United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003

A Song for Europe 2003

The UK selection contest, "A Song For Europe", was held on March 2nd 2003 and was hosted by Terry Wogan. The programme was once again consigned to the 'graveyard' timeslot of a Sunday afternoon. A semi-final had already been held on BBC Radio 2 which had reduced eight songs down to the four that would eventually appear on television.

Viewers were asked to vote for their favourite song. These votes were there totalled and attributed to a regional jury, for example Wales. The votes were then announced by celebrities and shown on the master scoreboard.

The Songs

The contest was opened by the Liverpudlian duo Jemini who had undergone a name change from Tricity, due to a third member having left during the period between the semi-final and final. Cry baby was uptempo but downbeat.

Simon Chapman performed Now and forever, a ballad which had undergone a number of changes prior to the final. Most notably, the original singer Esther Hart withdrew from the contest following her selection to represent the Netherlands. United Colours of Sound were then supposedly drafted in to replace Esther but by March 2nd, Chapman was in place. His performance was not appreciated by the public.

Mimi performed Ever since that night which had been penned by EastEnders theme tune composer, Simon May.

The final entry was Help me, a romantic ballad sung by Emily Reed. She would go on to provide backing vocals for the UK entry in 2006.

Results

The final result was as follows:

1st - Cry baby by Jemini (68 points)2nd - Help me by Emily Reed (64 points)3rd - Ever since that night by Mimi (54 points)4th - Now and forever by Simon Chapman (0 points)

Eurovision Song Contest 2003

Jemini gave a less than note-perfect performance at the final held in Riga, Latvia. Of twenty six participating countries, the United Kingdom was placed last with no points whatsoever. Terry Wogan made references to the UK's lack of popularity on the world stage due to support of the invasion of Iraq but the result is arguably down to the poor quality of the performance, although Jemini did cite problems with the sound monitors on stage.

Despite, or possibly because of, their last place, Jemini's song managed to reach number 15 in the UK singles chart. The duo performed a note-perfect acapella version of the song after the BBC's coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 in Istanbul.