Eurovision: Not In My Name!

Digital Spy reports that the Eurovision Song Contest was a hit for BBC1 on Saturday.

Coverage of the annual Eurovision Song Contest brought in 8.7 million viewers and a 39.9% share for BBC One on Saturday night.

Grabbing its largest audience since 2001, the show peaked at 10.30pm with 10.9 million viewers and 50.8% of the audience watching at that time, rising to 53.4% at 10.45pm.

There's a lot of fuss being generated about block voting also, meaning 'we' never stood a chance at winning, though I feel that the UK entry (I can't bear to type that awful name) was simply too calculated and cynical in its lunge for campery.

International joke
Despite the figures though, I just wonder whether it's all starting to feel a bit lame. The party line is that it's a joke we participate in at everyone else's expense, and I'll be the first to admit to enjoying Terry Wogan's undercutting of the saccharine and the pompous in previous years; it just felt like going through the motions this time.

There comes a point where, no matter how many funny remarks you make about how crap the thing you're watching is, in the end you're still watching crap.

Mind you, it did lead to Paul Gambaccini saying this:

It may be the strangest reason for ending a war but if you want to win the Eurovision Song Contest again, bring the boys home.

See also here for more in-depth analysis.

ADDENDUM: Doctor Who writer Gareth Roberts agrees!