United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010

The United Kingdom participated at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, held in Bærum, Norway in May. The BBC announced on 29 January after months of speculation that British record producer and songwriter Pete Waterman would write the UK entry for the 2010 Contest.[1][2][3] The song, "That Sounds Good to Me", was performed on 12 March 2010 on Eurovision: Your Country Needs You, where Josh Dubovie was selected to represent the UK at Eurovision over five other finalists.[4][5] The song came in last place. The song was 12th in the line-up for the Grand Final.

Eurovision Song Contest 2010
Country United Kingdom
National selection
Selection processEurovision: Your Country
Needs You
Selection date(s)4 March 2010
Selected entrantJosh Dubovie
Selected song"That Sounds Good to Me"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Final result25th (last), 10 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2009 • 2010 • 2011►

Before Eurovision

Eurovision: Your Country Needs You 2010
Pete Waterman and Graham Norton in a promotional image for Your Country Needs You! 2010

Eurovision: Your Country Needs You 2010 was the national final developed by the BBC in order to select the British entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. Six acts competed in a televised show on 12 March 2010 held at BBC Television Centre in London and hosted by Graham Norton. The show was broadcast on BBC One as well as streamed online via the BBC iPlayer.[6] The national final was watched by 2.9 million viewers in the United Kingdom, 4 million less than in 2009.[7]

Competing artists

On 9 November 2009, Jayne Collins Casting, the company also responsible for the Eurovision: Your Country Needs You 2009 auditions, announced an open application for interested artists to attend auditions.[8] Ultimately six contestants were selected to compete in the national final. The six competing artists were announced on 5 March 2010.[9][10]

Act Age Location
Alexis Gerred 20 Biggin Hill
Esma Akkilic 17 London
Josh Dubovie 19 Basildon
Karen Harding 18 Consett, County Durham[11]
Miss Fitz 23–27 London
Uni5 18–25 Various

Final

Six acts competed in the televised final on 4 March 2010. In addition to their performances, guest performers included previous Eurovision Song Contest winner Alexander Rybak, who won the contest for Norway in 2009 with the song "Fairytale", and the group Sugababes, which included 2009 British representative Jade Ewen, performing their newest single "Wear My Kiss".[12][13]

A panel of experts provided feedback regarding the performances during the show. The panel consisted of Jade Ewen, Pete Waterman (composer of the British entry) and Bruno Tonioli (choreographer, dancer and television personality). The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the six contestants each performed a Stock Aitken Waterman classic and together a group medley of ABBA songs: "Take A Chance On Me" and "Dancing Queen". Waterman selected three of the contestants to perform the British song "That Sounds Good to Me" and a public televote selected the winning combination of artist and song.

First Round

In the first round, the six contestants each performed a Stock Aitken Waterman classic and together a group medley of ABBA songs. Waterman selected Alexis Gerred, Esma Akkilic and Josh Dubovie to proceed to the final round.

DrawArtistSong (Original artists)Result
1Karen Harding"What Do I Have to Do?" (Kylie Minogue)Eliminated
2Alexis Gerred"Never Gonna Give You Up" (Rick Astley)Advanced
3Uni5"Last Thing on My Mind" (Bananarama)Eliminated
4Esma Akkilic"This Time I Know It's for Real" (Donna Summer)Advanced
5Josh Dubovie"Too Many Broken Hearts" (Jason Donovan)Advanced
6Miss Fitz"Better the Devil You Know" (Kylie Minogue)Eliminated

Final Round

In the final round, the remaining three contestants performed their versions of the British song "That Sounds Good to Me". A public televote selected Josh Dubovie as the winning artist.[4][5]

DrawArtistSongPlace
1Alexis Gerred"That Sounds Good to Me"2
2Esma Akkilic"That Sounds Good to Me"3
3Josh Dubovie"That Sounds Good to Me"1

Revamp of the song

On 15 March co-writer Mike Stock confirmed that the version of "That Sounds Good To Me" performed at Your Country Needs You would not be the version presented by Josh Dubovie at Eurovision, but "would be significantly different from what has already been served up", and completely revamped to suit Dubovie's voice more.[14][15] On his official website he said the song was remixed on 26 March, suggesting the new, yet to be released version was more suited to Dubovie. He suggested the focus was now on rehearsals and the performance and said "But for the song itself, that's all over and completed; I can do no more."[16]

A studio version of "That Sounds Good to Me" was broadcast on Swedish radio on 22 April.[17] However this was not the final version of the song, which was premiered on 24 April at the Eurovision in Concert preview concert in Zaanstad, the Netherlands.[18]

Promotion

On 24 April Dubovie appeared at the Eurovision in Concert preview concert in Zaanstad, the Netherlands, performing alongside 16 other contestants in this year's Eurovision Song Contest and performing the final version of "That Sounds Good to Me".[18][19] The following day Dubovie appeared on private channel RTL 4, where he again performed his song.

Dubovie also performed at the UKEurovision Preview Party in London on 2 May alongside representatives from Iceland, Ireland and Romania.[20]

At Eurovision

As a member of the "Big Four", the United Kingdom automatically qualified for the final on 29 May. It came 25th and last, with ten points.[21] The public awarded UK 25th place with 7 points and the jury awarded 25th place with 18 points.[22]

Paddy O'Connell and Sarah Cawood provided commentary for the semi-finals, with Graham Norton doing likewise for the final. Ken Bruce provided commentary on the final on BBC Radio 2.

The United Kingdom votes were announced by BBC Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills.[23]

Points awarded to the United Kingdom
Points awarded to the United Kingdom (Final)[24]
Score Country
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points
4 points  Ireland
3 points  Georgia
2 points  Azerbaijan
1 point  Albania

Points awarded by the United Kingdom

References
  1. Hondal, Victor (29 January 2010). "Pete Waterman announced as UK songwriter". ESCToday. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  2. "Pete Waterman to write UK's Eurovision Song for 2010". BBC. 29 January 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  3. Kirkpatrick Green, Simon (29 January 2010). "Pete Waterman to write United Kingdom entry". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  4. Webb, Glen (12 March 2010). "Josh flying the flag for United Kingdom in Oslo". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  5. Hondal, Victor (12 March 2010). "The United Kingdom sends Josh to the Eurovision Song Contest". ESCToday. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  6. Klier, Marcus (12 March 2010). "Tonight: National final in the United Kingdom". Esctoday. Archived from the original on 13 March 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  7. Lewis, Daniel (15 March 2010). "UK: Mike Stock speaks of change". esctoday.com. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
  8. Repo, Juha (9 November 2009). "UK: Call for singers to take part in auditions". ESCToday. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
  9. Montebello, Edward (5 March 2010). "United Kingdom: Six acts announced". ESCToday. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
  10. Webb, Glen (5 March 2010). "BBC reveal United Kingdom finalists!". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
  11. Davies, Katie (6 March 2010). "Singer Karen Harding aiming for Eurovision". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  12. Murray, Gavin (9 February 2010). "Rybak's national final tour schedule". ESCToday. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  13. Montebello, Edward (10 February 2010). "Sugababes guests at UK's selection". ESCToday. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
  14. Lewis, Daniel (15 March 2010). "UK: Mike Stock speaks of change". ESCToday. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
  15. Storvik-Green, Simon (15 March 2010). "United Kingdom entry to be revamped". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
  16. "That Sounds Good To Me". mikestockmusic.com. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  17. Murray, Gavin (22 April 2010). "United Kingdom: Studio version of 'That sounds good to me'". ESCToday. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  18. Viniker, Barry (25 April 2010). "Exclusive: Josh performs final version of UK Entry". ESCToday. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  19. Medinika, Aija (16 April 2010). "Netherlands: Josh confirmed for Eurovision in Concert". ESCToday. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  20. Viniker, Barry (25 April 2010). "Josh to perform at UKeurovision Preview Party". ESCToday. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  21. "Grand Final of Oslo 2010". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  22. Bakker, Sietse (28 June 2010). "EBU reveals split voting outcome, surprising results". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 1 July 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  23. "Scott to speak for the UK". BBC. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  24. "Results of the Grand Final of Oslo 2010". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  25. "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Oslo 2010". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
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