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| United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 1996 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) | |||
| Country |  United Kingdom | |||
| Selection process | The Great British Song Contest 1996 | |||
| Selection date | 8 March 1996 | |||
| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit" | |||
| Artist | Gina G | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Placement | ||||
| Final result | 8th, 77 points | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
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The United Kingdom was represented at theEurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit", composed bySteve Rodway, with lyrics by Simon Tauber, and performed byGina G. The British participating broadcaster, theBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), selected its entry through a national final.
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TheBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) developedThe Great British Song Contest 1996 in order to select its entry for theEurovision Song Contest 1996. Eight acts competed in the competition which consisted of a semi-final on 1 March 1996 and a televised final on 8 March 1996. Both semi-final and final were broadcast onBBC1.
The qualifying round for the contest (the first since1960's selection), a special edition ofTop of the Pops, was broadcast on BBC1 on 1 March 1996 and hosted byNicky Campbell. It was announced that the four songs with the highest number of telephone votes would qualify for the final. A recap of the songs were also featured during the following morning's edition ofLive & Kicking with voting lines reopened for a short time. The top four songs were announced later that evening duringThe National Lottery Live and went forward to the final on 8 March.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Layla | "Find Love" | Marcus Vere, Simon Wilkinson | Advanced |
| 2 | Code Red | "I Gave You Everything" | Deni Lew,Nicky Graham,Wayne Hector | Advanced |
| 3 | Esseness | "I Never Knew" | Stuart Elliot, Rick Driscoll, Mike Connaris | Eliminated |
| 4 | Dan Anderson | "Sometimes It Rains" | Louisa Scott, Ronnie James Scott | Eliminated |
| 5 | Lois | "I Just Want To Make Love 2 U" | Ben Keen,Paul Thompson, Mike Connaris | Eliminated |
| 6 | Twin Hazey | "Louise" | Keith Summers, David Whitehouse, Michael Flaherty | Eliminated |
| 7 | Zeitia Massiah | "A Little Love" | Pam Sheyne,Eliot Kennedy | Advanced |
| 8 | Gina G | "Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit" | Steve Rodway, Simon Tauber | Advanced |
The BBC held the final on 8 March 1996 atBBC Television Centre inLondon. Hosted byTerry Wogan, it was broadcast on BBC1 at 20:00. For the first time since 1985, there was no simultaneous broadcast withBBC Radio 2. The winning entry was announced at the end of the show following a further public phone vote. The guest performers were Irish boy bandBoyzone who performed their version ofCat Stevens' "Father and Son", and actressNicola Hughes who performed "The Acid Queen" from the rock musicalThe Who's Tommy.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zeitia Massiah | "A Little Love" | 41,105 | 3 |
| 2 | Code Red | "I Gave You Everything" | 41,791 | 2 |
| 3 | Gina G | "Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit" | 113,576 | 1 |
| 4 | Layla | "Find Love" | 2,578 | 4 |
With the exception of host nation Norway, who were exempted, all 29 countries wishing to participate in the 1996 contest had to go through an audio-only pre-qualifying round held on 20 March. The lowest-placed seven songs would be eliminated and would not appear in Oslo. Gina G was placed 3rd with 153 points, thus qualifying for the final.[2]
On the night of the final Gina G performed 2nd in the running order, following Turkey and preceding Spain. At the end of the voting it had received 77 points, placing 8th out of 23 contestants.[3] The United Kingdom jury awarded its 12 points to Cyprus.[4]
Despite this result, 'Just a Little Bit' is one of the most successful of the UK's entries at Eurovision, not only topping theUK singles chart but also finding success in America, where the song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in 1998.[citation needed]
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