During the two weeks in Kyiv, both Lucie Jones and the BBC Eurovision team earned immense praise for the quality of their staging and their overall performance that was finally televised to the world on Saturday night. Never Give Up On You secured a top ten finish in the jury vote and a top fifteen placement overall. As a result, Lucie gave the United Kingdom its fourth best Eurovision placement since the turn of the millennium. Since Precious finished twelfth in 1999, only Jessica Garlick, Jade Ewen and Blue finished higher than Lucie. Yet, British media are still bringing out the Brexit word.
The UK’s fourth best finish this century… and The Sun call it “woeful”
Nevertheless, several British media outlets immediately ran with negative yet predictable headlines. Of course, Brexit reared its ugly head once again. On Sunday, The Sun‘s Dan Wootton ran with an exclusive story headlined “EU LOT COST ME WIN: Eurovision entrant Lucie Jones blames Brexit after UK finishes in woeful 15th place“.
Furthermore, the opening line of the article states “LUCIE JONES has blamed Brexit for her disappointing showing at Eurovision.” Unfortunately, for those of us desperate for such a misinformed headline not to reach the public masses, The Sun is the UK newspaper with the highest circulation of all with the Press Gazette claiming figures of over 1.6 million as of February 2017.
Lucie sets the record straight
Now, for those of us that have followed Lucie’s journey to Kyiv and her various interviews and press conferences during the previous fortnight, the claims made by this article would come somewhat as a surprise. Indeed, Lucie has responded to Twitter criticism saying that her statements have been taken out of context.
Interestingly, this has been taken slightly out of context. I didn't blame Brexit. Had a great time. Really proud of what we achieved. Next? https://t.co/I0f6TS5vEV
— Lucie Jones (@luciejones1) May 17, 2017
Lucie tweeted this afternoon that she in fact did not blame Brexit for her result. Instead she had “a great time” and is “really proud of what [they] achieved“. And rightly so! In a contest that is getting more competitive year on year, to finish top fifteen in a field of 42 and earning your country it’s fourth highest finish in the past 19 years is quite impressive indeed! In addition, the United Kingdom scored points from 25 countries this year out of a possible 41. Lucie received love from all over Europe and Australia!
Surely a step in the right direction?
Many Eurovision fans agree that Lucie’s performance this year was a massive step in the right direction for the United Kingdom. Hopefully the BBC will continue to build on the momentum Lucie has created for our country going forward to Lisbon 2018!
Did you see this article earlier in the week? Are you pleased to see Lucie setting the record straight? Let us know in the comments section below and via our social media channels @ESCXTRA!
You are spot on with your comments Ryan, and I remember you predicting such headlines on the live stream. It is right that both Jones and the BBC Eurovision team should be praised, but what about the rest of the BBC? Did anyone hear her single much on Radio 1, Radio 2 or anywhere else? Did the wider BBC do anything to make the song a hit? Did BBC News programmes do anything other than ridicule the show? Did Giedroyc or Mills or Norton acknowledge the standard of performance of most of the other acts? Are any Eurovision songs being… Read more »
You are totally right, the BBC Eurovision team and the wider BBC are completely different entities here and the wider BBC did even less than usual. It seemed to me that Eurovision was advertised less than usual and even BBC Radio 2 didn’t put Lucie on their A-list which I think they have done with our entries in previous years and/or made it single of the week. I really don’t understand why Eurovision is such a dirty word that BBC Radio 1, our biggest hit station, can’t give one of their 30+ playlist slots to our Eurovision entry for 4… Read more »
[…] Lucie came 10th with the juries following a powerhouse vocal and a mesmerising reflective staging concept. This marked the best jury score for the UK this decade! Overall, she came 15th with 111 points, making it the UK’s forth best result this century! […]