Sing, Little Birdie

From a UK perspective, the Eurovision Song Contest was a shaky start in the first decade of the second half of the last millennium. The entry deadline for the inaugural 1956 contest was missed. For the second contest in 1957 Patricia Bredin sang 'All', the first contest entry to be sung in English, being voted seventh out of ten finalists. After such a lackluster performance—the Netherlands won with 'Net als toen', performed by Corry Brokken, despite the handicap of having to sing in Dutch as mandated by the rules of the time—the UK rested between engagements in 1958.

The second UK attempt was in 1959, when Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson performed 'Sing, Little Birdie'. Fortunately, I remember it like it was 55 years ago. I claim one point for being able to name the song; another point for naming the duo that sang it; a third point for being able to sing a snatch of the lyrics. Unfortunately nul point (a Eurovision joke in the UK) for thinking it was sung in the inaugural year; nul point for thinking it won. Sandie Shaw was the first UK winner in 1967 with 'Puppet on a String'.

For outstanding bravado, I nominate Nicki French with the UK entry for 2000, 'Don't Play That Song Again', the first ever UK entry not to receive a top three score from any country or televoting nations. It seems the voters took her at her title, although the entry still managed to place 16 out of 24 and was certainly not the abysmal failure of the last place under-achievements in 2003, 2008, and 2010. The three protagonists from those years probably prefer to remain unsung.

 

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