United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004

The United Kingdom was represented by James Fox in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 in Istanbul, Turkey with the song "Hold Onto Our Love". At the contest in Istanbul, the song received 29 points and finished in 16th place.

Eurovision Song Contest 2004
Country United Kingdom
National selection
Selection processEurovision: Making Your Mind Up
Selection date(s)28 February 2004
Selected entrantJames Fox
Selected song"Hold Onto Our Love"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Gary Miller
  • Tim Woodcock
Finals performance
Final result16th, 29 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2003 • 2004 • 2005►

Before Eurovision

Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up

Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up was the national final developed by the BBC in order to select the British entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. Six acts competed in a televised show on 28 February 2004 held at the BBC Television Centre in London and hosted by Terry Wogan and Gaby Roslin. The winner was selected entirely through a public vote.

Competing entries

The BBC collaborated with Sony Music UK and a music industry expert in order to select five of the six finalists to compete in the national final. The six finalist was selected from entries provided to the BBC by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) who ran a songwriting competition amongst its members.[1] The six competing songs were announced on 3 February 2004.[2]

Enrap-ture were a 3 girl hip-hop band consisting of Stacey, Mercedes and Kelly from Norway, Denmark and England. Haifa took part in the first series of Pop Idol. Hyrise consisted of Matt, Maxwell, Ben and 21-year-old Anthony, the brother to Lisa Scott-Lee from the pop group Steps.

Final

Five acts compete in the televised final on 28 February 2004. A public vote consisting of regional televoting and SMS voting selected the winner, "Hold Onto Our Love" performed by James Fox.[3] Each region awarded 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 points to their top five songs. Celebrities delivered these results in a deliberate echo of the Eurovision Song Contest itself. The SMS vote was awarded based on the percentage of votes each song achieved. For example, if a song gained 10% of the SMS vote, then that entry would be awarded 10 points.

A panel of experts provided feedback regarding the songs during the show. The panel consisted of Lorraine Kelly (presenter, spokesperson and Liquid Eurovision host), Harry Hill (comedian, writer, and television presenter) and Carrie Grant (member of the 1983 British representatives Sweet Dreams, vocal coach and television presenter). The guest performers were 2003 Eurovision winner Sertab Erener who opened the show with her winning song "Everyway That I Can" and Spice Girls' Emma Bunton who performed a medley of "Puppet on a String" and "Maybe".

Draw Artist Song Televote SMS Total Place
1 Enrap-ture "Weekend (Gotta Work)" 28 9 37 4
2 James Fox "Hold Onto Our Love" 80 40 120 1
3 Haifa "Me Without You" 4 5 9 6
4 Hyrise "Leading Me On" 58 24 82 2
5 Haydon "With You I Believe" 10 7 17 5
6 Madison Taylor "It Just Gets Better" 44 15 59 3

At Eurovision

The United Kingdom was the twentieth country to perform in the Grand Final just after Poland. Lorraine Kelly was the United Kingdom's spokesperson this year. The United Kingdom finished 16th[4] with 29 points. A total of ten countries voted for the United Kingdom, six of them being from eastern Europe. The United Kingdom gave 12 points to Greece and 10 points to Cyprus in both the Semi-Final and Grand Final.

Points awarded by the United Kingdom

Points awarded to the United Kingdom
Points awarded to the United Kingdom (final)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

References
  1. "Press Office - Eurovision Making Your Mind Up winner". BBC. 28 February 2004.
  2. Bakker, Sietse (3 February 2004). "Six names for British selection revealed". Esctoday.
  3. "UK NATIONAL FINAL 2004".
  4. "Britain's Eurovision Song Contest entries: where are they now?". The Telegraph. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
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