United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The British national broadcaster BBC internally selected James Newman to represent the country with the song "Embers". Newman was due to compete in the 2020 contest with "My Last Breath" before the event's cancellation.

Eurovision Song Contest 2021
Country United Kingdom
National selection
Selection processInternal selection
Selection date(s)Artist: 19 February 2021
Song: 11 March 2021
Selected entrantJames Newman
Selected song"Embers"
Selected songwriter(s)James Newman
Conor Blake
Danny Shah
Tom Hollings
Samuel Brennan
Finals performance
Final result26th, 0 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2020 • 2021

They scored 0 points (commonly referred to in the UK media as 'nul points'), the first country to do so since the change in voting procedure in 2016.

Background
Main article: United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2021 contest, the United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty-two times. Thus far, the United Kingdom 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 the song "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, the UK had only twice finished outside the top 10, in 1978 and 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, thus far only finishing within the top ten twice: in 2002 with the song "Come Back" performed by Jessica Garlick and in 2009 with the song "It's My Time" performed by Jade Ewen. In 2019, Michael Rice with the song "Bigger Than Us" finished in 26th place (last) with 11 points, the fourth time in the nation's history that it has finished in last place.

The British national broadcaster, the BBC, broadcasts the event within the United Kingdom and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Between 2011 and 2015, the BBC opted to internally select the British entry. For their 2016 entry, the broadcaster announced that a national final would be organised featuring a competition among several artists and songs to choose the British entry for the contest. The same process was used in 2017 and 2018, and changes were brought in for 2019. For 2020, the BBC opted to return to an internal selection, in collaboration with record label BMG.

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

On 19 February 2021, BBC confirmed that James Newman will represent the United Kingdom in the 2021 contest. The BBC also announced the renewed collaboration between BBC Studios and record label BMG. The song, entitled "Embers", was released on 11 March 2021.[1]

In an interview on Newsbeat Newman stated "I feel like everyone wants a party and to have some fun so when I was writing, that's what I had in my head. I wanted something people can dance to, even if it's just in their kitchen".[2]

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 took place at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and consisted of two semi-finals held on 18 and 20 May, and the grand final on 22 May 2021.[3] As the United Kingdom is a member of the Big Five, their entry directly qualified for the final, along with France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the host country, the Netherlands.[4] In addition to their participation in the final, the United Kingdom was also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals.

The United Kingdom performed 9th in the grand final on 22 May 2021, following Serbia and preceding Greece. They finished in 26th place (last), scoring nul points, becoming the first country to do so since the change in voting procedure in 2016.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with a diversity in gender and age represented. The judges assess each entry based on the performances during the second Dress Rehearsal of each show, which takes place the night before each live show, against a set of criteria including: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.[5] Jury members may only take part in panel once every three years, and are obliged to confirm that they are not connected to any of the participating acts in a way that would impact their ability to vote impartially. Jury members should also vote independently, with no discussion of their vote permitted with other jury members.[6] The exact composition of the professional jury, and the results of each country's jury and televoting were released after the grand final; the individual results from each jury member were also released in an anonymised form.[7][8]

Points awarded to the United Kingdom

In the final, the United Kingdom received no points from the juries or in the televote.[9]

Points awarded by the United Kingdom

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the British jury:[7][8]

Detailed voting results from the United Kingdom (Semi-final 2)[10]
Draw Country Jury Televote
Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Average Rank Points Rank Points
01  San Marino477667492
02  Estonia101649139214
03  Czech Republic1111917101216
04  Greece12913111513101
05  Austria136101281115
06  Poland7151413161447
07  Moldova1411516118311
08  Iceland32111112112
09  Serbia658356512
10  Georgia15171115171717
11  Albania910128710113
12  Portugal1832221056
13  Bulgaria5457347210
14  Finland2126545638
15  Latvia17131714121674
16   Switzerland832493883
17  Denmark16141610141565
Detailed voting results from the United Kingdom (Final)[9]
Draw Country Jury Televote
Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Average Rank Points Rank Points
01  Cyprus15231714132113
02  Albania21151618192221
03  Israel151111125618
04  Belgium116962210125
05  Russia1771316181514
06  Malta12181510111656
07  Portugal2195934711
08  Serbia191118841223
09  United Kingdom
10  Greece18122212232016
11   Switzerland93131438101
12  Iceland514211210210
13  Spain81712579224
14  Moldova2322317211320
15  Germany16252423152415
16  Finland31641387447
17  Bulgaria1346756538
18  Lithuania221321202523112
19  Ukraine2482024201874
20  France4132211265
21  Azerbaijan2591922171919
22  Norway20222525162592
23  Netherlands62082161122
24  Italy1424141591783
25  Sweden721719241412
26  San Marino1010104108317

References
  1. "🇬🇧 United Kingdom: James Newman's Eurovision Entry Is Titled "Embers"". Eurovoix. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  2. "Eurovision Song Contest 2021: James Newman reselected as UK's entry". BBC News. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  3. "Rotterdam 2021 - Eurovision Song Contest". EBU. Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  4. "Rules - Eurovision Song Contest". EBU. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  5. "Voting–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  6. "Fairness–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  7. "Juries in the Second Semi-Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  8. "Juries in the Grand Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  9. "Results of the Grand Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  10. "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
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