| United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 2002 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) | |||
| Country |  United Kingdom | |||
| Selection process | A Song for Europe 2002 | |||
| Selection date | 3 March 2002 | |||
| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "Come Back" | |||
| Artist | Jessica Garlick | |||
| Songwriter | Martyn Baylay | |||
| Placement | ||||
| Final result | 3rd, 111 points | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
| ||||
The United Kingdom was represented at theEurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "Come Back", written by Martyn Baylay, and performed byJessica Garlick. The British participating broadcaster, theBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), organised a public selection process to determine its entry for the contest,A Song for Europe 2002. 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 public televote.
As a member of the "Big Four", the United Kingdom automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 2, the United Kingdom placed third out of the 24 participating countries with 111 points.
Prior to the 2002 contest,British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had participated in theEurovision Song Contest representing the United Kingdom forty-four times. Thus far, it has won the contest five times: in1967 with the song "Puppet on a String" performed bySandie Shaw, in1969 with the song "Boom Bang-a-Bang" performed byLulu, in1976 with "Save Your Kisses for Me" performed byBrotherhood of Man, in1981 with the song "Making Your Mind Up" performed byBucks Fizz, and in1997 with the song "Love Shine a Light" performed byKatrina and the Waves. To this point, the nation is noted for having finished as the runner-up in a record fifteen contests. Up to and including1998, it had only twice finished outside the top 10,in 1978 andin 1987. Since 1999, the year in which the rule was abandoned that songs must be performed in one of the official languages of the country participating, the UK has had less success, having yet to finish within the top ten.In 2001, "No Dream Impossible" performed byLindsay Dracass finished in fifteenth place out of twenty-three competing entries.[1]
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, the BBC organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster announced that it would participate in the 2002 contest on 13 August 2001.[2] The BBC has traditionally organised a national final featuring a competition among several artists and songs to choose its entry for Eurovision. For its 2002 entry, the broadcaster announced that a national final involving a public vote would be held to select the entry.[2]
A Song for Europe 2002 was the national final developed by the BBC in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2002. Eight acts competed in the competition which consisted of a radio semi-final on 1 February 2002 and a televised final on 3 March 2002. The semi-final was broadcast onBBC Radio 2, while the final was broadcast onBBC One.[3]
On 31 July 2001, BBC together with theBritish Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) announced an open submission for interested songwriters to submit their songs.[4] All composers and lyricists were required to be British citizens or residents in the United Kingdom for three years prior to the Eurovision Song Contest 2002. A fee was also imposed on songs being submitted to the national final: £47 for BASCA members, £70.5 for non-BASCA members and £11.75 for songwriters under the age of 17 by 1 May 2002. The submission period lasted until 19 October 2001.[5][6] More than 550 received submissions were reviewed by various panels of music publishers, songwriters and record label professionals, following which a 20-song shortlist was compiled by BASCA and presented to the BBC which ultimately selected eight semi-finalists to compete in the national final in December 2001.[7][8] The eight competing songs were premiered duringThe Ken Bruce Show andWake Up to Wogan on BBC Radio 2 between 28 and 31 January 2002.[citation needed]
Eight acts competed in the radio semi-final which was hosted byTerry Wogan andKen Bruce duringWake Up to Wogan on 1 February 2002.[9] A public vote consisting of televoting and online voting, which registered over 20,000 votes, selected the top four songs that proceeded to the final. Before the semi-final, the public was able to cast their votes online starting from 28 January 2002.[10][11]
On 6 February 2002, the BBC announced that one of the finalists, "Never in a Million Years" performed by Zee, had been disqualified as the song was published on a compilation album inHungary in June 2001. "Every Step of the Way" performed by Level Best, which came fifth in the semi-final, was selected as the replacement finalist.[12][13] Another semi-finalist, "Lovestruck" performed by Honey Trap, was also set to be discussed by the BBC regarding a potential disqualification as it was claimed to be almost identical to a song with the same title, performed by Swedish singerKinnda. The song was eventually not disqualified as it was ultimately eliminated from the semi-final.[14]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Honey Trap | "Lovestruck" |
| Eliminated |
| Disqualified | |||
| 3 | Paula O'Neil | "When You're Around" |
| Eliminated |
| 4 | Pulse | "Fade Away" |
| Eliminated |
| 5 | Surf 'n' Turf | "I Give In" |
| Advanced |
| 6 | Level Best | "Every Step of the Way" |
| Advanced |
| 7 | Tricia Penrose | "DJ Romeo" |
| Advanced |
| 8 | Jessica Garlick | "Come Back" | Martyn Baylay | Advanced |
Four acts competed in the televised final on 3 March 2002 which was held at theBBC Elstree Centre inBorehamwood,Hertfordshire and hosted byClaire Sweeney andChristopher Price.[citation needed] A public televote selected the winner, "Come Back" performed byJessica Garlick. The televote in the final registered 107,298 votes.[15]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Votes | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Level Best | "Every Step of the Way" | 8,927 | 3 |
| 2 | Tricia Penrose | "DJ Romeo" | 28,681 | 2 |
| 3 | Surf 'n' Turf | "I Give In" | 1,892 | 4 |
| 4 | Jessica Garlick | "Come Back" | 67,798 | 1 |
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 took place atSaku Suurhall in Tallinn, Estonia, on 25 May 2002.[16] The participants list included the previous year's winning country, the "Big Four" countries (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom), the sixteen highest-scoring participating countries in the previous year's contest and any non-participating countries in the previous year's contest, up to 24 participants in total. As a member of the "Big Four", the United Kingdom automatically qualified to compete in the contest. On 9 November 2001, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and the United Kingdom was set to perform in position 2, following the entry fromCyprus and before the entry fromAustria.[17] The United Kingdom finished in third place scoring 111 points.[18]
In the United Kingdom, the contest was televised onBBC One with commentary byTerry Wogan, onBBC Choice with commentary byJenny Eclair,[19] and onBBC Radio 2 with commentary byKen Bruce.[citation needed] Christopher Price was initially announced as the commentator on BBC Choice (as part of the programmeLiquid Eurovision Party, a spin-off of theLiquid News programme fronted by Price), however he was replaced by Eclair following his death a month before the contest.[19][20]
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 toMalta in the contest.[21] The BBC appointedColin Berry as its spokesperson to announce the results of the British televote during the show.[citation needed]
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