Weak vocals and bad luck in the running order may be behind the UK’s poor performance in Eurovision Song Contest this year, say pop experts.
Sweden’s Loreen stormed the competition in Liverpool with her pop anthem “Tattoo”, becoming the first woman in the history of the contest to win twice.
In contrast, the UK’s Mae Muller only managed 25th place with “I Wrote A Song” – finishing one above Germany, who came last.
Dr Paul Jordan, a Eurovision expert who was at the Liverpool Arena on Saturday night, believes the UK was missing one key ingredient in the recipe for Eurovision success.
He told i: “You need three key ingredients to win Eurovision: a good song, a good singer and good staging. When all three come together, that’s when you win.
“This year the staging was good, the song was good but unfortunately the singing wasn’t. The vocals in the arena didn’t sound great, vocally she is not that strong.”
It’s a point echoed by William Lee Adams, author of new book Wild Dances: My Queer and Curious Journey to Eurovision and founder of the Eurovision website wiwibloggs.
He told i: “Mae Muller’s vocals were not the best. She was lucky the audience chanted along, it masked her poor performance.”
The UK’s last place in the running order on the night also appeared to do few favours for the entry.
“I don’t think the running order helped,” said Dr Jordan, whose PhD research was on the Eurovision. “The song maybe got lost in what was quite a strong field.”
A view reiterated by Mr Adams: “The final six songs (before Mae Muller) were really upbeat so anything is going to seem bland after that.”
Following the results last night, Muller was praised for her performance by the BBC, which tweeted: “Mae, we’re so proud of you and everything you’ve achieved at this year’s Eurovision.”
The 25-year-old singer-songwriter tweeted after the show: “I just want to say thank u x i know i joke a lot but we really put our all into the last few months, not the result we hoped for but so proud of everyone and what we achieved on this journey.
“Congrats to all the countries, I’ll never forget this journey and I love you all.”
It was not all bad news for the UK, who were hosting the competition on behalf of last year’s winners Ukraine.
The show itself was considered a resounding success, with an average of 9.9 million UK viewers and a peak of 11 million tuning in on Saturday night.
It made ratings history in the country, beating the previous record of 9.5 million who watched UK entry Blue compete in the 2011 competition with the song “I Can”.
For those in the audience, it was a night to remember despite the UK defeat. “It was a really slick show”, said Dr Jordan, “The atmosphere there was electric, joyous. It was more about forgetting your troubles and focusing on having a great time.
“The crowd were going wild when the UK came on.”
Both the BBC, which organised the contest in partnership with the European Broadcasting Union, and host city Liverpool, won plaudits for their contribution.
“I though the staging was absolutely unbelievable”, said Mr Adams, who was at the contest. “It shows what the BBC is capable of and Liverpool came off very, very well.”
Rishi Sunak also paid tribute to the hosts, tweeting: “Liverpool, you’ve done the United Kingdom and Ukraine proud.”
As UK fans nurse a collective Eurovision hangover and the final grains of glitter are swept away from the Liverpool Arena, there is time to reflect and look ahead to next year’s contest in Sweden – it returns to the Scandinavian country 50 years after Abba won with “Waterloo”.
“I think we [the UK] have the right mentality and mindset, we just need someone with good singing ability, someone who can perform”, said Dr Jordan.
Mr Adams also believes the UK is “on the right track now” adding, “We should remember the host nation rarely ever wins.”
A note of optimism the UK needs to hear for 2024.