In its new round of “State of Play” inquiry, the Digital, Culture, Media and Sports committee of the British House of Commons will formally investigate the BBC’s selection process for its Eurovision entry. A hearing should be organised in the coming months.
A short inquiry into the selection process
The inquiry will take place as part of the “State of Play” rolling inquiry, and should only take one hearing, which will be organised in the few months. The official name of the session for this topic is neutral: “The selection of the UK’s Eurovision entry“. However, the chair of the Digital, Media, Culture and Sports Select Commitee (DMCS), Dame Caroline Dinenage, confirm that the Commitee’s interest in the topic was driven by “dismal” results and a reputation for bottom positions for the UK, in spit of its successful music industry.
This application interested us because of the UK’s reputation for scoring ‘nul points’, coming bottom, or close to bottom in recent years at Eurovision, despite having world-class song writers and musicians.
Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, chair of the Digital, Media, Culture and Sports Select Committee of the House of Commons – comments to BBC News
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We want to get to the bottom of who chooses our entrant, on what basis and whether our dismal record of achievement in recent years [Sam Ryder to one side] is the result of bad song choice, weak performance… or something else
The results of the UK have indeed been very low for a few years, with the exception of Sam Ryder’s performance in 2022 which gave the country a 2nd place. But the rest of the 2020’s have been more disappointing, with British acts ending up last twice (2021, 2026), second-to-last once (2023), as well as 19th and 18th (in 2025 and 2024 respectively). Out of these five low results, four ended up receiving no points at all from the public vote.
What is the DCMS and the “State of Play” inquiry?
The the Digital, Media, Culture and Sports Select Commitee (DCSM) is a sub-section of the House of Commons composed of 11 members of Parliament (6 from Labour, 2 from the Conservatives, 2 Independents and 1 Liberal-Democrat), and chaired by Dame Caroline Dinenage, the Conservative MP from Gosport.
Its main mission is to scrutinise the works of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and its associated bodies and agencies, such as the BBC. As such, it can organise formal inquiries with rounds of hearing, in order to publish reports on specific situations.
In this case, the Eurovision selection will not be the topic of a full inquiry, but a sub-topic of a new form of parliamentary work, the “State of Play”. It is a “rolling” inquiry in which the DCSM asks members of the public and of the culture, media and sport industries to submit topics which interests them, and on which the Committee could organise one-off sessions of hearing. This means that each topic only get one day of hearings, instead of several weeks, for example.
This will be the 2nd round of inquiry, after a first round held in 2025 and 2026. Eurovision is one of 5 topics this year, alongside the structure of the football academy system, inclusion in football management, the role and funding of arts centres, and finally the protection of journalists in conflict zones.
How do you feel about this inquiry? Who should be present at the hearing? And how do you feel about the UK’s “dismal” results for the past few years? Tell us more in the comments below or on socials!
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