United Kingdom UNITED KINGDOM 2020 - James Newman - My Last Breath

[escYOUnited]

 

[Chrisiam]

I wouldn't say its a last roll of the dice because, well, as has been said time and time again, the BBC gets too much out of taking part in Eurovision in terms of content for TV and Radio at a comparatively low cost for such high viewing figures that they'd be nuts to throw the towel in.

The BMG partnership feels like a "Be seen to be seen be doing something" kind of deal; in the past whenever the UK has had a bad result the year after they come up with some new selection method or scheme, when it is announced and we see the act it starts to look like they are finally listening and we are starting to turn a corner then the year after it we are back to where we were before. Seemingly just because the year they tried something new it didn't work the first time so they decided to throw it all in the bin and go back to something that is very safe and BBC friendly. As such, I worry that after the contest, if this song does not perform to the BBC's expectations they won't work with BMG again and we'll be back to the NF format similar to what we had last year with a bunch of unknown and inexperienced acts, none of which have ever released a single before and will be competing to sing a song 'especially written for Eurovision'.

I agree with Uto when they say that it looks like the BBC doesn't want to lose control of Eurovision. Its kind of like the Wizard of Oz, they have created this illusion in the minds of most of the British public that Eurovision is this #Wacky and campy show where its all flash and no substance and the only right way to cover it (in terms of reporting, commentating and so forth) is sarcastically and in some instances mean spiritedly, because its only Eurovision, and if we lose its not because we are crap, its because they don't really know what good music is and/or they hate us due to politics.

If this illusion is broken, that means that they then need to change every aspect of how they interact and cover the event. Because if we won, and people in the UK saw the show and saw that all the stories of singing garden gnomes and beat boxing grannies was all false and the songs featured were not only credible and incredible but not too far away from the stuff that is played on Radio 1 (and not only Radio 1 but its late night credible indie shows) and the public will start to question why Norton is being such an arsehole to some of the acts and why what they are watching is a real contest and not some long joke.

A good and practical example of this happening comes a few years ago when the BBC had their own pop-up Eurovision radio station which ran for about two or three years. During the morning after show when they'd get people on to discuss the UK's results, each year you'd get more and more people calling in questioning the BBC and their creative decisions and less and less of the "THEY HATE US! EUROPE HATES US!" calls. And then, as if by magic, that station never returned, they said they could cover other events which never really ended up happening. Funny that. Sure, that might sound conspiratorial but, I do get the feeling the Beeb is wilfully trying to keep the "They hate us" stuff rolling as long as they can so it covers up their failings and keeps them maintaining more creative control.

But, whatevs!

 

[Mrm]

Only 3 X 12 for this entry here in the poll is a shame..
Should i upgrade it to 12, to help it?
But it is not fair..

 

[Leydan]

This is a teleological argument, it doesn't work. Only a single thing changed. What happened in 2013 is that the Dutch broadcaster really didn't want to do another NF again. NF's don't work in the Netherlands and the Dutch people were convinced that what was needed was for a good professional act to just show the courage and show how it's done. Anouk stepped in, said she had a good song she wanted to do and the broadcaster gave in to her demands, she asked of them basically everything and they gave her the keys to the kingdom. After that it has been like this every year. There is no stepping stone, there is just a full 180 at one point with near total commitment. Had Anouk failed of course history may have been written differently, but the intention was always in accordance with what actually happened.

This is not what I see in the UK. The BBC seems very scared to lose control.

And the only difference here, is that instead of an individual singer, it was an entire record label, and instead of them demanding control the BBC asked them to do it and gave control. The BBC hasn't even involved at any point in the song or artist selection, they left it to the record label and that's been clear and it's up to the record label to promote it. It was the same thing in 2009, the label promoted it. I fail to see your argument for how the UK and Netherlands is so completely different? The point you made at the start is exactly the same here, NFs don't work, no one watches them or cares about them and when people ever discuss it they always say we should someone big like Adele or Ed Sheeran (even if it is usually followed up with,"but they wont win anyway"). Oh, also our new HoD we got last year cancelled the NF format as they didn't want to hold a NF. The comparisons are clearly there, even if it isn't totally the same. A change in approach to the contest after a near decade of tragic results. Only the future knows how it will pan out for us, but it's something that really worked for The Netherlands. Anouk didn't single handed change the entire reputation of Eurovision in The Netherlands back then, it improved and helped it, for sure but it was the start of a process.

 

[Leydan]

I wouldn't say its a last roll of the dice because, well, as has been said time and time again, the BBC gets too much out of taking part in Eurovision in terms of content for TV and Radio at a comparatively low cost for such high viewing figures that they'd be nuts to throw the towel in.

The BMG partnership feels like a "Be seen to be seen be doing something" kind of deal; in the past whenever the UK has had a bad result the year after they come up with some new selection method or scheme, when it is announced and we see the act it starts to look like they are finally listening and we are starting to turn a corner then the year after it we are back to where we were before. Seemingly just because the year they tried something new it didn't work the first time so they decided to throw it all in the bin and go back to something that is very safe and BBC friendly. As such, I worry that after the contest, if this song does not perform to the BBC's expectations they won't work with BMG again and we'll be back to the NF format similar to what we had last year with a bunch of unknown and inexperienced acts, none of which have ever released a single before and will be competing to sing a song 'especially written for Eurovision'.

I agree with Uto when they say that it looks like the BBC doesn't want to lose control of Eurovision. Its kind of like the Wizard of Oz, they have created this illusion in the minds of most of the British public that Eurovision is this #Wacky and campy show where its all flash and no substance and the only right way to cover it (in terms of reporting, commentating and so forth) is sarcastically and in some instances mean spiritedly, because its only Eurovision, and if we lose its not because we are crap, its because they don't really know what good music is and/or they hate us due to politics.

If this illusion is broken, that means that they then need to change every aspect of how they interact and cover the event. Because if we won, and people in the UK saw the show and saw that all the stories of singing garden gnomes and beat boxing grannies was all false and the songs featured were not only credible and incredible but not too far away from the stuff that is played on Radio 1 (and not only Radio 1 but its late night credible indie shows) and the public will start to question why Norton is being such an arsehole to some of the acts and why what they are watching is a real contest and not some long joke.

A good and practical example of this happening comes a few years ago when the BBC had their own pop-up Eurovision radio station which ran for about two or three years. During the morning after show when they'd get people on to discuss the UK's results, each year you'd get more and more people calling in questioning the BBC and their creative decisions and less and less of the "THEY HATE US! EUROPE HATES US!" calls. And then, as if by magic, that station never returned, they said they could cover other events which never really ended up happening. Funny that. Sure, that might sound conspiratorial but, I do get the feeling the Beeb is wilfully trying to keep the "They hate us" stuff rolling as long as they can so it covers up their failings and keeps them maintaining more creative control.

But, whatevs!

Basically, the BBC has been lazy for years. They've had cheap easy entertainment that consistently raked in the viewers regardless, and all they had to do was find a half decent song to send. Worth noting that on the years with the arguably worse entries we've sent (2010, 2015) the viewing figures were much lower, whereas when we sent a more credible entry such as Blue or Molly they were higher. The problem they have is that while people watch, people are even more so by the year calling for our withdrawal, and the televoting figures will only hold out so long. Imo they've only kept up being high as Eurovision is literally a yearly ritual for everyone here since 1959. Realistically though, you've got to see the change in behaviour this year to last. Every channel likes control, to say they don't is stupid. But in the years gone by, the BBC controlled the agenda 100%. Which songs got selected (even if they asked externally for opinions), where them songs come from, who sung them and such. In comparison this year it's been rather minimal, allowing BMG to control things. It even seems that Wim Hof being in the music video was because of James and not because the BBC thought it would be a neat idea.

 

[LontraCanadensis]

This just really isn't my thing at all, however I do appreciate the effort. This is the first time since Lucie that I feel the BBC has tried and I think we could end up surprised in May. That being said, I just find the track to be rather banal and just not something that would ever light my fire. I think what really kills the song for me is the "I'll give you my last....BREATH" part, which ig makes it stand out more than it would otherwise. Still, it surpassed my expectations for the UK. I'll give it 5 points

 

[Uto]

And the only difference here, is that instead of an individual singer, it was an entire record label, and instead of them demanding control the BBC asked them to do it and gave control. The BBC hasn't even involved at any point in the song or artist selection, they left it to the record label and that's been clear and it's up to the record label to promote it. It was the same thing in 2009, the label promoted it. I fail to see your argument for how the UK and Netherlands is so completely different? The point you made at the start is exactly the same here, NFs don't work, no one watches them or cares about them and when people ever discuss it they always say we should someone big like Adele or Ed Sheeran (even if it is usually followed up with,"but they wont win anyway"). Oh, also our new HoD we got last year cancelled the NF format as they didn't want to hold a NF. The comparisons are clearly there, even if it isn't totally the same.

Yeah I can see why you would draw comparisons, but the difference is still large. Let's first get out of the way that I do agree that the UK made a step in the right direction, but what they seem to have done now is let some record label make the decisions instead of the ones who are actually invested in Eurovision, ie the artists themselves. I think this difference is sizable. The result is a song that again just seems custom tailored for an audience that doesn't exist. This is not doing a 180, this is doing a 90 so to speak. My argument is and was that if you have the choice, you might as well do a 180, but apparently the entire idea of steering away from BBC-curation at all is deemed groundbreaking and I can see why.

A change in approach to the contest after a near decade of tragic results. Only the future knows how it will pan out for us, but it's something that really worked for The Netherlands. Anouk didn't single handed change the entire reputation of Eurovision in The Netherlands back then, it improved and helped it, for sure but it was the start of a process.

Yeah well whatever Europe thinks about the Netherlands doesn't matter. Anouk made Eurovision reputable in the Netherlands in a single stroke. There was no start to a process, it was almost the entire process in one fell swoop, with The Common Linnets capping it off by nearly winning by staging a song to maximum effect. We just weren't good enough before, people had been saying that for years but now it was proven and it's no longer up for debate. The better your song and your staging, the better you score. I hope we will live to see the day the UK finally understands that they are simply inferior to the rest of Europe if they don't bring their A-game.

 

[Alaska49]

changing this from 7 (6+1) to 8 (7+1). BBC, don't screw this up for us. this can be your comeback story.

 

[Wez3079]

I hope that BMG/BBC really push to promote this heavily across the UK and Europe. I wasn’t keen at first but it has really grown on me so I think it’ll be essential to have as many people familiar with the track before the final.
If this was from another country I’m sure people would give it a lot more credit but with one of the biggest music industries in the world, I guess people have higher expectations as they know what the UK can deliver musically.
Lets be honest, Arcade last year is hardly groundbreaking or an amazing song and yet it won. Why? Because it was already a hit across many other countries. I like it, don’t get me wrong, but if that can win, then there isn’t any reason MLB can’t do very well

 

[Chrisiam]

One of the more positive things I have seen and heard said about it over the past couple days is that the song is "a grower"; first listen its not much, two or three down the line those people are enjoying it a lot more with each listen.

Sure, I don't think anyone who hated it on first listen is going to turn around to loving it any time soon but the more it grows on people the more likely it will do better at the Finals.

The problem is that for the vast majority of people watching the Finals it will be their first and last time hearing it and whilst in three of four listens they might like it enough to vote for it if their gut reaction is "Meh" then it will get a bad result.

Eye catching and memorable staging will help with that, great staging in my opinion can elevate a mediocre song and make it more of a statement, though what one does with this song in terms of that goodness knows.

More air play on radio internationally will help it, it always does, its a matter of it actually getting on there that is the rub. I would like to think that the fact the song has been trending on UK Youtube every day since it came out (All be it now down to 28th) and is 200k from matching last year's entry's reveal video's view count after only a couple days makes me hopeful that there is something about this that, whilst it might not win, there is an audience for it which hopefully will grow towards the contest.

 

[Iker]

One of the more positive things I have seen and heard said about it over the past couple days is that the song is "a grower"; first listen its not much, two or three down the line those people are enjoying it a lot more with each listen.

Sure, I don't think anyone who hated it on first listen is going to turn around to loving it any time soon but the more it grows on people the more likely it will do better at the Finals.

The problem is that for the vast majority of people watching the Finals it will be their first and last time hearing it and whilst in three of four listens they might like it enough to vote for it if their gut reaction is "Meh" then it will get a bad result.

Eye catching and memorable staging will help with that, great staging in my opinion can elevate a mediocre song and make it more of a statement, though what one does with this song in terms of that goodness knows.

More air play on radio internationally will help it, it always does, its a matter of it actually getting on there that is the rub. I would like to think that the fact the song has been trending on UK Youtube every day since it came out (All be it now down to 28th) and is 200k from matching last year's entry's reveal video's view count after only a couple days makes me hopeful that there is something about this that, whilst it might not win, there is an audience for it which hopefully will grow towards the contest.

The song is very radio-friendly for sure. I like it for what it is. It strangely remind me some other songs - not from the ESC ... but can't pinpoint which ones.

 

[Chrisiam]

I've heard people say that the opening reminds them of Rolling in the Deep by Adele, and I can kind of see that and there is something about Newman's vocal that kind of sounds a little like Rag and Bone Man.

I don't think its as good as either one of those but if you are going to emulate anything its probably best to emulate stuff that actually is current and not what was nominally current a decade ago or more ago which feels like the case for a lot of the UK's entries as of late.

 

[cripesdude]

We’ve half the songs now and the UK is in my top 5... and I’m far from bias to the UK!

 

[AleksTheDino]

This is the bottom of my top right now, oh my

 

[Uto]

After tonight this is no longer the worst non-French entry for me.

 

[AleksTheDino]

After tonight this is no longer the worst non-French entry for me.

Hahaha for me this is worse than France and Estonia..UK last, then Estonia, then France

 

[Iker]

Hahaha for me this is worse than France and Estonia..UK last, then Estonia, then France

Estonia is worse than UK this year I think.

 

[watersoup]

Well it is clearly better than last year which was pretty much as bad as it gets even for UK entries (second worst only to Josh Dubovie). The "My Last... Breath" thing might come across as deeply annoying or might be the thing that makes our entry stand out for once and I can see that there is an increased effort this time around which I hope will carry over to staging.

Unfortunately, this is another entry from my country in my absolute least favorite style. I am not personalty able to gain any enjoyment from it and will probably not be listening to it again until it is performed on stage in Rotterdam. 2 points from me.

 

[AleksTheDino]

Well it is clearly better than last year which was pretty much as bad as it gets even for UK entries (second worst only to Josh Dubovie). The "My Last... Breath" thing might come across as deeply annoying or might be the thing that makes our entry stand out for once and I can see that there is an increased effort this time around which I hope will carry over to staging.

Unfortunately, this is another entry from my country in my absolute least favorite style. I am not personalty able to gain any enjoyment from it and will probably not be listening to it again until it is performed on stage in Rotterdam. 2 points from me.

That's exactly it. This "...Breath" part with the pause before it....it honestly annoys me a lot for some reason, which makes this worse than any boring ballad. I don't see the upgrade for the UK compared to last year, for me they're equal.

 

[Loindici]

With the standard lineup we have so far I can see the UK getting better places than expected. Even to the extent of a surprising top 5 a la Michael Schulte.

 

[AleksTheDino]

With the standard lineup we have so far I can see the UK getting better places than expected. Even to the extent of a surprising top 5 a la Michael Schulte.

They will need a killer staging for that (even though i dont think any staging could pull this out of the bottom 5.) And we know the UK isn't the most creative in staging..