Originally Posted by miles19740:
“I have been reading all the comments with interest. Firstly Josh, you did brilliantly last night. Well done.
It is worth remembering that our campaign this year got off to a dodgy start. The BBC's selection show was simply terrible. Most of the acts were inexperienced and couldn't hold a note for toffee. I think our effort this year was badly damaged by that. We were fighting against the tide from the off. Any European country looking at our selection show would have laughed in our faces. We need to take the contest seriously. That goes for Norton's commentary to. If we don't take it seriously, we can't expect to be taken seriously.
Many have criticised the song, and you are entitled to your opinions. Being objective about it, had I written it, I wouldn't have included the "You bring the sunshine, I'll bring the good times" lyrics, but that aside, there was absolutely nothing wrong with our song at all. It was well crafted, had good instrumentation, had nice harmonies and effective counter-melodies. I am not saying we should have won, but there is no way we should have finished last. We, along with Ireland, should have come top 10 at least. Denmark, along with Romania, Albania, Germany, France, Iceland, Greece and Moldova all had strong songs, but we were certainly up there with them.
To the critics, it is worth remembering that the contest has changed over the last fifteen years beyond recognition. From 1956 until the mid-1990s, the contest featured countries from western Europe and Scandinavia. From the mid-1990s until 2005, 26 countries joined the contest, the vast majority from the former eastern block countries. This shift has obviously changed the dynamics of the contest beyond recognition and reduced drastically the chance of us ever winning again. With the addition of all the new countries, we are now sadly, geographically and politically on the fringe of the competition. Some, like the Tories and the likes of Nigel Farage are happy being on the fringes, or would prefer us to be out of Europe all together. That said, the anti-Europe attitude which oozes from the UK cannot be ignored when it comes to the contest. Would you vote for a country which you knew wasn't that into you? I certainly wouldn't. We can't expect Europe to vote for us when we are so anti them. It stands to reason and can't be ignored. All this, coupled with our recent activities abroad which have been frowned on by the masses adds up to a very negative attitude towards us as a nation which has, really since 1997, been reflected through the votes cast in the contest. For us to ever have a chance of winning again, we need to have a positive attitude towards our European neighbours and run a charm offensive, otherwise we will continue to fail while continuing to partly fund the contest. We also need to learn from Germany. Our song needs to be released and promoted weeks before the contest so Europe becomes familiar with it. It is very hard for any song to make an impact on one hearing! Furthermore, maybe it is time to split the contest into two, a Western Eurovision Song Contest and an Eastern Eurovision Song Contest. The top 5 from each contest could then battle it out for the Song For Europe title.
While I am very disappointed with our performance last night, Mike Stock's and Pete Waterman's chart success over the years will never be taken away from them. It is worth remembering that since 1984, they have penned 122 top 40 hits, spent 895 weeks on the charts, had 54 top 10 hits along with 7 number 1s...a success rate which many will never reach and can only dream about.
Stock Aitken & Waterman's music is great. I believe they should continue to work with Josh, and together, they will turn a slight set back into a very strong and successful chart act.”
“I have been reading all the comments with interest. Firstly Josh, you did brilliantly last night. Well done.
It is worth remembering that our campaign this year got off to a dodgy start. The BBC's selection show was simply terrible. Most of the acts were inexperienced and couldn't hold a note for toffee. I think our effort this year was badly damaged by that. We were fighting against the tide from the off. Any European country looking at our selection show would have laughed in our faces. We need to take the contest seriously. That goes for Norton's commentary to. If we don't take it seriously, we can't expect to be taken seriously.
Many have criticised the song, and you are entitled to your opinions. Being objective about it, had I written it, I wouldn't have included the "You bring the sunshine, I'll bring the good times" lyrics, but that aside, there was absolutely nothing wrong with our song at all. It was well crafted, had good instrumentation, had nice harmonies and effective counter-melodies. I am not saying we should have won, but there is no way we should have finished last. We, along with Ireland, should have come top 10 at least. Denmark, along with Romania, Albania, Germany, France, Iceland, Greece and Moldova all had strong songs, but we were certainly up there with them.
To the critics, it is worth remembering that the contest has changed over the last fifteen years beyond recognition. From 1956 until the mid-1990s, the contest featured countries from western Europe and Scandinavia. From the mid-1990s until 2005, 26 countries joined the contest, the vast majority from the former eastern block countries. This shift has obviously changed the dynamics of the contest beyond recognition and reduced drastically the chance of us ever winning again. With the addition of all the new countries, we are now sadly, geographically and politically on the fringe of the competition. Some, like the Tories and the likes of Nigel Farage are happy being on the fringes, or would prefer us to be out of Europe all together. That said, the anti-Europe attitude which oozes from the UK cannot be ignored when it comes to the contest. Would you vote for a country which you knew wasn't that into you? I certainly wouldn't. We can't expect Europe to vote for us when we are so anti them. It stands to reason and can't be ignored. All this, coupled with our recent activities abroad which have been frowned on by the masses adds up to a very negative attitude towards us as a nation which has, really since 1997, been reflected through the votes cast in the contest. For us to ever have a chance of winning again, we need to have a positive attitude towards our European neighbours and run a charm offensive, otherwise we will continue to fail while continuing to partly fund the contest. We also need to learn from Germany. Our song needs to be released and promoted weeks before the contest so Europe becomes familiar with it. It is very hard for any song to make an impact on one hearing! Furthermore, maybe it is time to split the contest into two, a Western Eurovision Song Contest and an Eastern Eurovision Song Contest. The top 5 from each contest could then battle it out for the Song For Europe title.
While I am very disappointed with our performance last night, Mike Stock's and Pete Waterman's chart success over the years will never be taken away from them. It is worth remembering that since 1984, they have penned 122 top 40 hits, spent 895 weeks on the charts, had 54 top 10 hits along with 7 number 1s...a success rate which many will never reach and can only dream about.
Stock Aitken & Waterman's music is great. I believe they should continue to work with Josh, and together, they will turn a slight set back into a very strong and successful chart act.”
Firstly it's an expression, ment nothing by it.
And he may have peformed well, but that can't cover up the terriable song. I diasgree he should stay as far from stock as he possibly can, build he's own path, make he's own desiscon, because he didn't choose to sing that song, no one would.
. ive told you all along that the vast majority of music lovers HATE their nursery rhyme, mass produced track. (again the use of single tense was deliberate). they appealed to children and a certain section of gay people (mainly young, older gay people i knew at the time prefered more sophisticated acts like erasure and the pet shop boys). outside that demograph they had very very few people who liked even 1 track (from 87 onwards). 