News - Scotland: There are no discussions! | Eurovision Song Contest News - 2008 Belgrade, Serbia 

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Written by

Barry Viniker

Published

11/Feb at 14:42

Source(s)

EBU, BBC

News


EBU and BBC doubt possibility

Scotland: There are no discussions!

Talk of Scotland entering the Eurovision Song Contest as an independent participant seems to be more about political capital and PR than reality. esctoday.com has so far spoken to the EBU and the BBC and whilst Scottish broadcasters are free to join the EBU, Scotland would not be able to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest whilst the UK is represented by the BBC and Scotland remains a part of the country.

According to comments from the EBU: "at this time there are no discussions for Scotland to join the Eurovision Song Contest...I very much doubt it will happen at the moment".

The national broadcaster for the United Kingdom is the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). That covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The BBC has the contract to represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest. It has done so every year since 1957 (except 1958) and there are no plans to drop the event.

Whilst Scottish channels are free to join the EBU, they would be commercial broadcasters, whilst the BBC remains the national broadcaster in control of the UK's Eurovision Song Contest participation.

Furthermore, should a Scottish channel be able to participate, Scottish viewers would in effect have two entries: Scotland and the United Kindgom. They would also be able to vote through the UK for Scotland and vice versa, and that is not possible according to the rules of the competition.

At this time, therefore, esctoday.com believes that Scotland will not enter the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, although we will continue to investigate this story further.


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Deniz Mert [44574]
Wed 13 Feb 2008 14:28:00

brave scothland go!!!!!!!!!! we r wanna see u at esc!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Karl G [18247]
Wed 13 Feb 2008 12:17:09

Buy the Malta Song for Europe 2008 CD - Brand New - Here on Ebay

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Hurry, Listing ends in one day, item will not be relisted again!

Happy ESCing :-)


Union Jack [44348]
Wed 13 Feb 2008 11:28:39

I'm from Scotland and I pray to God that we will never see Scotland gain independence.


alan budworth [40077]
Wed 13 Feb 2008 08:40:32

regarding my comments on ex-reality acts, I think BBC should send Leona Lewis, X-Factor winner 2006. Leona has a powerful voice, and is regarded as the UK's Mariah Carey, or Whitney Houston. Leona would do extremely well, as long as she was sent with an excellent song. Her own material is quite good


Vladimir P [31751]
Wed 13 Feb 2008 08:34:36

Only internationally recognised states can compete. If one day Scotland becomes independent, then it could be part of ESC. Othervise, I doubt it's possible.


alan budworth [40077]
Wed 13 Feb 2008 08:01:26

Well said Telex Fan Club, I totally agree with your point of view. The BBC should field songs and artists in all our native tongues, and let the people decide.
A song sung in Welsh, Irish, Gaelic, etc, would do well in Eurovision as long as it was a good song. If Belgium cand send songs in a made up language and almost win with it (2003, I think) the UK can win with a song in Gaelic, or Welsh, etc
Sadly, the BBC will still rely on comeback acts, or ex-reality acts eager to kickstart careers, or total unknowns with no proven track record, as they have done in the past.


Francis Peters [29686]
Wed 13 Feb 2008 02:09:14

Vote United Kingdom Please, it's not true to say that English and Welsh are the only native languages "spoken fluently" in the UK. For starters, Scottish Gaelic is spoken by 60,000 people, and is the majority language in the Western Isles. Actually, having been to the Western Isles a few times, I'd quite like to send benji zagreb there for a few days, because I think his perception of Scotland might change a little! The status of Scots as a language is somewhat controversial, but it's estimated to be spoken by almost a third of the population of Scotland. I believe Irish is spoken by over 100,000 in Northern Ireland - admittedly these are overwhelmingly not native speakers. Last but not least, since the revival of the Cornish language, there have been a small number of young people brought up to speak it in the home, and can thus be classed as native speakers (certainly as fluent speakers). So by my reckoning there are no fewer than six native languages the UK could choose to sing in at the Eurovision! But does anyone think a Welsh or a Gaelic song would stand a cat in hell's chance of being selected? Yet another powerful argument for separate representation for Wales and Scotland!


Darko S. [38353]
Wed 13 Feb 2008 00:42:16

The Serbo-Montenegrin incident brushed upon below may or may not be a good example, but one thing is clear: if, in the equivalent situation and under the same circumstances, the Scottish jury did to English songs what the Montenegrin did to the Serbian ones, the whole of England would have jumped up screaming fowl play until they're blue in the face. The names of the members of the Scottish jury would have been dragged around and wiped the floor with by the tabloids, dishing out further dirt on them as they turn into The Joint National Enemy No. 1 - for a few days or even weeks. Sadly or not, the Serbs and the Montenegrins have since parted company in more ways than just sending a joint ESC entry.


Mike Strothmann [12216]
Wed 13 Feb 2008 00:35:47

This is just a farcical story fuelled by devolusionists as they tend to try and do every now and again...the make Scots independant and desolve the UK brigade..it`s not going to happen anytime soon. Imagine the voting ...be Yugoslavia all over again or on 2nd thoughts nul point from Scotland and Wales to England could be the reality so bottom 5 would still be a possibility :(


One Day [36964]
Wed 13 Feb 2008 00:13:49

How about allowing Scotland in if they agree to use bagpipes in their first entry? [...] But seriously though, Scotland would need to become an independent country first.


James S [22775]
Tue 12 Feb 2008 23:04:27

What a pity! We Irish would finally have a country to lavish our douze points on every year


Telex Fan Club [32895]
Tue 12 Feb 2008 22:41:10

My viewpoint is this-
I see myself as a British citizen, not an English one. I would happily vote for English, Welsh, Scottish, Cornish or whatever to represent my country as long as the song was good. I can understand however that the people of Scotland might feel that they are not being represented but I believe it is the job of the BBC to provide good Scottish acts for us to vote for as part of the UK final so that we get a good balance of music from all quaters. I think that the majority of viewers would vote for the best regardless of which corner of the country they come from.


garry chelsea! [32082]
Tue 12 Feb 2008 22:09:22

the only language aprt from english is welsh??? you really ought to visit the highlands and islands of scotland where gaelic is still widly spoken, and the main tv channels in scotland regularly have gaelic programmes


The trouble is with not singing in your native tongue for a country like the UK -
a) It wouldn't make it past Making Your Mind Up
b) The reason why Ireland don't sing in their native tongue is cos' the 1 time they did, they got one of their worst results.
c) The only language in the UK still fluently spoken (apart from English!!!!) is probably Whelsh.

Personally I would love to see another language song, but I doubt it will happen.


alan budworth [40077]
Tue 12 Feb 2008 19:44:44

@moray james,
I fully understand where you are coming from, but would it not help