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UK: Barrowman - 'I turned down Eurovision'
Barrowman, who is a self-confessed fan of the contest, said that he snubbed the opportunity because he did not like the behind-the-scenes "politics".
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he says: "I was asked to sing two years ago, and I considered it, but the reason I didn't do it was because of all of the politics. No matter how good the song was, you'd be nil points."
"Also, a lot of people are trying to treat it like 'The X Factor' and 'American Idol.' But it's Eurovision and we're not going to create a pop star out of Eurovision."
Barrowman was a co-judge at the UK National final in 2008.
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Seriously, jog on Barrowman you big head!! I bet he would have had to compete anyway and probably feared losing instead!
Dimritis ABBA
Mark wood - Go for it..
John Barrowman -stick to Desparate Housewives dear...
A pretenious madame who after Dr Who and Torchwood parts finished. what is it with Dr who and queens... I just hope that we take it as serious as last year, then Europe will take us seriously... we sem to look over that damn pond rather then the stride the stream on our doorstep.. arrogant we are YES!
To be honest, I'm surprised he turned Eurovision down as I thought he was supposed to be a big Eurovision fan, but it just goes to show you how bad the political situation was two years ago if that put him off.
But, that bloke is everywhere, where TV's concerned, I'm glad in a way he decided not to enter.
Barrowman is clueless about Eurovision (as shown by his championing of Scooch at the 2007 UK Final). The less he has to do with Eurovision the better. He'd be a liability.
ticket bookings are now open for your country need you,i received an email from sro audiences yesterday so i applied today
Thank goodness he turned it down.
@ Night Editor
Amen to that! I'm sick of talentless nobodies... last year was an exception tbh. Let's see what MySpace drivel has been raked up for 2010...
...and back down the table we go to our rightful place of 20th-25th... sad...
I notice the new Radio Times giving details of Eurovision: Your Country Needs You refers to 'six brand new acts' competing to represent the UK. Please God these 'new acts' can sing live and have some experience and aren't taking a couple of days off from stacking shelves in Morrisons (*cough* The Twins *cough*).
Nigel and Martin are soooooooo right !!!!!
Barrowman and his cover versions! LOL
haha sucha joke of a man ... i'm not even going to waist time ranting about him 
John Barrowman is totally naff and I wish he would just disappear. I cannot abide to even look at him never mind listen to his droning on and on, vile! He's not even all that as an actor or a singer.
Eurovision COULD have made stars out of its performers but the BBC never chooses anyone decent for the NF. The contenders in the past have either been people who have already had some kind of career OR unknowns who weren't particularly good.
Jade was great but there are soooooooo many other girls out there who are doing exactly the same thing so her lack of solo success is probably due to her not finding her own particular niche in the market.
It is entirely possible to start a career at Euovision though- why not?
To be honest John made those comments about Eurovision in 2008 before the voting was changed.
I don't agree with his comments about no pop star coming out of eurovision, look at Jade and one of the members of UK's 1999 entrants Precious who went on to join Atomic Kitten.
Ufortunately I don't think people in the UK will treat Eurovision like the x factor or Britain' Got talent because the tabloid press have a large control over the population.
Anyway I think the real reason John Barrowmen didn't want to do it is because he thought that if he lost it would be the end of his career.
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OK but when he says that Eurovision hasn't created any pop stars recently, he does actually have a point.
The whole idea was that after Eurovision, Jade would have this flourishing career and be the next Beyoncé, but reality check: She released one single which barely made the top 40 and sold less than 7,000 copies. In actual fact the Sugababes have given Jade a career, and you could say that she was chosen as the next member because of the Eurovision exposure, but in actual fact, Eurovision alone had not turned her into a credible pop star and hadn't given her a career.
He comes across as a bit arrogant and ignorant in the interview, but when he talks about not creaing a pop star from Eurovision, he does have a point.
Axel
I can't stop laughing!!!
Pretty sure Karen wouldn't like it though my friend.... she would have been only interested in the alcohol trolley.....
Axel
Yeah, that's true, we all knew that won't be succesful, but I quite liked Scooch tbh! 
Marko,
they were out already, it was between Scooch and Cidy... and he was screeming his tits off to vote for Scooch as that would be the safest bet, he knew that Europe would love them and bring victory home... what a joke.
Axel
Noooooo, instead of Big Brovaz!! 
grrrr... 
The ESC is about politics, just like the Olympics and the Worldcup. The performers of the events compete for states(not nations/lands), political institutions for wich they fly there flags. ESC, just like many other competitions, it's about government-worship.
I want a song contest for all european nationalities/cultures. Not one for citizens of the states.
Well thanks to his "he I know it all" attitude we sent Scooch instead of Cindy.... so full of himself... grrrrr
the truth is he would never have the support of the british public !
With his american accent, his arrogance and his bitchiness he only appeals to old ladies !
Stay where you are Miss Barrowman !!!
he;s such a bitch. Jade didn't get nul points??? politics there? Ha! It's simple. he was afraid of taking the risk. In Eurovision you need to prove how big artist you are in 3 minutes and choose a very good special song. Obviously he doesn't have any of these.
Good Luck John
@ ben gray you can hardly get so annoyed about his accent, millions of people are born in one country move to another and speak with the accent of the country they move too, my mum is irish and lives in scotland, and she sounds scottish most of the time apart from when talking to her irish relatives then her irish accent becomes more pronounced, and john has explained that he got bullied because of his scottish accent when he was at school in america,and so what if he is gay and proud of it, many people have suffered verbal and physical attacks to make it possible for hin to do that, and good luck to him
know i never will acheive my dream and i know that nobody will care either
I care, Mark. You've got a lovely voice and I'd love to see you in Eurovision. But if John Barrowman really believes that "we're not going to create a pop star out of Eurovision", I'm glad he passed on the chance to represent the UK. That kind of attitude would have sent him straight to the bottom five for sure. All hail to Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Pete Waterman for trying to change that attitude in the United Kingdom. Good luck in Oslo!
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