‘I'm a Eurovision winner and this is the main reason no one votes for the UK'

Wales Online

15-05-2025

'I'm a Eurovision winner and this is the main reason no one votes for the UK'
Bucks Fizz are one of the very rare UK winner of the Eurovision Song Contest and one member has revealed why she thinks the country have performed so poorly over the years.
Cheryl Baker was a member of the band Bucks Fizz who won Eurovision in 1981.
Eurovision and the United Kingdom have a love hate relationship - in the in the 69 years of the singing competition the UK have only won five times. The last time we won the contest was in 1997, which is 28 years ago and before I was born!
Since then we have performed quite poorly, the one exception being Sam Ryder who came in second place with his song Spaceman in 2022. But one past Eurovision winner seems to think she knows what has been holding the UK back from winning in the 21st century.
Speaking on behalf of the gaming site Slingo, Cheryl Baker of Bucks Fizz fame said she believes the UK struggles for votes because the nation has 'taken the mickey out of Eurovision'. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter .
The band Bucks Fizz won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981 with their song Making Your Mind Up. They featured primary-coloured outfits and campy skirt rips, and ever since then they have been firm Eurovision icons.
She continued to say how the UK's attitudes to Eurovision annoys countries that see the competition as 'massively important'. However, as the country have been sending more serious acts, we are being taken more seriously and that is one of the main reasons why Sam Ryder 'got it right'.
This year, the UK are being represented by the girl band Remember Monday with their song What the Hell Just Happened? The trio are made up of best friends Lauren Byrne, Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steel, who met whilst studying in sixth form.
Cheryl believes that Remember Monday are clearly going into the grand final with a similar level of respect and excitement, which bodes well for their chances of doing well in the competition.
"I'm feeling quietly confident in the girls because they're great and they're really enjoying this journey. They're doing loads of promo all over Europe, which is necessary, that's what Sam did. It would be amazing if they get in the top five."
She added: "I think Sam Ryder got it right and I think the girls have got it right this year, not so much last year. I think we need to put as much effort in as the other countries and we have done this year.
"TV and radio are behind the girls. That's the thing, the rest of Europe knows we have, before now, almost taken the mickey out of Eurovision and they don't like it because Eurovision to them is massively important. Now it's being taken more seriously, other nations hopefully appreciate that more and we'll get more votes from them."
Cheryl Baker and her Bucks Fizz band mate Jay Aston
(Image: Getty Images )
The UK hosted Eurovision in 2023 on behalf of 2022 winners Ukraine who were unable to host due to its invasion by Russia. The contest was held in Liverpool following Sam Ryder's success the year previous. The Bucks Fizz singer thinks hosting the competition has benefited the UK in a way.
She said: "It's so much better than it was. It had its dark days, when the feeling was, 'we're just going to get nil points, what's the point of being in it?'
"I think possibly since it came to Liverpool and Sam Ryder took part, it's turned back to being great, a great event we all want to be involved in. I think the attitude has changed a lot, it's overturned and gone the other way, we're all loving it and having parties.
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"Even the semi-finals are on BBC One, at one point it was on BBC Four, they're taking it seriously and it's back in favour."