Post by Teddy Bear on Mar 19, 2007 17:40:27 GMT
Listening to LBC today I heard presenter Paul Ross talking about the debacle that was the BBC presentation of the UK final choice for Eurovision 2007 in May. He described the whole production as appalling, and bear in mind his brother Jonathan earns millions from the BBC. Lambasting the BBC, Paul said the show which was aired on Saturday evening, sounded like there had been no proper rehearsal and the lighting crew clearly did not seem to know what they were doing. The 'piece de resistance' however was when Wogan announced the wrong winner, which for him summed up the entire production.
He also commented on whether the BBC should still be funding the Eurovision contest, as Britains entry as not been anywhere near a success for many years, and few people are interested in it at all.
Looking for other media confirmation of this story, I was surprised to see little on it, perhaps confirming that really nobody is interested in it. However, I finally found an article on it in the Daily Mail, and you can watch the clip of Wogan's woeful announcement by clicking here or on the Daily Mail page itself.
The article also mentions 2 TV phone-in scandals that the BBC is being investigated for, one to do with this Eurovision show, and the other is Blue Peter, for which there is a separate topic on this forum.
He also commented on whether the BBC should still be funding the Eurovision contest, as Britains entry as not been anywhere near a success for many years, and few people are interested in it at all.
Looking for other media confirmation of this story, I was surprised to see little on it, perhaps confirming that really nobody is interested in it. However, I finally found an article on it in the Daily Mail, and you can watch the clip of Wogan's woeful announcement by clicking here or on the Daily Mail page itself.
The article also mentions 2 TV phone-in scandals that the BBC is being investigated for, one to do with this Eurovision show, and the other is Blue Peter, for which there is a separate topic on this forum.
Woeful Wogan names the nation's wrong choice for Eurovision
By TAHIRA YAQOOB -
Last updated at 11:31am on 19th March 2007
He has spent many years poking fun at the contestants in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Now Terry Wogan has had his comeuppance after making a spectacular blunder on the show to decide this year's UK entry.
Millions of viewers saw the 68-year-old broadcaster announce the wrong winner on BBC1 on Saturday night.
Wogan blurted out the name of losing finalist Cyndi Almouzni, leaving co-host Fearne Cotton to quickly step in and announce the real winner, the pop quartet Scooch.
Confusion: Scooch congratulate Cyndi, but Fearne declares Scooch the winners
As confusion reigned, a disappointed Miss Almouzni was hurriedly ushered off stage, leaving Scooch to celebrate their victory in the phone-in vote.
Yesterday the BBC apologised for the gaffe, saying: "This is live TV and unfortunately sometimes these things do happen."
And in a reference to the TV phone-in scandal embroiling a number of broadcasters, director-general Mark Thompson said: "I think they were trying so hard to get the phones right that something else must have gone wrong.
"Whoever's fault it was, I am sure it was not Terry Wogan's."
The contest descended into farce as viewers rang in to vote for their Howour busy favourite contender from a field including Justin Hawkins, former lead singer of rock band The Darkness, former Atomic Kitten Liz McClarnon and ex-East 17 singer Brian Harvey.
They were narrowed down to two finalists - 22-year-old Miss Almouzni, who sang a solo ballad called I'll Leave My Heart, and Scooch, who enjoyed a top ten hit seven years ago but then disbanded.
The group reformed for Eurovision with the novelty song Flying The Flag, which they performed wearing airline steward outfits.
Scooch, who like to bill themselves as "this generation's Bucks Fizz", will now go through to the international contest in Helsinki in May.
It emerged yesterday that the BBC could be fined hundreds of thousands of pounds for its part in the TV phone-in scandal - a prospect described as a 'wake-up call' by Mr Thompson.
The media watchdog Ofcom, which is investigating the alleged phone rip-off, has warned it could fine the broadcaster up to £250,000 of licence-payers' money.
The inquiry was triggered after viewers were asked to phone in to the 'live' Saturday Kitchen programme even though it had been pre-recorded.
Blue Peter was also affected after 13,862 viewers rang in to a competition to win a toy but after a 'technical fault' a girl visiting the studio was awarded the prize.