I've posted here before about Engelbert Humperdinck, of all people, and here we are again.
If you look at UK chart statistics over the last 30 years, there's a definite trend where mainstream pop music and the Eurovision Song Contest part company, until the point where Eurovision doesn't appear to matter at all. Imagine a world where the X Factor winner is watched by millions on a Saturday night, but barely anyone buys their record - that's exactly the way that the Eurovision Song Contest worked for years in the UK.
My memories of the Eurovision Song Contest, as a youngster, were Brotherhood Of Man onwards, where Britain's entry was a tailor-made act for the competition, rather than an established, popular act. Although this sometimes won the competition, it could sometimes be seen as the British not taking the thing seriously, and the lack of points on the night was deserved. There have been attempts to reverse the trend - involving Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jonathon King, for instance. This year, a veteran UK singer with a wide appeal abroad has been entered. I've listened to the song - it's the sort of slug-paced ballad I'd expect from the Spanish entry. There are other, livelier entrants and I don't expect the British one to win.
Of course, the golden age of Eurovision for my parents' generation would have put Engelbert Humperdinck up for the contest when he was still having regular hit singles. What I never realised about 60s and early 70s Eurovision is that the British entries - Lulu, Sandie Shaw, Cliff Richard, and so on - weren't just bankable pop stars, but they actually had their own television series at the time. Eurovision is a deal between broadcasters, not record companies. We're talking about the BBC here, not ITV in any shape or form - so other possibilities would have included Cilla Black, Dusty Springfield or even Scott Walker, but not, say, Tom Jones.
By the mid 1970s, the idea of a popular musical act having their own television programme in the UK was on the wane. The only ones I can remember having that sort of primetime slot as a kid were Shirley Bassey (who could have made sense in a Eurovision context, given the right song) and The Black and White Minstrels (the mind boggles), which might explain the switch to the tailor-made acts like Bucks Fizz.
Or there's always this bloke:
