In the aftermath of Eurovision 2008, the arguments about Russia’s victory and the British result are already beginning. The first contribution comes directly from a mailing list I belong to, with thanks to Liam Jarnecki.
Mr Kennedy O’Connor and Mr Gambaccini, speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, made the following points:
- Dima is a megastar with three MTV awards.
- He always gives good value — the piano girl, the Stradi, the ice skater and so on.
- Andy couldn’t even win X Factor.
- Wogan chose Andy personally against a public vote, so he had a personal credibility issue at stake.
- The cost of the UK’s contribution, if we pulled out, would pay for about ten minutes of Dr Who.
- Perhaps we should pull out of Wimbledon because we don’t win that either.
- It’s all sour grapes.
Well done, lads. Let them do the commentary next year!
But I think Wogan really helped to set this whole thing up. He misrepresented Dima to British viewers and failed to give them the context or background they needed — for example, by telling us what the bookies were expecting.
His phrase, “Words gone out, it’s Russia’s turn this year,” was unnecessary and unsubstantiated. More importantly, it suggested that the result was controlled by a block vote, rather than reflecting the reality of millions of people making up their own minds.
