United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024
| Eurovision Song Contest 2024 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  United Kingdom | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Internal selection | |||
| Selection date(s) | TBA | |||
| United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
The United Kingdom is set to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden. The British broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), internally selected the country's entry to the contest, to be announced at a later time.
As a member of the "Big Five", the United Kingdom automatically qualifies to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Background
Prior to the 2024 contest, the United Kingdom has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty-five times since its first entry in 1957.[1] Thus far, the United Kingdom has 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 "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] After their latest victory, the United Kingdom failed to be consistently successful, only reaching the top ten four times: in 1998, 2002, 2009, and 2022; and ending last five times: in 2003 (the first time in the country's history in the contest), 2008, 2010, 2019, and 2021.[3] In 2023, the country was represented by Mae Muller with "I Wrote a Song", finishing 25th.[1]
The United Kingdom is the country that has hosted the contest the most times, nine (in 1960, 1963, 1968, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1982, 1998, 2023).
The British national broadcaster, the BBC, broadcasts the event within the United Kingdom and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. The BBC has used a plethora of methods to select the UK entry: From 1957 to 2010, they organised a national final which featured a competition among several artists and songs to choose the British entry for the contest. Then between 2011 and 2015, the BBC opted to internally select the British entry.[4] For their 2016 entry, the broadcaster announced that a national final would be organised again.[5] The same process was used in 2017 and 2018, and changes were brought in for 2019. From 2020, the BBC opted to return to an internal selection.[6]
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
On 1 August 2023, TaP Music, the label with which the BBC had collaborated to internally select the British act in 2022 and 2023, announced they had terminated their partnership with the broadcaster.[7] The following 24 August, the head of entertainment at BBC, Kalpna Patel-Knight,[8] commented on the news, indicating that the broadcaster's intention was to look for another specialist team for 2024.[9] On 17 October 2023, the BBC revealed that a commission headed by executives Lee Smithurst and Will Wilkin had selected both the entry and the entrant during the summer.[10][11]
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 will take place at Malmö Arena in Malmö, Sweden. It will consist of two semi-finals held on 7 and 9 May, respectively, and the final on 11 May 2024. All three shows will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.[11][12]
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete in the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. As a member of the "Big Five", the United Kingdom automatically qualifies to compete in the final on 11 May 2024. In addition to its participation in the final, the United Kingdom is also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. This will be decided via a draw held during the semi-final allocation draw in January 2024.
References
- ^ a b "United Kingdom". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
- ^ Eames, Tom (11 May 2023). "UK at Eurovision: Who has won the Song Contest for the UK and when have they finished last?". Smooth. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
- ^ "United Kingdom in Eurovision Voting & Points". Eurovisionworld. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
- ^ Adams, William Lee (16 May 2011). "Eurovision 2011: Have Jedward and Blue Made the World's Biggest Song Contest Cool Again?". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
- ^ "Public to help choose UK Eurovision entry – BBC News". BBC News Online. 30 September 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
- ^ "BBC drops Eurovision selection public vote". BBC News. 16 September 2019.
- ^ Stephenson, James (1 August 2023). "United Kingdom: TaP Music Ends Eurovision Partnership with BBC". Eurovoix. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ "Kalpna Patel-Knight appointed in new Head of Entertainment commissioning role". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ SuperTV [@superTV247] (24 August 2023). "The head of BBC entertainment also commented on selecting a #Eurovision artist for 2024, following the departure of TaP […]" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 August 2023 – via Twitter.
I think we will continue going to specialists in the industry to help us pick our act going forward.
- ^ Adams, William Lee (18 October 2023). "United Kingdom: BBC confirms Eurovision 2024 participation...and says artist search took place 'over the summer'". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
- ^ a b "United Kingdom participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is confirmed plus all three live shows will be broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer". bbc.co.uk (Press release). BBC. 18 October 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
- ^ Heap, Steven (27 August 2023). "United Kingdom: BBC Confirms Semi Finals Will Stay on BBC One in 2024". Eurovoix. Retrieved 28 August 2023.