‘BBC should be stripped of power to decide Eurovision entry!’ Trade Minister’s furious rant after UK finishes last two years in a row

Senior minister Liz Truss has claimed the BBC should be stripped of its powers to decide the UK’s Eurovision entry after James Newman crashed and burned with zero points, finishing in last place on Saturday night.

The 35-year-old Brit Award winner, who has written songs for Rudimental and Little Mix, failed to receive a single point, with Italy’s punk group Maneskin coming out on top with their entry Zitti e buoni.

James was handpicked by the BBC to represent the UK for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2020, but the event was cancelled due to the coronavirus.

His return was confirmed for the 2021 competition earlier this year, but he returned with a different single, scrapping ballad My Last Breath for the dance pop track Ember.

It was the second year in a row the UK finished in last place, but Michael Rice did manage to win 11 points in 2019.

Ms Truss said there needs to be a new selection process to find the UK entrant and suggested they are ‘tested by the public’.

Appearing on LBC radio, she said: ‘I think there is a fundamental problem with the way that we are choosing our performances and singers for the Eurovision song contest.

‘I don’t think it is a post-Brexit snub. I think we need to have more competition to get the right entry, I think they need to be more tested with the public.

‘I am here today at LBC responding to questions from listeners. That is the kind of testing that we need our song contest entrant to go through.

‘So maybe it should be LBC running it, not the BBC.’

UK fans of the contest have blamed Brexit for our consistently poor results but speaking to Metro.co.uk ahead of his performance on Saturday night, James stressed ‘politics doesn’t come into play at all’.

Days after the result, James finally released a statement addressing the outcome in a post on social media, which read: ‘I want to focus on the positives of this amazing experience. I stood on a stage and sang to hundreds of millions of people with a song that I wrote and love.

‘I’ve learnt so much from the amazing people who gave everything to help me live my dream, the dancers, my choreographer, my vocal coach, everyone from my label, my manager and the BBC, and all the people behind the scenes at Eurovision and the arena.

‘All these people are the best in the business and I got the chance to work with them and share this crazy experience that I’m so lucky to have the chance to do.

‘The thing about writing songs is that there is no guarantee that a song you think will connect with people, will connect with an audience.’

He went on: ‘Thank you to all the amazing dedicated fans who have supported me through the whole thing, made it all worth it. Because at the end of the day they are the people who you do this all for.

‘I just want to say a huge massive thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has been on this journey with me, supported me, listened to my music and filled my life with positivity and love.

‘The times when it doesn’t play out how you hoped it might, teach you how to pick yourself up and be stronger x.’

The Eurovision Song Contest is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

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