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Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up
Format	Entertainment
Created by	BBC
Presented by	Terry Wogan & Fearne Cotton
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Production
Running time	60 minutes + 30 minutes results show
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC One
Chronology
Preceded by	A Song For Europe

Making Your Mind Up is a BBC TV show broadcast annually to select Britain's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest. It is named after the 1981 winning entry by Bucks Fizz. The show has previously gone under several other names, including A Song for Europe and Great British Song Contest.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early days 1.2 1970s revamp 1.3 1990s overhaul 1.4 2000 and beyond 2 Winners 2.1 A Song For Europe 1957-1995 2.2 Great British Song Contest 1996-1999 2.3 A Song For Europe 2000-2003 2.4 Making Your Mind Up 2004 onwards 3 Contestants 4 Hosts 5 External links 6 References 7 External links

The format of "A Song For Europe", and the manner in which the winner is chosen, has gone through many mutations. In its early days, there was a round of semis, with the winner chosen by regional juries situated across the country. This was used until 1960. In 1961 the winner was chosen by a jury of 140 people, but from 1962-63, the regional juries returned. Typically, singers would be invited by the BBC to choose and perform a song from the shortlist available that they liked. Household names such as Petula Clark, Lita Roza, Anne Shelton, Frank Ifield, Ronnie Hilton, Jane Morgan and David Hughes were amongst the contenders for the UK competition, none of whom were able to secure the ticket to the Eurovision final. In the early 1960's, record companies became involved in the selection process for the first time and submitted songs by their artists. This produced hits for Craig Douglas, Karl Denver, Jackie Lee, Kenny Lynch, Vince Hill and Ricky Valance, but again, none of them were to go forward to Eurovision.

From 1964 up until 1975, an artist would be chosen by the BBC, and that artist would sing all six songs (five in 1966 and 1967) in the selection, and the public (bar 1964 and 1971) would choose by postcard which song they would like to represent them in the contest. A postal strike in 1971 prevented the ballot from taking place, so regional juries were once again constructed to pick the winner. In 1972, national power cuts meant that the broadcast of the show was blacked out in many areas, leading to a very low postal vote. In its early days of this format, only "light entertainment" singers were used, such as Kenneth McKellar and Kathy Kirby. However, the poor showing of McKellar in Luxembourg (he placed 9th of 18 entries with scores from only 2 countries) prompted the BBC to use more mainstream popstars, which was then implemented and led to a run of successful results for the UK. This idea was dropped due to the low number of postal votes cast in the contest of 1975, in which all six songs were performed by The Shadows and after objections from songwriters who felt The Shadows and the BBC's selections in general, were not the sort of artists they wanted to represent their music.

During this period, the "Song For Europe" selection process was incorporated into other BBC light entertainment shows. Typically, the performer would sing one song a week as a guest on a regular, Saturday night BBC TV show. This culminated with the performer singing all the songs one after another in a special edition of the given show. From 1968 - 1975, these performances were then immediately repeated before viewers were asked to cast their votes. The following week, the winning song would be announced and performed once more. The various shows chosen for the "Song For Europe" performances were The Rolf Harris Show (1967), Cilla (1968 & 1973), Happening For Lulu (1969), It's Cliff Richard/The Cliff Richard Show (1970 - 1972), Clunk, Click (1974) - when in a break with the format, Olivia Newton-John performed three songs a week for two weeks rather than one a week for six weeks - and It's Lulu (1975).

This period was highly successful for the UK in Eurovision. Author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor notes in his book The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History, that every UK entry to Eurovision from 1967 to 1977 finished in the top four, with only three songs not being first or second. ^[1] Indeed, the UK were only 7 points short of four consecutive victories from 1967-1970!

In 1976, a new system was put into force. Twelve songs would be performed by artists chosen by the songwriters themselves and the winner would be chosen by regional juries across the country during a stand alone show called "A Song For Europe". This system produced an immediate success by choosing the song which went on to be the Eurovision winner that year, "Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man. The first few years of the revamped format also saw a plethora of well-known names take part in the competition. Frank Ifield, Tammy Jones, Sweet Sensation, Lyn Paul, Tony Monopoly, Carl Wayne, Hazell Dean, Tony Christie, The Foundations, Labi Siffre, Guys 'n' Dolls, The Nolan Sisters, Polly Browne and Sweet Dreams all took part in the competition, but none were successful. Likewise, as the first two winners of the contest, Brotherhood of Man and Lynsey de Paul & Mike Moran had many hits under their belts before attempting Eurovision.

In 1977, a strike by BBC cameramen led to the contest being dropped from TV, although it was run on radio. The 1979 "A Song For Europe" final was never held at all, due to a strike by BBC sound engineers. The juries had to judge using cassette recordings of the rehearsals. The songs were presented to the public on Terry Wogan's radio show the following day, after the result was known. The 1980 result led to a tie break between Prima Donna's "Love Enough For Two" and Maggie Moone's "Happy Everything". To resolve this, in an unrehearsed panic, host Terry Wogan, called back the juries to announce their favourite of the two songs. This led to extreme confusion when the scoreboard failed to keep up and some juries contradicted the results they had given earlier. Prima Donna won, with eight juries to Maggie Moone's six. A detailed check of the votes after the show did confirm that Prima Donna were the correct winners. Prima Donna were the first winners of the competition specifically formed to take part in Eurovision. This became the norm in the 1980's and the artists taking part in the contest became more and more obscure and amateurish. However, a few notable acts did enter the contest in the 1980's, with scant success. Liquid Gold, Alvin Stardust, Sinitta and Hazell Dean all failing to come through the heats.

By 1981, the number of songs had dropped to eight, and interest had started to wane. Four out of eight songs in both the 1982 and 1984 events were written by Paul Curtis, who was unsurprisingly responsible for the 1984 winner; "Love Games". After Belle & The Devotions were booed from the stage at the 1984 Eurovision with Curtis' song, largely due to the performance being 'faked' to cover their lack of singing ability, the BBC only permitted solo artists or duets to take part in the 1985 UK selection process and limited two entries per songwriter. They reverted to allowing all-comers for 1986.

The number of entries briefly increased to ten in 1987 when record companies were invited to submit songs, but after a poor result from Rikki in Eurovision 1987, the regional juries were disbanded, and the final decision given to the public through telephone voting, with a celebrity panel offering comments on the entries intended to guide viewers. This proved to be a relative success, accruing two second places and a sixth place (Zagreb, 1990). However, a disappointing 10th place in Rome obtained by a truly embarrassing performance by actress Samantha Janus led the BBC to rethink the standard of performers in the competition.

As a result, the system that was used between 1964-1975 was resurrected, with the BBC's head of light entertainment, Jim Moir choosing one artist to perform all the songs in the UK final. Michael Ball was the first in 1992, and went on to win second place. Sonia was also second the year after. However, after a suggestion by Don Black to the BBC's new head of light entertainment David Liddiment in 1994, stage star Frances Ruffelle was offered the job of representing the UK. A virtual unknown singer, interest was not surprisingly low, and her final position in the Eurovision Song Contest held in Dublin was a disappointing tenth, the same achieved by Janus in 1990.

A dramatic modernisation was introduced in 1995 in an attempt to boost the profile of the contest. Pop supremo Jonathan King was drafted in to make the event more modern. The 1995 event had a diverse range of songs and some relatively well-known acts performing, such as Londonbeat who had a hit with I've Been Thinking About You, pop-combo Deuce and Sox, who featured singer and former Page 3 icon Samantha Fox. These were all beaten by rap act Love City Groove, whose eponymous song could only manage a disappointing tenth in Dublin that year. On a positive note, the songs by Love City Groove and Deuce made the top 10 of the UK singles charts, while the entries from Dear John, Londonbeat and Sox reached the lower reaches of the charts.

The following year, a semi-final was introduced. All eight songs were performed on Top of the Pops on 1 March, and the public voted to decide the four finalists. The results were announced the following day, but there was no information given on who finished where. On 8 March the final was held, with Gina G winning very easily with her dance number Ooh Ahh Just A Little Bit. The song became an instant hit in the charts, reaching number 1, but not in the Eurovision Contest itself. In Oslo, Gina could only manage 8th place, but was perhaps consoled by her Europe-wide hit with the song, which also became one of the few Eurovision songs (and one of the relatively few dance songs) to be a major hit in the United States.

This format was retained again, but with an added twist. All eight contestants would be heard on Ken Bruce's radio show on BBC Radio 2, with a public vote to decide the four finalists. The four would perform on The National Lottery Show until 1998, and then on Top of the Pops in 1999. The final itself would just consist of repeats of the performances made in the above shows, in a special programme on a Sunday afternoon. This produced a win for Katrina and the Waves in 1997, and a second place for Imaani in 1998, but disappointment in 1999 for Precious.

In 2000, the same format continued, but the final four songs were performed live in A Song For Europe, still shunted to a graveyard Sunday afternoon slot. The result proved disappointing. Nicki French gave what author John Kennedy O'Connor describes in his book The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History as a far from strong performance, despite her previous chart success and attained the UK's worst ever placing at the time, a mere 16th in Stockholm with "Don't Play That Song Again". ^[2] Many people had their doubts about this format, yet it continued the following year, and another poor showing for the UK. Lindsay D only got one place higher than Nicki French in Copenhagen. The entries from Six Chix in 2000 and Luke Galliana, the latter of which didn't make the 2001 final, became minor hits, with Galliana just failing to make the Top 40, but becoming a popular hit on cable request line music channel The Box.

The 2002 A Song For Europe generated a lot of publicity, because three of the four acts that made the final were relatively well-known to TV viewers, albeit not necessarily for their singing ability. Surf 'n' Turf included Jonathan Maitland who is a TV presenter of consumer advice shows such as Watchdog and House of Horrors. Tricia Penrose is an actress who plays Gina in the 60's retro drama Heartbeat on ITV1, and Jessica Garlick had made the final stages of another ITV1 show Pop Idol. The standard of songs was stronger than previous years, and Jessica Garlick had a runaway victory of nearly 70,000 votes with her ballad "Come Back". The song was also a success in Eurovision with it finishing joint third with hosts Estonia.

2003 saw disappointment, although a new voting format. The new voting system of regional televoting, where 9, 10 and 12 points were awarded to the top three songs, led to an unsuccessful winner. Jemini's "Cry Baby" won by two points over "Help Me" by Emily Reed. Confidence in the UK entry was low for both fans and the public, and in the actual contest held in Riga, Jemini picked up the UK's worst-ever showing, scoring "nul points" and finishing last, due to a very poor performance and a mediocre song, although some reports attempted to blame European disapproval of the US-UK invasion of Iraq for the failure of any nation to give the UK even one point. As noted by author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor, with 26 entries in the Eurovision field, this made "Cry Baby" the least successful song in the history of the contest. ^[3] No song in the Eurovision final has scored "nul points" since.

Changes had to be made, and the 2004 selection was totally different. Gone was the Song For Europe name, replaced with Making Your Mind Up. The radio semi-final was also gone, and the six songs were performed live in a Saturday night show. This raised the image of the competition, although there was much criticism about the fact that four of the six acts were from reality TV shows; however, Making Your Mind Up has provided an interesting and more successful format than had been in place when the relatively poor results of the early 2000s occurred. The winner, chosen by 70% regional televoting (regions awarding 0,2,4,6,8 and 12 points) and 30% SMS and Interactive voting, was James Fox, who had finished fifth in the second series of Fame Academy, with his gentle ballad "Hold On To Our Love". Confidence in Fox was mixed, and the song itself only finished 16th at the contest in Istanbul. Some fans were content, but some criticised the BBC for entering obscure artists.

For 2005, six songs dropped to five, and the show was relegated to an early Saturday evening slot on 5 March, to avoid a clash with Comic Relief Does Fame Academy. The press focused on two performers. Javine Hylton who is a relatively well-known urban singer, and Katie Price, aka Jordan, a famous glamour model. The other contestants included former 3SL bandmember Andy Scott-Lee, the 1996 British Eurovision entry Gina G and unknown band Tricolore. The voting itself was the same format as the previous year, but this time an online jury was added to decide between the contestants. Javine came out on top with her ethno-urban song "Touch My Fire", although she also caused some controversy when she briefly fell out of her top during an energetic dance routine. Fans were divided over the decision, and at the 50th Eurovision Song Contest held in Kiev, Javine finished 22nd out of 24 participants in the final, the UK's second poorest finish ever.

In February 2006 it was announced that artists competing in the 2006 contest would include Kym Marsh and Anthony Costa, both relatively well-known in the UK for their past involvement with music bands (the former appearing in Hear'say, and the latter in boy band Blue). Following the format of the previous year (and with six songs this time), Making Your Mind Up returned in 2006 in a prime-time Saturday evening slot, and was broadcast on March 4 on BBC One. Terry Wogan and Natasha Kaplinsky once again presented and were accompanied by a 'Celebrity Jury' that included chat-show host Jonathan Ross, popstar Kelly Osbourne and Top of the Pops presenter Fearne Cotton. The eventual winner of the 2006 contest (after the 7 tele-juries from around the UK and mobile and web votes) was Daz Sampson and his song 'Teenage Life'. Despite his stable popularity with fans, yet another low result was produced for the United Kingdom, as Daz finished 19th in the contest out of 24 competing countries.

During a press conference on 28 February, 2007, the BBC confirmed that the artists taking part in Making Your Mind Up would include Big Brovaz, an RnB group who had had success in 2002 with the single "Nu Flow"; Brian Harvey, a former member of the boy band East 17; Cyndi; Justin Hawkins of The Darkness, performing a duet with Beverlei Brown; Liz McClarnon, formerly of girl group Atomic Kitten; and Scooch, the eventual winners with Flying the Flag (for You). Scooch sang their entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 on 12 May 2007 in Helsinki, Finland and finished in second to last place with 19 points with Ireland at the bottom.

For the first time, the show was filmed at The Maidstone Studios in Kent. The hour long final was broadcast at 7:30pm on 17 March 2007 on BBC One, with the half hour results show showing at 9:30pm on the same date. Although this was past the 12 March cut-off set by the EBU, the BBC were given a special extension owing to the fact that the EBU were made aware of this over a year in advance.^[4]

The show ended mired in controversy as the results were announced. Fearne Cotton shouted out the winner to be Scooch while simultaneously co-host Terry Wogan announced the winner to be Cyndi, after some confusion - and celebration from Cyndi due to Terry shouting Cyndi louder than Fearne shouted Scooch - it was revealed that the true winner was Scooch.

United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest links to more information for each year giving semi-finals and finals of the national competition.

From 1967 - 1975 Incorporated into the following programmes:
1967 - "The Rolf Harris Show"
1968, 1973 - "Cilla"
1969 - "Happening For Lulu"
1970, 1971, 1972 - "It's Cliff Richard"/"The Cliff Richard Show"
1974 - "Clunk, Click"
1975 - "It's Lulu"

• 1957 - All - Patricia Bredin
• 1958 - Did not enter Eurovision.
• 1959 - Sing Little Birdie - Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson (Britain's first 2nd placing)
• 1960 - Looking high, high, high - Bryan Johnson (The brother of Teddy, the previous years participant)
• 1961 - Are You Sure? - The Allisons
• 1962 - Ring-a-Ding Girl - Ronnie Carroll
• 1963 - Say Wonderful Things - Ronnie Carroll (The first performer to represent the UK twice, also the only UK entrant to represent the UK in consecutive years)
• 1964 - I Love the Little Things - Matt Monro
• 1965 - I Belong - Kathy Kirby
• 1966 - A Man Without Love - Kenneth McKellar (Holder of the UK's worst placing until 1978 - 9th)
• 1967 - Puppet on a String - Sandie Shaw (The UK's first ever winner)
• 1968 - Congratulations - Cliff Richard (Lost to the winning entry, 'La La La', from Spain by 1 point)
• 1969 - Boom Bang a Bang - Lulu (Winner on a tie-break with France, the Netherlands and Spain)
• 1970 - Knock, Knock, Who's There? - Mary Hopkin (Finished 2nd to Dana's "All Kinds of Everything")
• 1971 - Jack In The Box - Clodagh Rodgers
• 1972 - Beg, Steal or Borrow - The New Seekers
• 1973 - Power to All Our Friends - Cliff Richard (The last solo artist to represent the UK twice)
• 1974 - Long Live Love - Olivia Newton-John (Actress in the musical "Grease")
• 1975 - Let Me Be The One - The Shadows
• 1976 - Save Your Kisses for Me - Brotherhood of Man (Third winner for the UK in Eurovision Song Contest)
• 1977 - Rock Bottom - Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran
• 1978 - The Bad Old Days - Co-Co (Then holders of the UK's worst placing - 11th, but with a line up including Cheryl Baker who would go on to win as part of Bucks Fizz three years later)
• 1979 - Mary Ann - Black Lace (Of "Agadoo" fame)
• 1980 - Love Enough for Two - Prima Donna
• 1981 - Making Your Mind Up - Bucks Fizz (Fourth UK victory in Eurovision Song Contest. Cheryl Baker had participated in 1978 as a member of "Co-Co")
• 1982 - One Step Further - Bardo (Female member of the duo was Sally Ann Triplett who was a member of Prima Donna, two years before. She is the last person to be part of the UK Eurovision entry twice.)
• 1983 - I'm Never Giving Up - Sweet Dreams (Included Carrie Grant)
• 1984 - Love Games - Belle and The Devotions
• 1985 - Love Is - Vikki Watson
• 1986 - Runner In The Night - Ryder
• 1987 - Only The Light - Rikki (Then holder of the UK's worst placing - 13th)
• 1988 - Go - Scott Fitzgerald (Lost to Céline Dion, the Swiss representative, by one point)
• 1989 - Why Do I Always Get it Wrong? - Live Report
• 1990 - Give a Little Love Back to The World - Emma
• 1991 - A message To Your Heart - Samantha Janus
• 1992 - One Step Out of Time - Michael Ball
• 1993 - Better the Devil You Know - Sonia
• 1994 - We Will Be Free (Lonely Symphony) - Frances Ruffelle
• 1995 - Love City Groove - Love City Groove

• 1996 - Ooh Aah... Just A Little Bit - Gina G (Became a world-wide hit after her Eurovision participation)
• 1997 - Love Shine A Light - Katrina and The Waves (The UK's 5th and most recent winner. They won by a huge 70 point margin over the Irish entry)
• 1998 - Where Are You? - Imaani (Came 2nd - lost to Israeli Dana International by 7 points)
• 1999 - Say It Again - Precious

• 2000 - Don't Play That Song Again - Nicki French (At the time, holder of the UK's worst ever placing - 16th.)
• 2001 - No Dream Impossible - Lindsay Dracass
• 2002 - Come Back - Jessica Garlick ("Pop Idol" contestant who is responsible for the UK's best result this decade - joint 3rd in Tallinn)
• 2003 - Cry Baby - Jemini (The UK's only "nul points")

• 2004 - Hold On To Our Love - James Fox
• 2005 - Touch My Fire - Javine Hylton
• 2006 - Teenage Life - Daz Sampson
• 2007 - Flying The Flag (For You) - Scooch

Main article: List of Making Your Mind Up contestants

• David Jacobs: 1957, 1960, 1962 - 1966
• Pete Murray: 1959
• Katie Boyle: 1961
• Rolf Harris: 1967
• Cilla Black: 1968, 1973
• Michael Aspel: 1969, 1976
• Cliff Richard: 1970 - 1972
• Jimmy Savile: 1974
• Lulu: 1975
• Terry Wogan: 1977 - 1996, 1998, 2003 - 2007
• Dale Winton: 1997
• Ulrika Jonsson: 1999
• Katy Hill: 2000 - 2001
• Christopher Price: 2002
• Claire Sweeney: 2002
• Gaby Roslin: 2004
• Natasha Kaplinsky: 2005 - 2006
• Fearne Cotton: 2007

• Video of song "Flying the flag (for you)"

1. ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3
2. ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3
3. ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3
4. ^ http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/7829?PHPSESSID=dfb1234eac8d8bb2f0b216cbd3c2ac45

• Making Your Mind Up - Radio 2 at bbc.co.uk

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