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Pete Waterman interview
UK: Pete Waterman - 'It's about getting a great song'
In an interview with the BBC, Waterman outlines his approach in writing the UK entry for Eurovision. "It's hard enough writing a hit song in the first place, let alone a Eurovision winner. You need to come up with something simple and catchy, people think it's easy but it's not."
Waterman has 200 hits to his name, including 22 No.1's. "When the BBC called to ask if I would do it, I had two questions," he says. "The first was to ensure that I had a free hand musically and the second was to ask my old partner Mike Stock to help me. We haven't worked together recently, but we've remained friends and there was no question that I would be willing as long as he was prepared to do it with me. Mike is the musician and he interprets my ideas – a trouble shared is a trouble halved, as they say."
Pete and Mike have been spending recent times busy coming up with the perfect song. "We know it needs to work as part of a television spectacular, it must be dynamic and hit everyone in the first few bars, and we know it has to last less than three minutes," he says. "You have to have a formula; it will have to have an intro, at least two verses, a bridge and a chorus, nothing superfluous."
When asked about recent patterns on what makes a Eurovision winner? Pete says "I haven't thought about it like that. When I think of Eurovision I go back to the black and white years with Katie Boyle and the Eurovision logo, which was great. I loved Sandie Shaw's Puppet On A String, but you can't write songs like that any more. The audience today is highly educated and sophisticated and if you wrote Boom Bang A Bang or whatever they'd throw their arms up in the air."
In recent years the UK has been struggling in the Eurovision Song Contest final, except in 2009 when Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber penned the United Kingdom entry. Pete gives his opinion on why the UK has faired badly in recent years: "I think it's because, for a long time, top songwriters didn't want to do it," he says. "Last year Andrew Lloyd Webber broke the mould really as the first real writer to put himself in the firing line. Going back as far as Bill [Martin] and Phil [Coulter] writing Congratulations for Cliff Richard in 1968, you haven't really had established writers and, even when the UK last won in 1997, the record wasn't British – it was Katrina And The Waves. We've put some pretty strange songs out there in recent years, I think we've tried to be too trendy – it's about getting a great song."
Read the full interview at bbc.co.uk here.
Related polls
- Norway: Vote for your favourite song in the final of Melodi Grand Prix
- Azerbaijan: Vote for your favourite act in the final of Milli Seçim Turu
- Hungary: Vote for your favourite act in the final of A Dal
- Iceland: Vote for your favourite song in the final of Songvakeppni Sjonvarpsins
- Malta: Vote for your favourite act in the final of Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2012
- Hungary: Vote for your favourite act in the second semifinal of A Dal
- Norway: Vote for your favourite song in the third semifinal of Melodi Grand Prix
- Sweden: Vote for your favourite act in the first semifinal of Melodifestivalen
- Malta: Vote for your favourite act in the semifinal of Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2012
- Bulgaria: Vote for your favourite act in the Bulgarian national final 2012
- Latvia: Vote for your favourite act in the final of Eirodziesma 2012
- Belarus: Vote for your favourite act in the final of EuroFest 2012
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Sorry, I meant garry, not liberrato 
liberrato:
I don't think the 1 show format is that bad. We don't need someone who can sing all different genres, just our entry for this year. And anyway, all it needs is one brilliant singer. Last year only Jade and Mark really stood out, the rest were all pretty useless.
Oh, and am I really the only one here who laughed at this line:
"The audience today is highly educated and sophisticated"
article from metro newspaper that says the u.k selection will be 1 show http://www.metro.co.(...)rite-eurovision-song
@ liberato there was an article in the press yesterday and they said it was a one off show to choose the singer, here is a link to the interview in which pete says that simon cowell wants to write a eurovision song http://www.digitalsp(...)urovision-track.html
im a bit dissapointed that its only going to be 1 show to select the singer, it means that we dont get a chance to really see how reliable their performance will be, at least last year jade was consistently good
I don't have high hopes on this one sorry. Something tells me it will sound oldfashion and dated.
But with pro big4 western juries, UK might have a chance of a top.10 position again. Last year they came 5th with that awful banal Disney ballad thanx mostly to juries, so they might aswell succeed this year aswell.
Anyway good luck UK!
And actually I think the UK had a couple of pretty decent entries last decade, much better than "My Time" so I don't buy this whole "a more known writer will do a better song" thing..
Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of the most respected composers, yet he came up with that useless tune last year...
With the latest voting systen changes for the Final, the UK is nearer to having a fair voting system than for several years, so that can only be a good thing.
I hope Pete Waterman and the BBC do a great job of the song and the choice of singer. I did not think last years song was great, but the performance and the presentation in the Final was superb IMHO. Arlene Philips off Strictly Come Dancing did a great job of staging.
I have high hopes for UK to save my 2010!! 
Tickets application here- Free http://www.sroaudien(...)tion.asp?show_id=424
Axel Kearns
I wanna see it at the o2 as well! It'd be an amazing venue. I remember the BBC saying they'd use the NIA in Birmingham again though 
and our twelve points go to the United Kingdom.....
the more I hear the entries so far, the more optimistic I become that WE can win this year (with the right song of course)
Good luck to my surrogate homecountry....... I want to go next year to the O2 and see it live over here....
ARE THERE TICKET AVAILABLE FOR THE SHOW YET, OR ARE THEY HAVING NO SHOW, WHATS WITH ALL THE SECRETS , BBC
LETS HOPE FOR A GOOD UP TEMPO SONG , BUT NOT TO MUCH UP TEMPO ,
LIKE THE TURISH
Well, he's saying all the right things, which is a relief. I did fear that he'd dust off some eighties reject or go for some trashy and misguided 'Eurovision formula' song that has failed for the UK so many times before. We just need an honest-to-goodness contemporary pop song with a strong melody and a confident, professional singer to deliver it.
omg! these 2 did this 'masterpiece' (quite recently)
http://www.youtube.c(...)/watch?v=xWt5KHjv-ME
should we expect something like this?
I say this every year but the ideal representatives would be Bananarama - with Stock and Waterman it'd be perfect, plus they have a great new single out in 3 weeks time called 'Love Don't Live Here'.
id be very surprised if it s a ballad. i think it will be a catchy pop song
I want to see an up-tempo song from the UK this year 
I am sure this year the UK entry will be just as great as last year's!
Best of Luck UK 
Come on lets hope for a good UK entry!
i hope we come up with a good entry
similar to always from azerbaijan last year and shady lady from 2008
an entry like that would be good
and if you wrote Boom Bang A Bang or whatever they'd throw their arms up in the air
I had thrown my arms up in the air with My time, too, and it came 5th.
lol
This year is dreadful, JLS One Shot would not work as it is a poor song with little charisma. I'm not being anti-modern but it would not translate at esc.
@ No Name
are you joking?! esc 2010 is the disaster (so far). it needs some songs from this millenium tbh
(although I do normally hate JLS)
Considering the utterly DREADFUL line up so far our chances are looking brighter by the second!
I think he is on the right track, it does look as if he is trying to make something at least close to contemporary and catchy which is defiantely good!
we could do relatively well this year, not sure i will go as far as to say that we will be contending to win yet but lets just see how it goes, there seem to be only a few countries that have got it together quite well this year (the UK, Spain (at least on songs), Germany, Sweden (As always) and Turkey being most of them)
I think that the UK will be top 5 again (at least they are taking the contest seriously this year unlike some other countries).
'One Shot' by JLS would be a disaster.
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