UK throws it's Eurovision oar in for 2013

Okay, so, here is the United Kingdom's entry for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest. It's called "Believe in Me" and it's by Bonnie Tyler - yes her off the 80s classics "Total Eclipse of the Heart"/ "Holding Out for a Hero". Not, as reported by the ever happy to dish up whatever misheard rumours they can Daily Fail suggested earlier in the week, Bonnie Langford!

For the second year in a row the BBC have selected the artist and song representing the UK. The majority of countries in Europe hold some sort of event to select their entries, ranging from the bigger-than-Eurovision-itself Melodifestivalen in Sweden to the bizarre vote-for-whoever-cos-we'll-change-it-if-we-want Belarus. The BBC had a go with that, but followed up the magnificent Jade Ewen (singing Andrew Lloyd Webber's "My Time" - watch the YouTube clip at 1:06 for the amazing violin bashing she gets) with the letdown of Josh Dubovie ("That Sounds Good To..." well no-one really), and so went on the pre-selection scavenge therafter, with the mixed results of boyband Blue and last year's Englebert Humperdink.

And herein lies our first problem. Bonnie is not a bad singer or artist, but she doesn't feel particularly current; her last non-compilation album release was in 2005. But she is releasing one this year, and so because the UK populace and BBC still see Eurovision as a bit of a joke, she gains publicity without risking losing anything. If only we had the balls to send our greatest acts like Russia or Sweden do, we might do a bit better... but that's a debate for someone else.

Let's take a look at the video shall we?

00:02 - Ok, so it's gonna be a ballad
00:08 - Is this an IKEA showroom?
00:15 - Nice quasi-rhyming! "And you laugh at thought of putting your faith in stuff... like love"
00:30 - Still no face-on shot and lots of cameras poking round corners - but it's already clear that she's had more than just a good make-up artist.
00:50 - And the chorus hits - I am already doing the "fist-grab" move like a backing singer
01:10 - I am liking these lyrics: "The way I speak the truth; I'll never lie to you"
01:34 - Now I get why no head-on shots; dead behind the eyes
01:40 - God this beach is depressing
01:51 - Hands in the air moment - I can already hear the G-A-Y remix kicking in at this point
02:01 - Those lip fillers are weird right?
02:16 - She actually looks a little drunk now as hit a middle 8 section
02:25 - Suddenly lots of cuts, either she fell over or we're building to that chorus...
02:30 - And here we are. I'm singing along... "Believe in Meeeeeeeeee-yeah-eh"...
02:40 - ...*eyes closed, fist-grab aplenty, wind machine* "The way I speak the truth; I'll never lie to you"
02:56 - Oh its over, was waiting for a bigger finish.

Well, that 3 minutes went quicker than I thought. Initial impressions - quite cute but probably not a show stopper... or a winner. But now I think about it, perhaps it will do better than it seems - a lot of entries this year are uptempo, dance-music infused given Loreen's Euphoria last year. If Bonnie is scheduled in between some of those, they annihilate the audience with some killer staging, and her croaky voice does that powerful-yet-vulnerable thing, this might translate well.

I'm gonna listen again now...

"Believe in Meeeeeeeeeeeeee, yeah-hee-yeah-eh"

I'm sold.

See you in Malmo Bonnie!