Bonnie Tyler, a familiar name in the music industry known for several hits including Holding Out for a Hero, Lost in France, It's a Heartache and Total Eclipse of the Heart took on the task of representing the United Kingdom at this years' edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the British Broadcasting Corporation asking her following their listen of the song Believe In Me. Promotion for Bonnie has been key both nationally and abroad noting that due to the fact that she was internally selected, she wanted to get the local media involved as much as possible. Believe In Me, a co-write between Desmond Child, Lauren Christy and Christopher Braide will take to the stage during the final but nevertheless, a live performance took place last night. 

As a matter of fact, Bonnie Tyler was invited as one of the guests on The Graham Norton Show which airs Friday nights on BBC One and indeed, she gave a stunning rendition of her entry Believe In Me which has earned her mixed opinions. The staging during the final of the Eurovision Song Contest will be different considering that there will be the addition of backing vocalists, both of male and female gender rather than a band and this will surely help liven up the image. The whole stage performance is being set up by Arlene Phillips, renowned choreographer and former judge on Strictly Come Dancing, which is very much the British version of Dancing with the Stars. It will be intriguing to see how the staging will be divulged on the night but nevertheless, there need not be any worries of a lacklustre vocal performance as was the guest with Engelbert Humperdinck last year. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news. 

Source: BBC

On a local level, a music market is already extremely difficult to tap into but when moving beyond the borders within other nations, then it truly becomes an adventure with the hope that the right promotion and exposure will be enough. A panel of music professionals have been listening to the entries that will be competing in the first semi-final of this years' Eurovision Song Contest with all of the sixteen (16) rounded up yesterday. It's time to change the perspective and move onto the three nations who will be giving their votes within the first evening and the first of these is none other than the United Kingdom whose entry entitled Believe In Me presented by the BBC is co-written by Desmond Child, Lauren Christy, Christopher Braide will be performed by Bonnie Tyler.

Perhaps best known for the classic Jim Steinman songs Total Eclipse Of The Heart and Holding Out For A Hero, Bonnie Tyler has had number one albums on both sides of the Atlantic, has been nominated for three Grammys, won the Yamaha World Song Festival, and has sold over 20 million records in her career so far. She continues to tour and play live shows constantly, which she loves to do. Tyler now has a brand new album, titled Rocks And Honey, and her Eurovision entry, Believe In Me, comes from that new record. "What makes our entry special is that we have a beautiful song by world class songwriter, Desmond Child, that appeals to a wide variety of people across borders, age groups and other dividing lines. It brings people together and that is an essential part of the purpose of the Eurovision Song Contest.

In Malmö I want to do my very best for my country, and for our wonderful song, but I also want to take a full part in the competition and look forward to working with, and enjoying, the artists from all of the participating nations. I have found inspiration in the work of great singers such as Janis Joplin and Bruce Springsteen, but most of all from my mother who sang opera beautifully. I am inspired every day by my 40 year long marriage to Robert, who was a Team GB competitor at the 1972 Olympic Games. I want to thank my fans for their unwavering support and love and ask them to spread the word about Believe In Me to everyone that they know. An interesting fact about our entry is that Desmond Child partially wrote this song at the dinner table at his house in Nashville whilst we were all eating together.

The Eurovision Song Contest is compulsive watching for me and it has given music some truly great artists, such as the wonderful Abba, and continues to give a truly unique opportunity to songwriters and performers." For nearly four decades, songwriter and producer Desmond Child has reigned as one of music's most successful creative forces. His list of accolades include his induction into The Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2008, Grammy awards, 70 Top 40 singles, and songs that have sold over 300 million albums worldwide. Child's career has been highlighted by a stunning array of diversity. His collaborations run the gamut... from Bon Jovi and Aerosmith to Ricky Martin,.. from Kiss to Kelly Clarkson...from Mickey Mouse to Kermit The Frog and from Cher to Alice Cooper.

Despite having worked for nearly forty years as a writer, producer, and artist, Child remains energised and enthusiastic... ready to create hits indefinitely. "I was born with a certain drive and sense of destiny that keeps me going," says Child. "Maybe it was because I was born poor; I wanted to win for the family. I still put a lot of energy in what I do. I try to really live life, so I have new experiences that I can write about." The United Kingdom has a remarkable history at the Eurovision Song Contest noting that they have managed to finish in the first runner-up slot for a record fifteen times apart from winning the competition on four occasions, the last time being in 1997 thanks to Katrina & The Waves with the song Love Shine a Light. Rekindling their flame for the Eurovision Song Contest, the BBC have decided to send none other than Bonnie Tyler in 2013.

Professional Critics Voice their Opinion

Rating: 67%

Magnus Kaxe: One of my 80's favorite artists is back! I have always admired Bonnie Tyler for her great and strong voice. My first impression - it's a lot of autotune on Bonnie's voice. Will she be able to perform live? So what about the song? It's a Westlife-ish ballad song with a lot of emotion, but it's boring. This wouldn't even been an album track by Westlife. I'm disappointed.

Lina Eriksson: It's hard not to love a song when it's sung by Bonnie Tyler. Love, the lyrics, the voice ... the song.

Matt Mercieca (Muxu): The UK seem to be making it a habit of sending a well known artist, It never seems to do the job, and I'm not sure Bonnie has the power to do this with this song, BUT!!!!! I personally really like the song, I love Bonnie's quirky voice, I really like the structure of the song, and it has a really nice vibe, I do think its a good /strong song, but don't think it will make a huge impact on the festival, I love the pre-chorus, the way she sings it, is something I would use in my own song.  Overall I really like it, I just don't believe it will do amazingly, its a good song for an album, maybe a third/final single off an album, but not to represent the UK in the Eurovision.

Source: eurovision.tv

The participation of the United Kingdom within the Eurovision Song Contest has not been deemed successful as of late due to the fact that the British Broadcasting Corporation are said to be out of touch with the way that the event is organised. For the past couple of years, most of the entries that finished within the top five have managed success in their respective regions whilst a number of winners including; Loreen, Lena Meyer-Landrut, and Alexander Rybak have broken through world markets. Following last years' disappointment, it was thought that the British Broadcasting Corporation might have learned but one cannot be too sure as their announcement took place earlier today stating that it is indeed Bonnie Tyler who will fly the flag for the United Kingdom.

In a official post by the British Broadcasting Corporation it has been confirmed that Bonnie Tyler will be performing the track Believe In Me co-written by Lauren Christy, Christopher Braide and Desmond Child. The track was recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tenessee with production conducted by David Huff and then mixed at Eargasm Studios in Santa Monica, California by Justin Niebank. Desmond Child has previously worked with the likes of Diana DeGarmo, Cher, Aerosmith, Jon Bon Jovi and Anastacia amongst others. The first official radio play will be given on The Ken Bruce Show on Monday, 18th May which just happens to co-incide with the Heads of Delegation meeting where all entries have to be presented to the European Broadcasting Union. 

Katie Taylor, Head of Special Projects for the BBC stated that 'Bonnie is an artist with an international reputation and I am delighted that she has chosen to represent the UK in this year’s contest. It is a great song and a truly wonderful performance that I am sure will do the nation proud'. The United Kingdom will be taking part in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest due to their elite status as a big five member alongside France, Italy, Germany and Spain. The commentary on the night of the semi-finals will be done by Scott Mills, who is a renowned disc jockey with BBC Radio 1 as well as Sciccor Sisters star, Ana Matronic. For the final, Graham Norton will once more be keeping the public entertained. Ken Bruce will take off the radio listeners on BBC Radio 2. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news as soon as it becomes available.

Source: BBC

Rumours have always been characteristically popular with the internal selections put forth by the British Broadcasting Union but there seems to be an aura of possible positive achievement as they prepare their next campaign which will of course culminate in Malmo, Sweden. Artists tend to make themselves available yet it seems that this time round, the mill of possible representatives is being kept to a minimum with one artist publicly declining the possibility of being the one to take on the challenge of doing the honour for the United Kingdom, that being of course Sophie Ellis-Bextor who had had a string of hits and is working on her return to the music scene following an extended break. Earlier this year, the British broadcaster selected Engelbert Humperdinck with the song Love Will Set You Free languishing in a bottom position at the end of the evening with just twelve points; the maximum being five from Estonia followed by four points from Ireland. One individual who won't mind flying the flag is definitely Rylan Clark.

Rylan Clark was one of the finalists in the current edition of the British X Factor and was mentored by former Pussycat Doll turned solo singer; Nicole Scherzinger. The idea behind his choice was to garner a bit of entertainment throughout the whole process although many had come to believe that he could not really perform and on most nights, they were right because this is an artist who cannot hold a tune. Before being eliminated, he was almost eliminated twice prior to actually getting eliminated finishing in fifth place. He did have credible performances in the sing off portion of the competition though and at one point, upcoming star and judge Tulisa Contostavlos made that abundantly clear keeping him in the competition and sending home a possible recording artist; Kye Sones. Speaking to the British newspaper; Metro, the artist has made it known that should he be wanted to represent the United Kingdom, he would do accept instantly 'If the country wanted me to represent them then I'd happily fly the flag.' Betting house, William Hill is currently showing that his possible representative role might be true at 16/1, with odds shortening in the past couple of hours. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all of the latest news as soon as it becomes available.

Source: Metro

The British Broadcasting Corporation has always been somewhat secretive about their respective announcements with regards to the Eurovision Song Contest but there seems to be a particular individual which is leaking out the information to the media noting that for the past two years, the announcement by the broadcaster had to be moved forward due to the fact that the tabloid; The Mirror has always caught wind and was accurate in saying that the group Blue and also Engelbert Humperdinck would be representing the United Kingdom in the annual music competition. Despite the announcement somewhat coming extremely early with 2013 still a couple of months away, it would not be too much of a surprise especially now that the well known Anouk has been official confirmed as the representative for The Netherlands. The name which will seemingly be revealed for the United Kingdom is that of former Pop Idol runner-up Gareth Gates.

Finishing as the runner-up in Pop Idol back in 2002 to the well known Will Young has definitely not hurt his career in any way, with his music career sparring a total of three albums thus far including; What My Heart Wants to Say which peaked at number #2 in the United Kingdom, #8 in Norway, #11 in The Netherlands and #19 in Ireland; Go Your Own Way which did not manage the same success peaking at number #11 in the United Kingdom #40 in The Netherlands and Switzerland as well as #34 in Norway; Pictures of the Other Side a comeback album which managed number #23 in the United Kingdom and #47 in Austria. Nevertheless, his collections spawned four number #1 hit singles in the United Kingdom and seven within the top ten respectively. In the meantime, the biggest hit, a ballad by the name Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake) topped the charts in four countries back in 2002, those being the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. It seems that since his last pop comeback did not really pan out as planned,  he has gone into the West End where he is currently playing the role of Warner in the musical, Legally Blonde. A documentary about the choice and the artist is being planned at the moment and it seems that the full story will be revealed in this weekends' Mirror. Stay tuned to escflashmalta.com for all the latest news.

Source: escflashmalta.com, escnation message board

The British Broadcasting Corporation are set to be quite disappointed with the result achieved in this years' edition of the Eurovision Song Contest having decided on sending the world renowned superstar Engelbert Humperdinck with the song Love Will Set You Free which unfortunately finished in twenty-fifth position with just twelve points in total. Despite all of this though, the viewing figures were still quite high but not as much as they were in 2011 when the United Kingdom were represented by the group Blue and the track I Can which finished in eleventh position and amassed a huge audience for the broadcaster. It seems that according to the local tabloids that they will be returning back to a national final type of formula so that the result achieved in the long term would not be blamed fully on the British Broadcasting Corporation with the public having a say in the final pick.

There have been a number of issues at the main British Broadcaster and this is due to a ratings flop when it comes to hit reality show The Voice which has lost a lot of support during the weeks. All of the coaches are apparently being removed except for winner Tom Jones, as his experience seemed to draw on the final result but nevertheless, the rumours about the Eurovision Song Contest continue as the BBC will not be withdrawing from the event. What many people forget is that the country reached the top five just three years ago in 2009 when Jade Ewen sang the beautiful ballad It's My Time composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and penned by Diane Warren.

The last time that the United Kingdom hosted a multi-song final was actually back in 2008 when Andy Abraham represented the nation with the song Even If finishing in last place with just fourteen points but again despite the people finally selecting him, it is to be noted that he had been initially removed and only brought back as a wildcard by renowned selection host and former Eurovision commentator, Terry Wogan. It will be quite interesting to see who would be sent ultimately because well known acts do tend to submit in the selection such as Simona Armstrong, Michelle Gayle, Liz McLarlon, Anthony Costa and Kym Marsh amongst others.

Source: Daily Mail

These English don’t live without the Eurovision. That’s a fact. After Engelbert Humperdinck’s  ‘flop’ last Saturday (with only 12 points, finishing second from the bottom), BBC was unsure whether it should continue participating or not. Nevertheless, big names are already emerging as ‘favourites’ to represent the country next year in Sweden … and let’s face it, it’s the 5th time Sweden will be hosting the Eurovision, and I think that they are ‘experts’ in organizing a great and superb contest, thus no country should miss this showcase contest in such a ‘Eurovision expert’ country!

UK should really choose it’s representative well this time round. Ok, big names are big names, but they are repeatedly doing the same mistake, year after year. They were ‘favourites’ to winning last year’s contest since world-known boy band Blue participated, but … instead … all their high hopes ended at position number 11. 

Funnily enough, American pop band ‘Scissor Sisters’ have vowed to end UK’s Eurovision crisis. A big statement indeed. Well, rules state that contestants do not have to actually be from the country they are representing. This rule was also opted from the Swiss, when in 1988, Celine Dion, despite being a Canadian, was chosen to represent the country with a French song (Ne Partenz Senza Moi – Don’t Leave Without Me), and eventually won the contest. Jake Shears, Scissors Sisters’ singer, told BBC Radio Five Live that he would go for the Eurovision if he was asked to do so, “If I was asked I would gladly do it for you. I would love to. I’d be happy to.”

Another big name tipped to represent the country is Sir Cliff Richard, who was also a favourite for this year’s edition, but since he has been busy with personal commitments, he preferred to leave this ‘mission’ in someone else’s hands. Sir Cliff Richard, 71, has carried the nation’s hopes twice before. A BBC insider said: “Cliff has been approached and there is potential interest. He’s obviously one of our most respected performers and he’s certainly among the frontrunners for 2013. Cliff is a real perfectionist and would have to be convinced he has a strong song to work with. Hopefully he won’t be put off after the disappointment at the weekend.”

Sir Cliff finished second in 1968 with Congratulations and came third in 1973 with Power to All Our Friends. “There’s a sense of unfinished business for Cliff at Eurovision as he’s come so close to winning in the past. Hopefully it will be third time lucky,” said the insider.

The UK hasn't won Eurovision since 1997, with our entrants finishing last in 2003, 2008 and 2010. Well, one thing the UK must make sure to avoid this time round … another disappointment from yet another big name. Between Scissors Sisters and Sir Cliff … I think I’ll prefer the second, although his past achievements in such a prestigious contest don’t really ‘predict’ his future achievement if he was to be the chosen. In that, Scissors Sisters would be the ‘modern’ choice for the Brit’s in 2013. Let’s hope they’ll make the best choice! ;)

Source: Daily Express, Eurovision.tv

There has been a lot of fuss in recent years over the participation of the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest especially due to the fact that one of the largest music markets cannot manage to achieve consistent results. The British Broadcasting Corporation has been said to be making quite an extra amount of effort although it seems that they are not really meeting the budgetary spending that they should paying much more for a series of other things and therefore putting the competition on the backbone of their strategy. This morning, the British media has gone all negative and sour about this years' participation noting that Engelbert Humperdinck only managed to garner twelve points from four countries putting him in twenty-fifth position.

The history of the United Kingdom as the prestigious event is definitely not worth retiring upon with five victories and fifteen runner-up finishes to their name although the last time they did finish in the top three was way back in 2002 with Jessica Garlick and her track Come Back although one has to note that they also finished in fifth place in 2009 when Jade Ewen performed the song It's My Time penned by Diane Warren and Andrew Lloyd Webber. British viewers took to social networking websites and also message boards calling for the broadcaster to withdraw from the event with the well known Philip Schofield also going about saying 'It’s time to pull out. Not even Robbie Williams could win it for us, it's too political'.

Nevertheless, it seems that the general consensus is that Engelbert was not the right choice to represent the United Kingdom because it showed that the country was somewhat old fashioned instead of promoting a new array of perfomers which somewhat dominate the British music scene at the moment including acts such as Hurts, Pixie Lott, Leona Lewis, Jessie J and of course Adele who has taken over most of the charts with a huge number of hit tracks. The very fact of the matter is that some people like to say it was political voting but the top five was relatively strange and whilst there might have been an interesting element of this kind of voting this time round, it has been acknowledged by a British Broadcasting Corporation spokesman that the affect was only on 'mid-table positions'. 

One of the most influential men in the world of Eurovision is surely Paul Gambaccini who despite being an author of a book about the competition, is also a presenter on BBC Radio 2. He speaks about the possibility of a world class singer and songwriter chosen to represent the United Kingdom adding that while he does not expect starts like 'Adele to sign up', he believes that there is the possibility of finding the 'modern equivalent of Cliff Richard and the songwriter team behind Congratulationrs, Bill Martin and Phil Coulte'. His idea was backed by none other than 1997 winner of the Eurovision Song Contest;  Katrina Leskanich who would love to see songwriter Cathy Dennis write the song for the United Kingdom having written hits such as Toxic for Britney Spears and Can't Get You Out of My Head for Kylie Minogue. 

Source: The Telegraph

The most noteworthy participant in this years' Eurovision Song Contest taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan is surely Engelbert Humperdinck, one of the biggest stars of the olden days with a large number of hits including tracks such as Release Me, The Last Waltz, A Man Without Love, and After the Lovin' amongst others. The selection of the British Broadcasting Corporation did not go without any criticism from the British and the foreign press actually but nevertheless, he has somewhat been tipped as one of the favourites with the United Kingdom being almost at the top of the list in terms of the Betting Odds ranking in position number #4 at the current moment. It will be quite interesting to see how the performance of the track Love Will Set You Free will go down with the rest of the continent.

Engelbert is currently signed to Conehead Records which is an independent recording label to which stars such as Peter Andre, Stacey Solomon and Rhydian Roberts are also signed. The single was released last Monday and it seems that Engelbert was out to promote the track prior to leaving to the Eurovision Song Contest making appearances on the Graham Norton Show on BBC1 in the United Kingdom and also on the Late Late Show on RTE in Ireland where Jedward where also guests. In both shows, the legendary performer decided to perform his track LIVE for the very first time and despite the age, his performances were still above average yet not perfect and might require some work before going to Baku, Azerbaijan. Stay tuned to all of the latest news from the Eurovision Song Contest with our live coverage on escflashmalta.com thanks to our team on location including Juergen Boernig, Garrett Mulhall, Patrick Strouk, Šira Carolyn Bezalel and Lilian Brunell along with our collaborators including Luke Fisher of escXtra and Keith Mills of All Kinds of Everything.

Source: BBC, RTE