United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001

Eurovision Song Contest 2001
Eurovision Song Contest 2001
Participating broadcaster	British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Country	United Kingdom
National selection
Selection process	A Song for Europe 2001
Selection date(s)	Semi-final:; 26 January 2001; Final:; 11 March 2001
Selected artist(s)	Lindsay Dracass
Selected song	"No Dream Impossible"
Selected songwriter(s)	Russ Ballard; Chris Winter;
Finals performance
Final result	15th, 28 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest

The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with the song "No Dream Impossible", written by Russ Ballard and Chris Winter, and performed by Lindsay Dracass. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), organised a public selection process to determine its entry for the contest, A Song for Europe 2001. 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.

In the final of the Eurovision Song Contest, the United Kingdom performed in position 16 and placed 15th out of the 23 participating countries with 28 points.

Background

Prior to the 2001 contest, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing the United Kingdom forty-three times.^[1] Thus far, it has won the contest five times: in 1967 with the song "Puppet on a String" performed by Sandie Shaw, in 1969 with the song "Boom Bang-a-Bang" performed by Lulu, in 1976 with "Save Your Kisses for Me" performed by Brotherhood of Man, in 1981 with the song "Making Your Mind Up" performed by Bucks Fizz, and in 1997 with the song "Love Shine a Light" performed by Katrina 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 including 1998, it had only twice finished outside the top 10, in 1978 and in 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 2000, "Don't Play That Song Again" performed by Nicki French finished in sixteenth place out of twenty-four competing entries.

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 has traditionally organised a national final featuring a competition among several artists and songs to choose its entry for Eurovision. For 2001, the broadcaster announced that a national final involving a public vote would be held to select its entry.

Before Eurovision

A Song for Europe 2001

A Song for Europe 2001 was the national final developed by the BBC in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2001. Eight acts competed in the competition which consisted of a radio semi-final on 26 January 2001 and a televised final on 11 March 2001. The semi-final was broadcast on BBC Radio 2, while the final was broadcast on BBC One.^[2]

Competing entries

In late 2000, BBC together with the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) and the Music Publishers Association (MPA) announced an open submission for interested songwriters to submit their songs. 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 2001. 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 2001. The submission period lasted until 20 October 2000.^[3] More than 600 received submissions were reviewed and a 28-song shortlist was compiled and presented to a professional panel consisting of representatives of the BBC, BASCA and MPA that ultimately selected eight semi-finalists to compete in the national final.^[4]^[5] The eight competing songs were premiered during The Ken Bruce Show and Wake Up to Wogan on BBC Radio 2 between 22 and 25 January 2001.^[6]

Shows

Semi-final

Eight acts competed in the radio semi-final which was hosted by Terry Wogan and Ken Bruce during Wake Up to Wogan on 26 January 2001. A public televote selected the top four songs that proceeded to the final.^[7]^[8] Although the voting results are unknown, it is rumoured that Tony Moore won the semi-final.^[9]

Semi-final – 26 January 2001
Draw	Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)	Result
1	Lucy Randell	"Just Another Rainbow"	Pete Kirtley Tim Hawes	Advanced
2	Charlotte Henry	"King of Love"	Max Milligan Charlotte Henry	Eliminated
3	Nanne	"Men"	Kimberley Rew	Advanced
4	Lindsay D	"No Dream Impossible"	Russ Ballard Chris Winter	Advanced
5	Tony Moore	"That's My Love"	Tony Moore	Advanced
6	Luke Galliana	"To Die For"	Stephen Lipson Wayne Hector Deni Lew Nicky Graham	Eliminated
7	Moneypenny	"Twisted"	Dawn Joseph Sara Eker Lucy Abbott Russ Ballard Chris Ballard Andy Murray	Eliminated
8	Obsession	"Why Should I Love You"	Jodie Wilson Richard Darbyshire Frank Musker	Eliminated

Final

Four acts competed in the televised final on 11 March 2001 which was held at the BBC Elstree Centre in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire and hosted by Katy Hill. A public televote selected the winner, "No Dream Impossible" performed by Lindsay D. The televote in the final registered 102,352 votes.^[8]^[10]

Final – 11 March 2001
Draw	Artist	Song	Televote	Place
1	Lucy Randell	"Just Another Rainbow"	19,337	3
2	Nanne	"Men"	5,556	4
3	Lindsay D	"No Dream Impossible"	45,564	1
4	Tony Moore	"That's My Love"	31,895	2

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2001 took place at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 12 May 2001.^[11] The relegation rules introduced for the 1997 contest were again utilised ahead of the 2001 contest, based on each country's average points total in previous contests. The 23 participants were made up of the host country, the "Big Four" countries (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom), and the 12 countries with the highest average scores between the 1996 and 2000 contests competed in the final.^[12] As a member of the "Big Four", the United Kingdom automatically qualified to compete in the contest. On 21 November 2000, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and the United Kingdom was set to perform in position 16, following the entry from Turkey and before the entry from Slovenia.^[13] The United Kingdom finished in eighteenth place scoring 28 points.^[14]

In the United Kingdom, the contest was televised on BBC One with commentary by Terry Wogan and broadcast on BBC Radio 2 with commentary by Ken Bruce.^[15]^[16] The BBC appointed Colin Berry as its spokesperson to announce the results of the British televote during the show.

Voting

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 to Estonia in the contest.

Points awarded to the United Kingdom^[17]
Score	Country
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points
4 points	Ireland
3 points	Croatia Latvia Lithuania Malta Russia
2 points	Germany Netherlands Poland Portugal
1 point	Spain