Next up in our series of 2024 reviews is the United Kingdom. The UK took part for the first time in 1957 and has since had a rich and varied track record in the Eurovision Song Contest. They were once a power house, scoring top 10 after top 10. 5 victories and the record for the most second places: 16!!! Their methods of choosing their act has changed multiple times over the course of history. Since 2020 they have opted for internal selections. For this year they have chosen former Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander to fly the British flag.

United Kingdom in Eurovision

Contrary to what many think, the UK was not a founding member of the Eurovision Song Contest. They first competed in the second edition of the contest in 1957. Patricia Bredin represented them with her song “All” and finished 7th. What would follow then was a string of 5 victories, 16 second places, and 3 third places. They finished in the top 10 on all of their first 20 attempts! They finished 11th in 1978 and followed that up with another string of 8 consecutive top 10 placements!

The UK have given us some of the biggest chart toppers and memorable performances. They first won the contest in 1967 with the song “Puppet On A String” by Sandie Shaw. They came second the following year and won again in 1969 with “Boom Bang-a-Bang” by Lulu. Their third victory followed only 7 years later, when Brotherhood of Man won the competition with their entry “Save Your Kisses For Me”, including that all too famous dance routine! Just 5 years later they lifted the trophy for a fourth time thanks to Bucks Fizz and their catchy pop song “Making Your Mind Up”. Their most recent victory was in 1997, when Katrina & The Waves won with “Love Shine A Light”.

Since the start of the new millennium however, the UK seem to have lost their desire to win. Since 2000 they only managed a top 10 three times, their most recent one in 2022, when Sam Ryder won the jury vote and finished second overall. In fact, they ended up in the bottom five no less than 12 times, including 5 last places. All though it’s safe to say that winning the competition has become a lot harder since the 2000’s, with the amount of countries competing having almost doubled. It has just been very clear that the UK’s delegation has simply not put in the work or effort to come up with something fresh and competitive.

United Kingdom 2024

Since 2022 however, it seems like the UK delegation seems to have found a second breath. They have now chosen to pick their entry internally which has at last given them their long awaited top 5, nearly even winning. All though Mae Muller may not have done particularly well last year, her song was loved by many eurofans and is widely considered a fan favorite!

For this year, they have chosen former Years & Years frontman, and longtime Eurovision fan Olly Alexander to represent them. Olly is a 33 year old singer songwriter and actor from Harrogate. He is of course no stranger to big stages, having toured Europe on several occasions during his time with Y&Y. Since the band split up Olly has continued as a solo act. His song Dizzy is a poppy dance track about “feeling such an intense swell of emotion for someone they totally turn your world upside down and inside out”. Will Olly be dizzy from the enormous amount of points flying their way? Or will he end up at the bottom? Find out what we think in our review AND reaction video below!

niallpoints Review

Before you leave, please have a look at our full reaction video to the UK’s entry for Eurovision 2024! I promise it’s worth your time! Please like the video, subscribe and share with your friends! Leave us a comment to let us know what you think! Until the next review!