Hello!
A few weeks ago we launched a new feature that ment we interview someone from each country in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 & ask their review on their countries entry!
This week we talk to Martin Hart from the United Kingdom!
Martin is 28 and is from Dundee & a student at Stiring University studying Journalism & Sport! He is a massive Eurovision fan and even went to the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmo, Sweden and now will be going to Eurovision 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark! His favourite Eurovision song is "Verjamem" By Eva Boto, who reprasented Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.
1. So first of all thank you Martin for agreeing to this interview! What Do you think about Molly Smitten-Downs (aka Molly) reprasenting the UK?
Martin: "I think it's the best move we've made in a long time. For us to go back down the road of bringing an unknown, unsigned artist through the system and to put her on the Eurovision stage is a great move on the part of the BBC.
Molly has that all-round appeal to viewers that perhaps Englebert Humperdinck and Bonnie Tyler didn't have. Molly has a great song with a strong message and she's beautiful too. I really think the BBC have got it right for us this year."
2. What is your opinion on "Children of the universe"?
Martin: "Admittedly I've only listened to it a couple of time, but I think going back to what I just said it's a great song with a really strong message and I think in particular the genre of the song is what will connect with the British public more than anything.
The song isn't too heavy, but at the same time it's not too light. It's essentially a pop song, but it's not like the bubblegum pop songs that dominated the UK in the 1990s.
It's a really good song and I think you only have to look at the public's reaction on social media to see how much they like it. The comments I've read so far about the song have been overwhelmingly positive."
3. This year the BBC decided to go for an unknown artist instead off a well known singer like they have done in the past 3 years. Do you think they made the right choice or would you like to have seen a known artist?
Martin: "Like I said right at the start, I think they have absolutely gone down the right road this year in picking an unknown artist. I think the British public were getting tired of this 'let's pull out the golden oldie in the hope of winning support and ultimately votes' approach. Don't get me wrong, Englebert Humperdinck and Bonnie Tyler were brilliant for us, but they're not for the generation of young children growing into Eurovision in this day and age. The Eurovision audience is getting younger every year, not so much in the UK but very much so in continental Europe. That's one of the main reasons why I believe the audience both in the arena and watching on TV will really connect with Molly."
4. Could you tell us how you would compare Molly to the past few UK entries?
Martin: "It's difficult to say really because they're all from different decades, and of course the music scene changes dramatically from decade to decade. I don't think it's fair to draw comparisons between artists from today against those from 30-40 years ago, simply because the music scene in the UK has moved on since Bucks Fizz, Cliff Richard etc. and so too has Eurovision."
5. Looking at the entries currently in Eurovision 2014 how would you compare Molly to the other entries so far? Do you think she stands out from the crowd?
Martin: "Definitely, and there are a lot of my Eurovision fan friends who share that same opinion. The reaction from Eurovision fans has been great. It's really nice to have Eurovision fans from other countries saying to me 'your song is great', 'we love Molly', 'we want the UK to win' and what have you.
It makes me feel good about my country when fans from other countries are being so positive about Molly. In terms of where we can finish, we can't really judge that properly until all of the countries have picked their song, but I think overall at the moment we should be looking at a top 10 finish."
6. The UK entry has already had over 100,000 views on youtube within 24 hours of it being released. Do you think this a good thing?
Martin: "Without question it's a good thing. It shows that people both in the UK and elsewhere are interested in the song and about Molly herself. I get the feeling that a lot of people, particularly in the UK, were saying to themself 'Molly who' when the artist announcement was made last night... and I include myself in that bracket.
Besides, YouTube is such a powerful media platform now. It's no longer a place where people just go to mess about and watch videos of cats on a treadmill. YouTube has morphed into a place where musicians are putting their videos first before anywhere else. For Molly's video to be in the midst of that can only be a good thing for her."
7. As we know most off the UK public have not really shown much intrest in ESC the past few years, do you think Molly's entry will incourage more Eurovision spirit in the UK?"
Martin: "I think Molly's entry is already having that effect. The various social media sites are buzzing with people talking about Molly, and I think fans are actually taking the time to find out more about Molly and the songs that she has recorded previously, and it raises the profile both for us as fans as the BBC as our host broadcaster.
People didn't have to do their homework about Englebert Humperdinck and Bonnie Tyler because so much was already known about them two, but with Molly it's completely different because next to nothing is known about her. I really hope Molly taking part will attract a new wave of UK fans to Eurovision and shake off some of the unfair stigmas attached to Eurovision in this country.
8. Finally Martin we have to ask this. Do you think United Kingdom 2015 is on the cards?
Martin: "My heart says yes, but then again I'm British so it always will. My head says no because there are really strong songs from countries such as Finland, Hungary and Switzerland. It would be nice to host the Eurovision Song Contest in the UK again because it hasn't happened since 1998, so in that sense there's a generation of people in the UK who have never known what it's like for the UK to host Eurovision... and again I include myself in that because I didn't become a Eurovision fan until 2002.
I would love to see us win, but sadly my head rules my heart on this one. As long as we can get a decent result in Copenhagen we can use that as a stepping stone for future years, maybe then we can think about winning, but I think for us to be thinking of winning so soon after the disappointments of the past 5 years is maybe getting a bit too far ahead of ourselves."
9. Well thank you for doing this interview Martin and good luck to the UK
Martin: "Thank you and see you in Copenhagen!"
A few weeks ago we launched a new feature that ment we interview someone from each country in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 & ask their review on their countries entry!
This week we talk to Martin Hart from the United Kingdom!
Martin is 28 and is from Dundee & a student at Stiring University studying Journalism & Sport! He is a massive Eurovision fan and even went to the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmo, Sweden and now will be going to Eurovision 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark! His favourite Eurovision song is "Verjamem" By Eva Boto, who reprasented Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.
1. So first of all thank you Martin for agreeing to this interview! What Do you think about Molly Smitten-Downs (aka Molly) reprasenting the UK?
Martin: "I think it's the best move we've made in a long time. For us to go back down the road of bringing an unknown, unsigned artist through the system and to put her on the Eurovision stage is a great move on the part of the BBC.
Molly has that all-round appeal to viewers that perhaps Englebert Humperdinck and Bonnie Tyler didn't have. Molly has a great song with a strong message and she's beautiful too. I really think the BBC have got it right for us this year."
2. What is your opinion on "Children of the universe"?
Martin: "Admittedly I've only listened to it a couple of time, but I think going back to what I just said it's a great song with a really strong message and I think in particular the genre of the song is what will connect with the British public more than anything.
The song isn't too heavy, but at the same time it's not too light. It's essentially a pop song, but it's not like the bubblegum pop songs that dominated the UK in the 1990s.
It's a really good song and I think you only have to look at the public's reaction on social media to see how much they like it. The comments I've read so far about the song have been overwhelmingly positive."
3. This year the BBC decided to go for an unknown artist instead off a well known singer like they have done in the past 3 years. Do you think they made the right choice or would you like to have seen a known artist?
Martin: "Like I said right at the start, I think they have absolutely gone down the right road this year in picking an unknown artist. I think the British public were getting tired of this 'let's pull out the golden oldie in the hope of winning support and ultimately votes' approach. Don't get me wrong, Englebert Humperdinck and Bonnie Tyler were brilliant for us, but they're not for the generation of young children growing into Eurovision in this day and age. The Eurovision audience is getting younger every year, not so much in the UK but very much so in continental Europe. That's one of the main reasons why I believe the audience both in the arena and watching on TV will really connect with Molly."
4. Could you tell us how you would compare Molly to the past few UK entries?
Martin: "It's difficult to say really because they're all from different decades, and of course the music scene changes dramatically from decade to decade. I don't think it's fair to draw comparisons between artists from today against those from 30-40 years ago, simply because the music scene in the UK has moved on since Bucks Fizz, Cliff Richard etc. and so too has Eurovision."
5. Looking at the entries currently in Eurovision 2014 how would you compare Molly to the other entries so far? Do you think she stands out from the crowd?
Martin: "Definitely, and there are a lot of my Eurovision fan friends who share that same opinion. The reaction from Eurovision fans has been great. It's really nice to have Eurovision fans from other countries saying to me 'your song is great', 'we love Molly', 'we want the UK to win' and what have you.
It makes me feel good about my country when fans from other countries are being so positive about Molly. In terms of where we can finish, we can't really judge that properly until all of the countries have picked their song, but I think overall at the moment we should be looking at a top 10 finish."
6. The UK entry has already had over 100,000 views on youtube within 24 hours of it being released. Do you think this a good thing?
Martin: "Without question it's a good thing. It shows that people both in the UK and elsewhere are interested in the song and about Molly herself. I get the feeling that a lot of people, particularly in the UK, were saying to themself 'Molly who' when the artist announcement was made last night... and I include myself in that bracket.
Besides, YouTube is such a powerful media platform now. It's no longer a place where people just go to mess about and watch videos of cats on a treadmill. YouTube has morphed into a place where musicians are putting their videos first before anywhere else. For Molly's video to be in the midst of that can only be a good thing for her."
7. As we know most off the UK public have not really shown much intrest in ESC the past few years, do you think Molly's entry will incourage more Eurovision spirit in the UK?"
Martin: "I think Molly's entry is already having that effect. The various social media sites are buzzing with people talking about Molly, and I think fans are actually taking the time to find out more about Molly and the songs that she has recorded previously, and it raises the profile both for us as fans as the BBC as our host broadcaster.
People didn't have to do their homework about Englebert Humperdinck and Bonnie Tyler because so much was already known about them two, but with Molly it's completely different because next to nothing is known about her. I really hope Molly taking part will attract a new wave of UK fans to Eurovision and shake off some of the unfair stigmas attached to Eurovision in this country.
8. Finally Martin we have to ask this. Do you think United Kingdom 2015 is on the cards?
Martin: "My heart says yes, but then again I'm British so it always will. My head says no because there are really strong songs from countries such as Finland, Hungary and Switzerland. It would be nice to host the Eurovision Song Contest in the UK again because it hasn't happened since 1998, so in that sense there's a generation of people in the UK who have never known what it's like for the UK to host Eurovision... and again I include myself in that because I didn't become a Eurovision fan until 2002.
I would love to see us win, but sadly my head rules my heart on this one. As long as we can get a decent result in Copenhagen we can use that as a stepping stone for future years, maybe then we can think about winning, but I think for us to be thinking of winning so soon after the disappointments of the past 5 years is maybe getting a bit too far ahead of ourselves."
9. Well thank you for doing this interview Martin and good luck to the UK
Martin: "Thank you and see you in Copenhagen!"
Comment Box is loading comments...