| United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 2015 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) | |||
| Country |  United Kingdom | |||
| Selection process | Internal selection | |||
| Announcement date | 7 March 2015 | |||
| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "Still in Love with You" | |||
| Artist | Electro Velvet | |||
| Songwriters |
| |||
| Placement | ||||
| Final result | 24th, 5 points | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
| ||||
The United Kingdom was represented at theEurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Still in Love with You", written byDavid Mindel and Adrian Bax White, and performed by the duoElectro Velvet. The British participating broadcaster, theBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), internally selected both the song and the performer. Electro Velvet and "Still in Love with You" was announced as the British entry in a special presentation show titledOur Song for Eurovision 2015 broadcast on theBBC Red Button service in March 2015.
As a member of the "Big Five", the United Kingdom automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 5, the United Kingdom placed 24th out of the 27 participating countries with 5 points.
Prior to the 2015 contest, theBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had participated in theEurovision Song Contest representing the United Kingdom fifty-seven times.[1] 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 the song "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, the UK had only twice finished outside the top 10, in1978 and1987. 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, thus far only finishing within the top ten twice: in2002 with the song "Come Back" performed byJessica Garlick and in2009 with the song "It's My Time" performed byJade Ewen. For the2014 contest, the United Kingdom finished in seventeenth place out of twenty-six competing entries with the song "Children of the Universe" performed byMolly.
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 2015 contest on 9 September 2014.[2] Between 2011 and 2013, BBC opted to internally select the British entry, a selection procedure that continued for their 2014 entry.[3]
On 6 October 2014, BBC announced that the British entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 would be selected internally. An open submission was announced for interested artists to submit their songs in the form of a video recording until 7 November 2014.[4] In addition to the open call, the BBC also considered entries provided by record labels and music industry experts including writers, producers and artists from theBBC Introducing platform.[5][6] The 300 received submissions were reviewed by a professional panel headed by British Eurovision executive producer and Head of Delegation Guy Freeman, and a twelve-song shortlist was compiled and presented to an alternate twelve-member panel that ultimately selected the British entry.[7] On 24 February 2015, Guy Freeman revealed that the British artist and song would be revealed on 7 March 2015 on theBBC Red Button service.[8][9][10]
On 7 March 2015, the song "Still in Love with You" written byDavid Mindel and Adrian Bax White and performed by the duoElectro Velvet was revealed as the British entry during the showOur Song for Eurovision 2015, hosted byScott Mills on the BBC Red Button service. The song was also presented to the public on the same day through the release of the official music video via the official Eurovision Song Contest'sYouTube channel. Electro Velvet consists of singersAlex Larke and Bianca Nicholas, and was formed specifically for the Eurovision Song Contest.[11]
Electro Velvet made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Still in Love with You" as the British Eurovision entry. On 10 April, Electro Velvet performed during theEurovision PreParty Riga, which was organised byOGAE Latvia and held at thePalladium inRiga,Latvia.[12] On 18 April, Electro Velvet performed during theEurovision in Concert event which was held at theMelkweg venue inAmsterdam, Netherlands and hosted byCornald Maas andEdsilia Rombley.[13] On 24 April, Electro Velvet performed during theEurovision Pre-Party, which was held at the Place de Paris Korston Concert Hall inMoscow, Russia.[14]
In addition to their international appearances, On 26 April, Electro Velvet performed during theLondon Eurovision Party, which was held at theCafé de Paris venue inLondon, United Kingdom and hosted byNicki French andPaddy O'Connell.[15] On 8 May, Electro Velvet were part of the guest line-up for theBBC One programmeThe Graham Norton Show where they performed "Still in Love with You" live and were interviewed by hostGraham Norton.[16]
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 for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation.[17] As a member of the "Big Five", the United Kingdom automatically qualified to compete in the final on 23 May 2015. In addition to their participation in the final, the United Kingdom was also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. During the semi-final allocation draw on 26 January 2015, the United Kingdom was assigned to broadcast and vote in the second semi-final on 21 May 2015.[18]
In the United Kingdom, the semi-finals were broadcast onBBC Four with commentary byScott Mills andMel Giedroyc.[19] The second semi-final was simulcast on BBC Radio 2 Eurovision, a pop-up DAB station, with commentary fromAna Matronic.[20] The final was televised onBBC One with commentary byGraham Norton and broadcast onBBC Radio 2 and Radio 2 Eurovision with commentary byKen Bruce. The British spokesperson, who announced the British votes during the final, wasNigella Lawson.[21]
Electro Velvet took part in technical rehearsals on 17 and 20 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 22 and 23 May. This included the jury final where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.[22][23][24] After technical rehearsals were held on 20 May, the "Big Five" countries, host country Austria and special guest Australia held a press conference. As part of this press conference, the artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. The United Kingdom was drawn to compete in the first half.[25] Following the conclusion of the second semi-final, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final. The running order for the semi-finals and final was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. The United Kingdom was subsequently placed to perform in position 5, following the entry fromEstonia and before the entry fromArmenia.[26]
The British performance on stage featured the members of Electro Velvet performing on stage with the LED screens displaying Art Deco designs and flashing lights that transitioned to neon colours. The performance began with each member of the duo making their entrance from a staircase prop and were then joined by two male and two female backing vocalists. Bianca Nicholas was dressed in a cerise pink 1920s style dress while Alex Larke was dressed in an aubergine coloured suit. The female backing vocalists were dressed in purple while the male backing vocalists were dressed in black and white. Each of the performers' outfits and the staircases were also equipped with lights that would turn on when the stage transitioned to darker neon colours. The backing vocalists that joined Electro Velvet for the performance wereScarlette Douglas, Sophie Carmen Jones, Chris Arias and Ryan Heseltine.[22][23][27] The United Kingdom placed twenty-fourth in the final, scoring 5 points.[28][29]
Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member were released shortly after the grand final.[30]
Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that the United Kingdom had placed twenty-fourth with the public televote and twenty-third with the jury vote. In the public vote, the United Kingdom scored 7 points and in the jury vote the nation scored 12 points.[31]
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to the United Kingdom and awarded by the United Kingdom in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:
| Score | Country |
|---|---|
| 12 points | |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points | |
| 6 points | |
| 5 points | |
| 4 points | |
| 3 points |  San Marino |
| 2 points | |
| 1 point |
|
|
The following members comprised the British jury:[30]
| Draw | Country | D. Arch | M. De-Lisser | T. Blaize | Y. Burnett | P. Christie | Jury Rank | Televote Rank | Combined Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  Lithuania | 12 | 13 | 10 | 16 | 11 | 14 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
| 02 |  Ireland | 9 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 8 |
| 03 | San Marino | 16 | 16 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | |
| 04 |  Montenegro | 13 | 15 | 8 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 15 | |
| 05 |  Malta | 4 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 5 |
| 06 |  Norway | 6 | 6 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 2 |
| 07 |  Portugal | 3 | 8 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 1 |
| 08 |  Czech Republic | 15 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 12 | |
| 09 |  Israel | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 12 |
| 10 |  Latvia | 7 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
| 11 |  Azerbaijan | 17 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 16 | |
| 12 |  Iceland | 14 | 14 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 16 | 12 | 14 | |
| 13 |  Sweden | 1 | 4 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| 14 |  Switzerland | 8 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 13 | |
| 15 |  Cyprus | 10 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 |
| 16 |  Slovenia | 5 | 17 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 10 | 11 | 11 | |
| 17 |  Poland | 11 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 4 |
| Draw | Country | D. Arch | M. De-Lisser | T. Blaize | Y. Burnett | P. Christie | Jury Rank | Televote Rank | Combined Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Slovenia | 8 | 20 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 23 | 17 | |
| 02 |  France | 21 | 13 | 12 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 26 | 25 | |
| 03 | Israel | 4 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 5 |
| 04 |  Estonia | 20 | 18 | 23 | 23 | 6 | 21 | 12 | 15 | |
| 05 | United Kingdom | |||||||||
| 06 |  Armenia | 25 | 25 | 24 | 25 | 23 | 25 | 22 | 26 | |
| 07 | Lithuania | 14 | 19 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 4 |
| 08 |  Serbia | 18 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 1 |
| 09 | Norway | 7 | 12 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 13 | |
| 10 | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
| 11 | Cyprus | 6 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 14 | 11 | |
| 12 |  Australia | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| 13 |  Belgium | 11 | 5 | 2 | 18 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 3 |
| 14 |  Austria | 10 | 21 | 22 | 17 | 13 | 16 | 21 | 20 | |
| 15 |  Greece | 19 | 17 | 20 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 18 | 16 | |
| 16 | Montenegro | 16 | 16 | 15 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 25 | 23 | |
| 17 |  Germany | 13 | 10 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 20 | 14 | |
| 18 | Poland | 12 | 14 | 14 | 22 | 21 | 17 | 2 | 9 | 2 |
| 19 | Latvia | 9 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 7 |
| 20 |  Romania | 24 | 24 | 21 | 16 | 24 | 24 | 11 | 18 | |
| 21 |  Spain | 17 | 8 | 25 | 5 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 12 | |
| 22 |  Hungary | 15 | 23 | 7 | 24 | 26 | 23 | 19 | 22 | |
| 23 |  Georgia | 23 | 6 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 16 | 19 | |
| 24 | Azerbaijan | 22 | 22 | 18 | 11 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 24 | |
| 25 |  Russia | 5 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 |
| 26 |  Albania | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 26 | 15 | 21 | |
| 27 |  Italy | 2 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 8 |