There is much discourse currently about the UK having no friends in Europe following a staggering Eurovision defeat. Some are even suggesting pulling out of the worlds most famous song contest all together.
Dr. Paul Jordan, 28, is an expert on the Eurovision Song Contest and in 2011 successfully defended his PhD, 'The Eurovision Song Contest: Nation Building and Nation Branding in Estonia and Ukraine', at the University of Glasgow.
tbg. asked Paul if he thought the BBC was to blame for the UK's failure? "To be honest I think the BBC made a brave choice this year - it was genius as it got the media interested and was better than having a random former X Factor "star".
Dr. Jordan went on to determine: "It was a strong year, 42 songs, what makes us think that we deserve to be up there every year. Europe does not hate us - we came 5th in the public vote last year and 5th overall in 2009".
Dr. Jordan told tbg. that the jury vote counts for 50% and they vote on the Friday night dress rehearsal and that Engelbert was way below par that night and the early draw didn't help either.
"...Overall the song which won had the biggest hit potential and is now set to hit number 1 here next weekend.
There is always neighbourly voting, but the UK and Ireland are guilty of that too. We do need to re-think how we approach Eurovision, at the end of the day Engelbert hadn't had a hit since the 1970s where as other countries are putting forward their big acts".
When tbg. asked if he had a message for Engelbert, Paul said: "Hard luck but hey, we weren't last!"
Follow Dr. Paul Jordan on Twitter; @dreurovision. www.dreurovision.com
