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United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003

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Eurovision Song Contest 2003
Country United Kingdom
National selection
Selection processA Song For Europe
Selection date(s)2 March 2003
Selected artist(s)Jemini
Selected song"Cry Baby"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Martin Isherwood
Finals performance
Final result26th, 0 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2002 • 2003 • 2004►

United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003. They used A Song For Europe to choose their entry. The winner was Liverpudlian duo Jemini with the song "Cry Baby". The song went on to gain the worst placing ever for the United Kingdom - last place with no points.

A Song For Europe 2003

Nicki French, the singer who represented the United Kingdom in 2000, expressed her interest in participating again, and had submitted two songs to the selection.[1] The fee for sending in a song was £110, and under £20 if you were 17 or under.[2] A total of 700 songs were received by the BBC for the selection, 150 more than the year before.[3]

Between 27 January 2003 and 30 January 2003 the eight songs in the semi final were played on BBC Radio 2 on a show hosted by Ken Bruce and Terry Wogan, both the radio and television commentators for the Eurovision Song Contest in the United Kingdom, and were also available to listen to online.[4] Over 30,000 votes were cast during the show to find the four finalists for A Song For Europe.[5]

A Song for Europe 2003 - Semi-finalists
Artist Song Composer(s) Result
Ben Plus One "Rainy Day in Summer" Alan Simpson, Maryanne Morgan Eliminated
Emily Reed "Help Me" Simon Hill Finalist
Fenix "Do Anything for Your Love" Morten Schjolin, Giacomo Barba Eliminated
Gallico "Smile" Ashley Dylan Best, Samuel John Roberts Eliminated
Jemini "Cry Baby" Martin Isherwood Finalist
Mimi "Ever Since That Night" John Brant, Simon May Finalist
Simon Chapman "Now and Forever" Danny Davies Finalist
SK (Steamy Knights) "First Night" Neville Henry, Jackie Rawe, Karen Gibbs Eliminated


A number of changes were made to the line up before the final on 2 March 2003. Tricity changed their name to Jemini, due to one member leaving the act.[6] Esther Hart was also replaced as she decided take part in the Dutch selection, and went on to represent Netherlands in the contest with One More Night. She was replaced with the group United Colours Of Sound, who were Jessica Garlick's backing singers the year before.[6] The line up was changed again, with Simon Chapman, an unknown singer, replacing the United Colours of Sound in singing the song Now and Forever.[7]

The final was held on 2 March 2003 hosted by Terry Wogan. In between each song, previous Eurovision Song Contest winners for the United Kingdom shared their experience at the contest. After the songs were over, the voting lines were open briefly. In this time, the regional vote announcers were introduced. These were as follows:

Region Announcer
South Esther Rantzen
Wales Jessica Garlick
Northern Ireland Joe Mace
Midlands Mel and Sue
North England Matt Baker
Scotland Nicholas Parsons

Results

After the first few votes had been announced, it was obvious that it would be a two horse race between Cry Baby and Help Me, with Ever Since That Night trailing behind. The eventual winner was "Cry Baby", written and composed by Martin Isherwood and sung by Jemini, a duo hailing from Liverpool.

Artist Song Place Total South England Wales Northern Ireland Midlands North England Scotland
Jemini "Cry Baby" 1 68 10 12 12 10 12 12
Simon Chapman "Now and Forever" 4 0 - - - - - -
Mimi "Ever Since that Night" 3 54 9 9 9 9 9 9
Emily Reed "Help Me" 2 64 12 10 10 12 10 10
Scores are shown in the order they were awarded on the night

At Eurovision

At Eurovision, the song fared badly and gained the worst result ever for the United Kingdom by coming in last, with the infamous nul points. Some blamed the United Kingdom's involvement in the Iraq War, whilst others put it down to a bad performance.[8] The female half of Jemini claimed that the monitors were switched off, so that she was unable to hear the backing track in her earpiece.[8] The duo's dressing room was also attacked by vandals after the contest had ended.[8]

During the "Liquid Eurovision" show that was broadcast on BBC Three after the contest ended, it was revealed that Ireland had received the most votes in every region of the country, apart from in the South of England where Turkey were top. It was also revealed that if the backup jury had to be used, Turkey would also have received top marks from the United Kingdom.

Points Awarded by United Kingdom

Final

12 points  Ireland
10 points  Sweden
8 points  Austria
7 points  Turkey
6 points  Norway
5 points  Belgium
4 points  Germany
3 points  Estonia
2 points  Poland
1 point  Netherlands

Points Awarded to United Kingdom

Points Awarded to United Kingdom (Final)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

After Eurovision

Since Eurovision, Gemma has worked in a car showroom and Chris currently works in a clothes shop.[9] During the United Kingdom's coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, the duo sang a note-perfect rendition of their Eurovision entry.

References

  1. ^ Grech, Deb (29 October 2003). "Nikki French interested to represent UK again". ESCToday. Retrieved 12 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ Bakker, Sietse (27 November 2002). "BBC wants something else". ESCToday. Retrieved 12 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ Raeven, Rianne (2 November 2002). "BBC received 700 Song for Europe entries". ESCToday. Retrieved 12 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ Bakker, Sietse (10 January 2003). "The 8 song titles for British national selection". ESCToday. Retrieved 12 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Bakker, Sietse (31 January 2003). "British final four selected, 30,000 people voted". ESCToday. Retrieved 12 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ a b Bakker, Sietse (17 February 2003). "Esther Hart replaced by United Colours of Sound". ESCToday. Retrieved 10 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ Walsh, David (27 February 2003). "UK: A further change in the line-up". ESCToday. Retrieved 12 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ a b c "Jemini's dressing room attacked at Eurovision". BBC. 25 May 2003. Retrieved 13 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ Moore, Tim. Nul Points. Jonathan Cape Ltd, UK ISBN 978-0-224-07780-4
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