United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005

Eurovision Song Contest 2005
Participating broadcaster	British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Country	United Kingdom
National selection
Selection process	Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up 2005
Selection date(s)	5 March 2005
Selected artist(s)	Javine
Selected song	"Touch My Fire"
Selected songwriter(s)	Javine Hylton John Themis Jonathan Shalit
Finals performance
Final result	22nd, 18 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2004 • 2005 • 2006►

The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Touch My Fire", written by Javine Hylton, John Themis, and Jonathan Shalit, and performed by Javine. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), organised a public selection process to determine its entry for the contest, Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up 2005. Five acts competed in the national final and the winner was selected entirely through a public vote.

As a member of the "Big Four", the United Kingdom automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 2, the United Kingdom placed 22nd out of the 24 participating countries with 18 points.

Prior to the 2005 contest, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing the United Kingdom forty-seven times.^[1] Thus far, it has won the contest five times: in 1967 with the song "Puppet on a String" performed by Sandie Shaw, in 1969 with the song "Boom Bang-a-Bang" performed by Lulu, in 1976 with "Save Your Kisses for Me" performed by Brotherhood of Man, in 1981 with the song "Making Your Mind Up" performed by Bucks Fizz, and in 1997 with the song "Love Shine a Light" performed by Katrina and the Waves. To this point, the nation is noted for having finished as the runner-up in a record fifteen contests. Up to and including 1998, it had only twice finished outside the top 10, in 1978 and in 1987. Since 1999, the year in which the rule was abandoned that songs must be performed in one of the official languages of the country participating, it has had less success, thus far only finishing within the top ten once: in 2002 with the song "Come Back" performed by Jessica Garlick. In 2004, "Hold Onto Our Love" performed by James Fox finished in sixteenth place out of twenty-four competing entries.

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, the BBC organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster announced that it would participate in the 2005 contest on 28 July 2004.^[2] The BBC has traditionally organised a national final featuring a competition among several artists and songs to choose its entry for Eurovision. For its 2005 entry, the broadcaster announced that a national final involving a public vote would be held to select the entry.^[3]

Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up 2005 was the national final developed by the BBC in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2005. Five acts competed in a televised show on 5 March 2005 held at the BBC Television Centre in London and hosted by Terry Wogan and Natasha Kaplinsky.^[4] The winner was selected entirely through a public vote. The show was broadcast on BBC One.^[5] The national final was watched by 7.5 million viewers in the United Kingdom.^[6]

The BBC collaborated with record label Sony Music to select five finalists to compete in the national final. Entries were provided to Sony Music and the BBC by music industry experts including writers and producers, while an additional five songs were provided by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) which ran a songwriting competition amongst its members.^[7] The five competing songs were announced on 1 March 2005. Among the competing artists was Gina G, who represented the United Kingdom in 1996 .^[8]

Five acts competed in the televised final on 5 March 2005. In addition to their performances, guest performers included Ruslana, who won Eurovision for Ukraine in 2004 with the song "Wild Dances", and Sonia, who represented the United Kingdom in 1993 with the song "Better the Devil You Know".^[9]

A panel of experts provided feedback regarding the songs during the show. The panel consisted of Bruno Tonioli (choreographer, dancer and television personality), Jonathan Ross (television and radio presenter, actor, comedian and producer), Natalie Cassidy (actress) and Paddy O'Connell (television and radio presenter). A public vote consisting of televoting and online voting, which registered over 1 million votes, selected the winner.^[10] A public vote consisting of televoting via phone and SMS as well as online voting selected the winner. Televotes cast via landline phones were divided into seven regions in the United Kingdom with each region alongside the results of the online vote awarding points as follows: 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 points. Televotes cast via mobile phones and SMS were also converted to points and awarded based on the percentage each song achieved. For example, if a song gained 10% of the mobile and SMS votes, then that entry would be awarded 10 points. The spokespersons for the online and mobile/SMS votes were Ruslana and Sandie Shaw, respectively.^[11] After all points were combined, "Touch My Fire" performed by Javine was the winner.^[12]

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom) and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2004 contest are required to qualify from the semi-final in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. As a member of the "Big Four", the United Kingdom automatically qualified to compete in the final on 21 May 2005. In addition to their participation in the final, the United Kingdom is also required to broadcast and vote in the semi-final on 19 May 2005. During the running order draw for the semi-final and final, the United Kingdom was placed to perform in position 2 in the final, following the entry from Hungary and before the entry from Malta. The United Kingdom placed twenty-second in the final, scoring 18 points.^[13]

In the United Kingdom, the semi-final was broadcast on BBC Three with commentary by Paddy O'Connell, while the final was televised on BBC One with commentary by Terry Wogan and broadcast on BBC Radio 2 with commentary by Ken Bruce. The BBC appointed Cheryl Baker (who won the Eurovision for the United Kingdom in 1981 as part of the group Bucks Fizz) as its spokesperson to announce the British votes during the final.^[14]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to the United Kingdom and awarded by the United Kingdom in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Ireland in the semi-final and to Greece in the final of the contest.

Points awarded to the United Kingdom (Final)^[15]

Score	Country
12 points
10 points
8 points	Ireland
7 points
6 points
5 points	Cyprus
4 points	Malta
3 points
2 points
1 point	Turkey

Points awarded by the United Kingdom (Semi-final)[16] Score Country 12 points  Ireland 10 points  Denmark 8 points  Romania 7 points  Norway 6 points  Israel 5 points  Moldova 4 points  Lithuania 3 points  Iceland 2 points  Netherlands 1 point  Hungary

Points awarded by the United Kingdom (Final)[15] Score Country 12 points  Greece 10 points  Malta 8 points  Denmark 7 points  Israel 6 points  Latvia 5 points  Norway 4 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 points  Cyprus 2 points  Moldova 1 point  Turkey