They infamously got the UK’s first null points at Eurovision with their song “Cry Baby” but more significantly were the catalyst in a cascade of negative UK media coverage surrounding our beloved song contest. Six years later Jemini were interviewed by the Liverpool echo and understandably expressed mixed feelings about the ordeal. What makes these quotes so interesting to me, is how they reflect the changing attitudes of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) towards Eurovision. Today (mainly because I am running low on time, whoops), we will rank these quotes Just4Fun.
1) “I was watching the semi-finals and it seems to be getting worse and worse.”
Whoops again! Judging that this quote came in 2009, I find it particularly curious as the contest had gone through a major shift that year with the reinstating of jurors and I personally believe you can see the impact of this on the song’s selected. Of course “worse” is subjective but this really feels like a continuation of the same old narrative the BBC produced since 2003 as to why they were no longer coming top 10 every year. 1/10 for reinforcing the Eurovision is bad narrative without evidence!
2) “The monitors weren’t working, Gemma couldn’t hear herself, so she was out of tune.”
It’s good to see this come up in the discussion because of course that is the reason the group cited back in 2003 for their performance being off. The fact that they stated that back then also means that the BBC were aware back then that the reasons for their poor showing were not as simple as just politics. It’s a pity they chose to push for this convenient narrative, whilst also throwing their participants under the bus. Technological failure is inevitable every once in a while, in fact it immediately springs to mind that in 2012 Romania had in ear problems in their semi-final, this problem isn’t disappearing. Hopefully though broadcasters have learned from the 2003 debacle that if something like that goes wrong they can and should ask for a repeat performance. Anyway, 2/10 for this quote but only because I have heard this story so many times and their are more interesting quotes to come.
3) “As each country’s votes came in, we had a glass of wine. It was probably a good job we didn’t have to go back on to sing, because we were tipsy.”
Whilst I can think of a fair few contestants who had a little too much to drink, rendering the “excuse” nonsense, I have to admit that this is a very witty reply! In saying that they deprived us of an even more iconic winner’s reprise by not winning and performing badly then, so for that reason I can only give a 3/10
“About halfway through, we knew we wouldn’t get any votes, but it made us stand out, everyone remembers us.”
Well they got that one right! The fact they flopped so hard in the contest has resulted in both this ranking list being made and the original interview being carried out by the Echo! In many ways failing at Eurovision is not the end of the world. Whilst they would disband and be forgotten about by the music industry, not every Eurovision nil points contestant goes on to experience failure after the contest. Remedios Amaya has a whole filmography behind her now despite receiving the dreaded score back in 1983! And even for those who choose to call showbusiness a day, they remain important parts of European musical heritage. And I mean in homage to us remembering them at all, this quote can have at least a 5/10.
“The BBC blamed our management and our management blamed the BBC.”
After six years to reflect it is interesting that the duo would bring up this conflict. It certainly sounds like there was a lot of embarrassment on behalf of the BBC and the groups management that they wanted to cast to one side. In many ways it is not surprising. Unfortunately, it really does seem like scapegoating the contest itself was the easiest way the BBC found to cool this dynamic. Clearly a lot went on behind the scenes that we will only ever know the surface of. It is worth noting that in their 2003 Winter Press Release, the BBC was already calling the contest a “camp fest”. 7.5/10
“It was a brilliant experience, but I would not do it again.”
Do Eurovision folks, its a great experience even if you flop! And I mean I doubt they would have wanted to do it again even if they’d won. 8/10
“I think this year’s entry is very good, it’s got Andrew Lloyd Webber behind it so hopefully we’ll get some points. We’ll look like a gang of fools if we don’t.”
I love this quote haha! The fact that Jade pulled off a top five place for the UK in Moscow, really runs contrary to the whole narrative that it is simply a Europe’s most popular country contest. It also shows some of the challenges related to getting big names to the contest for that very fear of looking daft if things go amiss. If anything though it offers the hope that the BBC can do well in Eurovision in the televoting era. 9/10
“It is a talking point and it is going to be on my grave at the end. We get the odd person who gives us a bit of stick but we find the majority of people are great and very supportive.”
Imagine having Eurovision participant as a talking point! #DareToDream The bottom line is Eurovision is a song contest and malicious attacking of one another should not be the end product of that. Do I still hate that dreadful performance? Absolutely, did you really need to ask? But at the end of the day Eurovision is just a bit of fun. As James Newman comes to grip with his nil points experience, hopefully he will just enjoy the highs and laugh at the lows. At least it looks likely he will be spared the petty broadcaster vs manager feuds of the past. For the realism but not just negativity for the sake of it 9.5/10
“The hall it was held in wasn’t a music stadium, it was a sports hall, so it wasn’t somewhere which usually holds concerts.”
Didn’t the BBC host Eurovision 1998 in Birmingham Arena, best known for sports game show gladiators and set to host the Commonwealth Games? This was the original and ridiculous excuse I was looking for to cheer me up! 10/10
If this article was on tune for you I hope you will consider sharing it! And as always I hope you enjoyed the read! I have tons more content set to come to the blog soon so stay tuned!
Pingback: Forgotten Histories Of Eurovision: 2009 Edition - Recent But Accessible? - ESC Essence