Time	Jade Ewen	Andrew Lloyd Webber	Andrew Lloyd Webber, Diane Warren
2010	That Sounds Good to Me	Josh Dubovie	Pete Waterman, Mike Stock, Steve Crosby
2011	I Can	Blue	Duncan James, Lee Ryan, Ciaron Bell, Ben Collier, Ian Hope, Liam Keenan, StarSign
2012	Love Will Set You Free	Englebert Humperdinck	Martin Terefe and Sacha Skarbek
2013	Believe in Me	Bonnie Tyler	Desmond Child, Lauren Christy, Christopher Braide
2014	Children of the Universe	Molly	Molly Smitten-Downes, Anders Hansson
2015	Still in Love With You	Electro Velvet	David Mindel, Adrian Bax White
2016	You're Not Alone	Joe and Jake	Justin J Benson, Schwartz and S Kanes
2017	I Will Never Give Up On You	Lucie Jones	The Treatment, Emmelie De Forest, Lawrie Martin
2018	Storm	SuRie	Sean Hargreaves, Gil Lewis, Nicole Blair
2019	Bigger Than Us	Michael Rice	Laurell Barker, John Lundvik, Jonas Thander, Anna-Klara Folin
2020	My Last Breath	James Newman	James Newman, Iain James, Ed Drewett, Adam Argyle
2021	Embers	James Newman	James Newman, Conor Blake, Danny Shah, Tom Hollings, Samuel Brennan
2022	Space Man	Sam Ryder	Amy Victoria Wadge, Sam Robert Robinson, Max Wolfgang
2023	I Wrote a Song	Mae Muller	Mae Muller, Karen Poole, Lewis Thompson
2024	Dizzy	Olly Alexander	Olly Alexander, Danny L Harle

Key moments

El Tel had a scary few minutes in 1980 when Happy Everything by Maggie Moone and Love Enough for Two by Prima Donna both ended up on a tie at 131 points, and there was no procedure to sort this out on any form of countback system. Eventually the tie was split by a show of hands from the regional presenters.

Prima Donna go to the ESC, Maggie Moone goes to Name That Tune. So who really wins?

In 2007, the contest was decided by a phone vote knocking four of the six acts out, the remaining two going into a "sing-off" (how very X-Factor). Following the sing-off between French singer Cyndi and cheesy-pop-from-1999-group Scooch, the winner was announced by hosts Terry Wogan and Fearne Cotton. Unfortunately, Wogan and Cotton both announced different winners, leading to much justified confusion among the singers, the audience, and... well, everyone. Scooch, as announced by Fearne Cotton, were in fact the winners.

Wogan realizes where United Kingdom will end up on the scoreboard.

Esma Akkilic unfortunately forgetting the lyrics part way through her performance of Pete Waterman's 2010 song.

Who could blame her?

Trivia

The first competition, in 1956, was intended to produce an entrant for that year's Eurovision Song Contest but didn't, because the BBC missed the registration deadline! The Festival of British Popular Songs became a monthly series instead, until January 1957 when it ran as a series of three heats and a final to decide (in plenty of time) which song would go to Eurovision.

The contest was twice hit by industrial action. As a result, the 1977 contest did not appear on television and was broadcast only on Radio 2 Long Wave. This actually resulted in the BBC temporarily withdrawing from hosting the ESC itself (which at such short notice, gave rise to the likelihood that the contest would have to be cancelled altogether) but the situation was resolved in time and the ESC went ahead at the Wembley Conference Centre as planned.

The 1979 contest was not broadcast due to a dispute on the day between unions and management. The competition was still held, but off-screen and with the regional juries having to judge on audio of the rehearsals. Meanwhile BBC1 put on a film instead. The results were announced on Nationwide the next day.

Under the name 'Making Your Mind Up', the show has mainly been broadcast from BBC Television Centre, but did vacate to The Maidstone Studios for the 2007 final.

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A Song for Europe

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Co-hosts