210-670: Eurovision: You Decide is the most recent name of a BBC television programme that was broadcast annually to select the United Kingdom 's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest . The show had previously gone under several other names, including Festival of British Popular Songs (1957), Eurovision Song Contest British Final (1959–1960), The Great British Song Contest (1996–1999), Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up (2004–2007), Eurovision: Your Decision (2008), and Eurovision: Your Country Needs You (2009–2010), but
420-500: A jazz influence. The group, who were in the forefront of the UK beat-group boom, were the first backing band to emerge as stars. As pioneers of the four-member instrumental format, the band consisted of lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums. The Shadows built their signature sound on Fender guitars and Vox amplifiers, but around 1964, they replaced their Fenders with Burns guitars, with Bruce Welch citing tuning issues as
630-596: A Sunday afternoon. King persuaded his friends Katrina and Kimberley Rew , who had hit with " Walking on Sunshine ", to enter a new track, " Love Shine A Light ". This produced a win in the Eurovision Contest itself for the United Kingdom and for Katrina and the Waves in 1997, and followed with a second place for Imaani in 1998, but disappointment in 1999 for the all-female band Precious . In 2000,
840-621: A bit of nudging from Norrie Paramor, they set about finding a permanent name, which arrived out of the blue one summer's day in July 1959 (maybe the 19th). When Hank Marvin and Jet Harris took off on their scooters up to the Six Bells pub at Ruislip, Jet hit upon a name straight away. 'What about the Shadows?' The lad was a genius! So we became the Shadows for the first time on Cliff's sixth single " Travellin' Light ". The Shadows were also becoming
1050-722: A censorship apparatus for the inevitability of war. Due to the BBC's advancements in shortwave radio technology, the corporation could broadcast across the world during the Second World War. Within Europe, the BBC European Service would gather intelligence and information regarding the current events of the war in English. Regional BBC workers, based on their regional geo-political climate, would then further censor
1260-534: A cover album in the same vein as early Polydor releases with singles " Moonlight Shadow " and Bruce Springsteen 's, " Dancing in the Dark " both failing to make a dent in the singles chart. Due to Alan Jones's involvement with the Dave Clark 's musical Time , the bassist was not available to contribute to the album, and Paul Westwood temporarily sat in. Moonlight Shadows was released on LP and CD simultaneously as
1470-602: A duet with Beverlei Brown ; Liz McClarnon , formerly of girl group Atomic Kitten ; and Scooch , the eventual winners with " Flying the Flag (for You) ". Scooch sang their entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 on 12 May 2007 in Helsinki , Finland and finished in second-to-last place with 19 points, ahead of Ireland who placed last. For the first time, the show was filmed at The Maidstone Studios in Kent . The hour long final
1680-399: A famous glamour model. The other contestants included former 3SL bandmember Andy Scott-Lee , the 1996 British Eurovision entry Gina G and unknown opera trio Tricolore . The voting itself was the same format as the previous year, but this time an online jury was added to decide between the contestants to take account of the views of those watching in the rest of Europe to get a sense of how
1890-446: A few vocal numbers. Their rhythmic style is primarily on the beat , with little syncopation . They said in 1992 that "Apache" set the tone with its surf guitar sound. The Shadows and their management did not exploit commercial opportunities such as self-promotion via artwork. They allowed Vox to produce metallic badges in a script typeface, with the group name on the front bottom right corner of all three Vox cabinets sometime during
2100-605: A final public vote. For the first time, the national final was broadcast live from Dock10 , MediaCityUK in Salford. On 11 January, the date of the national final was confirmed as 8 February. Michael Rice 's rendition of " Bigger than Us ", written and composed by Laurell Barker, Anna-Klara Folin, John Lundvik and Jonas Thander, won the national final. However, the song finished last in the Grand Final in Tel Aviv, making it
2310-400: A follow-up album with 13 old tracks (including a Marvin solo track) and one unreleased track from the 'String of Hits' sessions. These tracks came from albums released earlier in the group's career of cover versions of hit singles; this was eventually released as Another String of Hot Hits in 1980. After 20 successful years together, the Shadows parted ways with their record company EMI and
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#17327933060782520-469: A larger brand: in 2003, BBC Choice was replaced by BBC Three , with programming for younger adults and shocking real-life documentaries, BBC News 24 became the BBC News Channel in 2008, and BBC Radio 7 became BBC Radio 4 Extra in 2011, with new programmes to supplement those broadcast on Radio 4. In 2008, another channel was launched, BBC Alba , a Scottish Gaelic service. During this decade,
2730-424: A lot of publicity, because three of the four acts that made the final were relatively well known to TV viewers, albeit not necessarily for their singing ability. Surf 'n' Turf included Jonathan Maitland who is a TV presenter of consumer advice shows such as Watchdog and House of Horrors . Tricia Penrose is an actress who played Gina in the 60s retro drama Heartbeat on ITV , and Jessica Garlick had made
2940-572: A music producer at Decca Records . He was replaced by Brian Bennett . In April 1962, Jet Harris was replaced by Brian "Licorice" Locking . Bennett and Locking were friends from the 2I's who had been in Marty Wilde 's backing group, the Wildcats, who recorded instrumentals as the Krew Kats. This Shadows line-up released seven hit singles, two of which, " Dance On! " and " Foot Tapper ", topped
3150-602: A new band name was urgently needed. The name "The Shadows" was thought up by bass guitarist Jet Harris (unaware of Bobby Vee 's backing group) while he and Marvin were at the Six Bells pub in Ruislip in July 1959. From The Story of the Shadows : With a combination of the American situation, Cliff Richard's first number 1 hit, the runaway success "Living Doll" had by now sold over a million copies in Britain alone and after
3360-414: A new version of "Apache", without bass and percussion, for use in the documentary. On 17 December 2022, BBC2 showed Cliff at Christmas , with Welch and Bennett appearing as guests performing "Move It". The Shadows are difficult to categorise because of their stylistic range, which includes pop , rock , surf rock and ballads with a jazz influence. Most of their tunes are instrumental rock , with
3570-559: A news and information service. In 1978, BBC staff went on strike just before the Christmas, thus blocking out the transmission of both channels and amalgamating all four radio stations into one. Since the deregulation of the UK television and radio market in the 1980s, the BBC has faced increased competition from the commercial sector (and from the advertiser-funded public service broadcaster Channel 4 ), especially on satellite television, cable television, and digital television services. In
3780-493: A number of additional channels and radio stations have been launched: Radio 5 was launched in 1990, as a sports and educational station, but was replaced in 1994, with BBC Radio 5 Live to become a live radio station, following the success of the Radio 4 service to cover the 1991 Gulf War . The new station would be a news and sport station. In 1997, BBC News 24 , a rolling news channel, launched on digital television services, and
3990-447: A number one album, prompted the group to re-form once more for a 'Twenty Golden Dates' tour around the UK, featuring Francis Monkman (formerly of Curved Air and soon to be in Sky ) on keyboards and Alan Jones on bass guitar. Monkman left after that tour, and the line-up settled as Marvin, Welch and Bennett, supplemented on records and gigs by Cliff Hall (keyboards) and Alan Jones (bass). It
4200-535: A poor result from Rikki in the Eurovision final of 1987, the regional juries were disbanded, and the final decision given to the public through telephone voting, with a celebrity panel offering comments on the entries intended to guide viewers. This proved to be a relative success, accruing two second places and a sixth place ( Zagreb , 1990). However, a disappointing 10th place in Rome obtained by Samantha Janus led
4410-411: A popular band in their own right and in 1960, " Apache ", an instrumental by Jerry Lordan , topped the UK charts for five weeks. Further hits followed, including the number ones " Kon Tiki " and " Wonderful Land ", another Lordan composition with orchestral backing and even for eight weeks at number 1. The Shadows played on further hits as Richard's band. In October 1961, drummer Tony Meehan left to be
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#17327933060784620-446: A popular choice to represent the UK and the viewers' postal vote was the lowest in 'Song For Europe' history. EMI however released a compilation album in 1976, spanning 1962 to 1970: Rarities with sleeve notes by John Friesen. The first half of the album was from Marvin's solo career, and the second was by the Shadows. Following the rare vocal single "It'll Be Me, Babe", written and sung by Marvin & Farrar, John Farrar amicably left
4830-441: A preliminary round of voting to eliminate 4 of the 8 songs. This was televised in 1996 but switched to radio from 1997 to 2003. Featured in 1988–1990, 1994–1995, 2004–2010 and 2016–2019. Featured in 1957, 1959 to 1964, 1976 to 1978, 1980 to 1987 and from 2003 to 2006. Although regional juries were used in 1979, the broadcast was abandoned and the scores tallied without announcements. In 1976, host Michael Aspel did not name any of
5040-427: A proper band logo, four silhouettes of the original line-up, in ascending order of height, were used as a pseudo-logo on concert programme covers and artwork projects such as sheet music, EP and album covers. From left to right after the drum-kit were Meehan, Harris, Marvin, and Bruce Welch. The original artwork group silhouette was modified each time a member changed: the last version featured Brian Bennett and Rostill in
5250-744: A proposal to cut 4,000 jobs, and to privatise parts of the BBC, disrupted much of the BBC's regular programming. In 2006, BBC HD launched as an experimental service and became official in December 2007. The channel broadcast HD simulcasts of programmes on BBC One , BBC Two , BBC Three and BBC Four as well as repeats of some older programmes in HD. In 2010, an HD simulcast of BBC One launched: BBC One HD . The channel uses HD versions of BBC One's schedule and uses upscaled versions of programmes not currently produced in HD. The BBC HD channel closed in March 2013 and
5460-497: A reconstituted Shadows were chosen by BBC Head of Light Entertainment Bill Cotton to perform the Song for Europe in the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest . The Shadows recorded six songs, seen each week on a weekly television show It's Lulu , on BBC1 and hosted by Lulu , a former Eurovision winner. The group taped all six performances in the TV studio before the series itself began, with
5670-555: A series of strikes; however, the BBC stated that the cuts were essential to move the organisation forward and concentrate on increasing the quality of programming. On 20 October 2010, the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced that the television licence fee would be frozen at its current level until the end of the current charter in 2016. The same announcement revealed that the BBC would take on
5880-504: A single at the tail end of 1978. The record eventually reached number 5 in the singles chart thereby giving the group their first top ten single since the 1960s. In 1979, their version of " Cavatina " also became a top ten hit, and they recorded ten more tracks with bassist Jones and keyboardists Dave Lawson and Alan Hawkshaw for the album String of Hits on EMI which topped the British album charts. The success of this led to EMI issuing
6090-633: A special edition of Top of the Pops prior to the live final. On the night, the well-known artists were all beaten by rap act Love City Groove , whose eponymous song could only manage a disappointing tenth in Dublin that year. On a positive note, the songs by Love City Groove and Deuce ("I Need You") made the top 10 in the UK singles charts, reaching #7 and #10 respectively, while three other entries – Dear Jon "One Gift of Love" at #68, Londonbeat "I'm Just Your Puppet on A... (String!)" at #55 and Sox "Go for
6300-495: A special edition of the given show. From 1968 to 1975, these performances were then immediately repeated before viewers were asked to cast their votes by mail. The following week, the winning song would be announced and performed once more, although there was a two-week wait in 1965. In 1968, Cliff Richard performed the songs only in a special edition of Cilla Black 's eponymous TV series (broadcast on Tuesdays), without having sung them weekly beforehand. The various shows chosen for
6510-413: A trio, vocal harmony group. They were favourably compared to USA folk close harmony group Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (a.k.a. CSNY) and The Hollies . Their second album, Second Opinion (1971), produced by Peter Vince, was voted one of the best ever sounding albums recorded at Abbey Road studios by EMI Records' sound engineers in a private poll during the 1970s. The band lasted until 1973. In 1975,
UK national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest - Misplaced Pages Continue
6720-415: A vocal A-side with an instrumental A-side. The vocal songs "Mary Anne", "Don't Make My Baby Blue", and "I Met A Girl" all made the UK top 30, and "The Dreams I Dream" peaked at #42. Instrumental numbers also continued to chart, including "Genie With The Light Brown Lamp", "Stingray", "The War Lord", "A Place In The Sun" and "Maroc 7", all top 30 hits. During the 1960s, the group appeared with Cliff Richard in
6930-431: A week for two weeks rather than one a week for six weeks. Originally, Cilla Black's 1974 nine-part BBC series was also scheduled to feature the 'Song for Europe' process, but Black was uncomfortable at promoting another female singer (Newton-John) each week throughout the series' run and in a rather last minute decision, the BBC arranged to move the process to another show, necessitating the contracted process. This period
7140-599: Is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London , England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company , it evolved into its current state with its current name on New Year's Day 1927. The oldest and largest local and global broadcaster by stature and by number of employees, the BBC employs over 21,000 staff in total, of whom approximately 17,200 are in public-sector broadcasting. The BBC
7350-1009: Is now available in the DVD The Final Reunion . A new studio based album, Reunited , featuring mostly rerecorded versions of their own hits, reached number four in the UK Albums Chart in 2009. "Singing the Blues", the first "Cliff Richard and the Shadows" single for 40 years, reached number 40 in the UK Singles Chart , and is Richard's most recent top 40 hit. The Final Tour was put on Blu-ray format by Eagle Records in 2010. Welch, Bennett, Mark Griffiths and Warren Bennett performed two Shadows hits ("Apache" and "Wonderful Land") at Albert Lee 's 70th birthday concerts at Cadogan Hall, London, on 1 and 2 March 2014, Lee playing with them on lead guitar. The Shadows recorded an interpretation of John Barry's " The Appointment " for
7560-500: Is obviously of paramount importance." Reith succeeded in building a high wall against an American-style free-for-all in radio in which the goal was to attract the largest audiences and thereby secure the greatest advertising revenue. There was no paid advertising on the BBC; all the revenue came from a tax on receiving sets. Highbrow audiences, however, greatly enjoyed it. At a time when American, Australian and Canadian stations were drawing huge audiences cheering for their local teams with
7770-533: Is responsible for operational management and delivery of services within a framework set by the board, and is chaired by the director-general , currently Tim Davie , who is chief executive and (from 1994) editor-in-chief. The corporation has the following in-house divisions covering the BBC's output and operations: The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters between 1958 and 1959) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated
7980-658: Is set by the British Government , agreed by Parliament , and is used to fund the BBC's radio, TV, and online services covering the nations and regions of the UK. Since 1 April 2014, it has also funded the BBC World Service (launched in 1932 as the BBC Empire Service), which broadcasts in 28 languages and provides comprehensive TV, radio, and online services in Arabic and Persian . Some of
8190-642: The Archbishops of Canterbury and York came to St Paul's to broadcast to the UK and the world on the National Day of Prayer. BBC employees during the war included George Orwell who spent two years with the broadcaster. During his role as prime minister during the war, Winston Churchill delivered 33 major wartime speeches by radio, all of which were carried by the BBC within the UK. On 18 June 1940, French general Charles de Gaulle , in exile in London as
8400-563: The BBC wanted to revert to having one singer of their choice perform all the short listed songs and approached Bonnie Tyler and when she was unavailable, Lena Zavaroni for the task. However, the Music Publisher's Association blocked the move, wanting their members the choice of their own singers to represent their music. A compromise was reached and only solo artists or duets – no "made for Eurovision" acts – were permitted to take part in
8610-598: The BBC Television Service ) started from Alexandra Palace in November 1936, alternating between an improved Baird mechanical 240-line system and the all-electronic 405-line Marconi-EMI system which had been developed by an EMI research team led by Sir Isaac Shoenberg . The superiority of the electronic system saw the mechanical system dropped early the following year, with the Marconi-EMI system
UK national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest - Misplaced Pages Continue
8820-903: The MediaCityUK development in Salford , with BBC Three moving online only in 2016, the sharing of more programmes between stations and channels, sharing of radio news bulletins, more repeats in schedules, including the whole of BBC Two daytime and for some original programming to be reduced. BBC HD was closed on 26 March 2013, and replaced with an HD simulcast of BBC Two; however, flagship programmes, other channels and full funding for CBBC and CBeebies would be retained. Numerous BBC facilities have been sold off, including New Broadcasting House on Wilmslow Road in Manchester. Many major departments have been relocated to Broadcasting House in central London and MediaCityUK in Salford, particularly since
9030-466: The US-UK invasion of Iraq for the failure of any nation to give the UK even one point. As noted by author John Kennedy O'Connor , with 26 entries in the Eurovision field, this made "Cry Baby" the least successful song in the entire history of the contest. No song in the Eurovision final scored "nul points" again until 2015. The 2004 selection was completely different and had a hugely increased budget. Gone
9240-424: The "Song For Europe" performances were The Kathy Kirby Show (1965 shown on Fridays), Kenneth McKellar's A Song For Everyone (1966 shown on Thursdays), The Rolf Harris Show (1967), Cilla ( 1968 and 1973 ), Lulu ( 1969 and 1975 ), It's Cliff Richard! ( 1970 , 1971 and 1972 ) and Clunk, Click... As It Happens (1974) – when in a break with the format, Olivia Newton-John performed three songs
9450-416: The "Song For Europe" selection process was incorporated into other BBC light entertainment shows, in addition to the songs being broadcast on BBC Radio programmes. Typically, the performer would sing one song a week either on their own series or as a guest on another regular BBC TV show, more often than not, televised on Saturdays. This culminated with the performer singing all the songs one after another in
9660-505: The 1982 and 1984 events were written by Paul Curtis , who was responsible for the 1984 winner; "Love Games". Following Belle & The Devotions ' performance at the 1984 Eurovision contest in Luxembourg, the audience audibly booed them from the stage in an orchestrated demonstration against the song's supposed plagiarism, and by the local audience retaliating against a particularly shocking violent attack by English soccer fans. For 1985,
9870-552: The 1985 UK selection process and limited two entries per songwriter. Despite this rule, both songs submitted by Paul Curtis reached the final eight. They reverted to allowing all-comers for 1986. Starting in 1985, the songs were also 'previewed' on Terry Wogan 's prime time chat show on BBC1 ahead of the final. When the series ended in 1992, the songs were presented in 1993 and 1994 in stand-alone programmes, hosted by Wogan. The number of entries briefly increased to ten in 1987 when record companies were invited to submit songs, but after
10080-488: The 2015 Brian Bennett album Shadowing John Barry . Rumours circled in late 2016 about a reunion and a tour with Richard, but this did not occur. On 1 May 2020, BBC4 showed The Shadows at Sixty , a documentary looking back at their success as they celebrated the 60th anniversary of their first No 1 hit, " Apache ". Marvin, Welch and Bennett all gave interviews and the programme included some previously unseen footage from their early days. Marvin, Welch, and Bennett performed
10290-523: The 2025–26 season of the Women's Super League campaign. The BBC is a statutory corporation , independent from direct government intervention, with its activities being overseen from April 2017 by the BBC Board and regulated by Ofcom . The chairman is Samir Shah. The BBC is a state owned public broadcasting company and operates under a royal charter . The charter is the constitutional basis for
10500-554: The BBC again in 2023 to select Mae Muller to perform " I Wrote a Song " in the contest in Liverpool on 13 May. It finished in 25th place with 24 points overall. Later that year, TaP Music ended its partnership with the BBC. On 16 December 2023, Olly Alexander was announced as the selected artist for the 2024 contest in Malmö. Alexander made the announcement during the final of the 21st series of Strictly Come Dancing . His song for
10710-467: The BBC announced a BBC News savings target of £80 million per year by 2022, involving about 520 staff reductions. The BBC's director of news and current affairs Fran Unsworth said there would be further moves toward digital broadcasting, in part to attract back a youth audience, and more pooling of reporters to stop separate teams covering the same news. In 2020, the BBC reported a £119 million deficit because of delays to cost reduction plans, and
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#173279330607810920-500: The BBC announced on 29 January 2010, that songwriter and music producer Pete Waterman would be writing the UK's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo, Norway, on 29 May. Waterman's writing partner was Mike Stock and the singer was chosen on 12 March, in a live show featuring six potential artists broadcast on BBC One, hosted by Graham Norton. Waterman chose three of the six acts to perform his song " That Sounds Good To Me ", with
11130-460: The BBC has played a prominent role in British life and culture. It is sometimes informally referred to as the Beeb or Auntie . In 1923 it launched Radio Times (subtitled "The official organ of the BBC"), the first broadcast listings magazine; the 1988 Christmas edition sold 11 million copies, the biggest-selling edition of any British magazine in history. Britain's first live public broadcast
11340-585: The BBC is subject to an additional 'Agreement' between it and the Culture Secretary , and that its operating licence is to be set by Ofcom, an external regulatory body . It used to be that the Home Secretary be departmental to both Agreement as well as Licence, and regulatory duties fall to the BBC Trust , but the 2017 charter changed those 2007 arrangements. The charter, too, outlines
11550-707: The BBC released minutes of the board meeting which led to Greg Dyke's resignation. Unlike the other departments of the BBC, the BBC World Service was funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office . The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, more commonly known as the Foreign Office or the FCO, is the British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom abroad. A strike in 2005 by more than 11,000 BBC workers, over
11760-440: The BBC suddenly became the primary source of news for the duration of the crisis. The crisis placed the BBC in a delicate position. On the one hand Reith was acutely aware that the government might exercise its right to commandeer the BBC at any time as a mouthpiece of the government if the BBC were to step out of line, but on the other he was anxious to maintain public trust by appearing to be acting independently. The government
11970-413: The BBC talent shows Any Dream Will Do and How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? . A panel of three judges ( John Barrowman , Carrie Grant , and Terry Wogan) decided which artists to put through to a semi-final after each pair had performed. Terry Wogan then allowed one of the rejected acts through as a "wild card" before viewers were invited to vote by phone to decide which two would perform again in
12180-415: The BBC to rethink the standard of performers in the competition. As a result of the disappointing results in 1990 and 1991, the system that was used between 1964 and 1975 was resurrected, with the BBC 's head of light entertainment, Jim Moir choosing one artist to perform all the songs in the UK final.West End singer Michael Ball was the first option in 1992, and went on to win second place. Sonia Evans
12390-421: The BBC to use more mainstream pop stars, which led to a run of successful results for the UK. This idea was dropped due to the low number of postal votes cast in the contest of 1975, in which all six songs were performed by The Shadows , and after objections from songwriters who felt The Shadows , and the BBC 's selections in general, were not the sort of artists they wanted to represent their music. After 1964,
12600-480: The BBC was granted sufficient leeway to pursue the government's objectives largely in a manner of its own choosing. Supporters of the strike nicknamed the BBC the BFC for British Falsehood Company. Reith personally announced the end of the strike which he marked by reciting from Blake's " Jerusalem " signifying that England had been saved. While the BBC tends to characterise its coverage of the general strike by emphasising
12810-536: The BBC", was priced at tuppence (two pence ) on newsstands, and quickly sold out its run of a quarter of a million copies. Mid-1925 found the future of broadcasting under further consideration, this time by the Crawford committee. By now, the BBC, under Reith's leadership, had forged a consensus favouring a continuation of the unified (monopoly) broadcasting service, but more money was still required to finance rapid expansion. Wireless manufacturers were anxious to exit
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#173279330607813020-464: The BBC's airwaves. In 1937, a MI5 security officer was given a permanent office within the organisation. This officer would examine the files of potential political subversives and mark the files of those deemed a security risk to the organisation, blacklisting them. This was often done on spurious grounds; even so, the practice would continue and expand during the years of the Cold War. There
13230-540: The BBC's censorship office, which surveilled and edited American coverage of British affairs. By 1940, across all BBC broadcasts, music by composers from enemy nations was censored. In total, 99 German, 38 Austrian and 38 Italian composers were censored. The BBC argued that like the Italian or German languages, listeners would be irritated by the inclusion of enemy composers. Any potential broadcasters said to have pacifist, communist or fascist ideologies were not allowed on
13440-516: The BBC's revenue comes from its commercial subsidiary BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide ), which sells BBC programmes and services internationally and also distributes the BBC's international 24-hour English-language news services BBC News , and from BBC.com, provided by BBC Global News Ltd. In 2009, the company was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise in recognition of its international achievements in business. Since its formation in 1922,
13650-522: The BBC, and sets out the BBC's Object, Mission and Public Purposes. It emphasises public service , (limited) editorial independence , prohibits advertising on domestic services and proclaims the BBC is to "seek to avoid adverse impacts on competition which are not necessary for the effective fulfilment of the Mission and the promotion of the Public Purposes". The charter also sets out that
13860-586: The British government's asylum policy on social media. Lineker was suspended from his position on Match of the Day before being re-instated after receiving overwhelming support from his colleagues. The scandal was made worse due to the connections between BBC's chairman, Richard Sharp, and the Conservative Party. In April 2023, Richard Sharp resigned as chairman after a report found he did not disclose potential perceived conflicts of interest in his role in
14070-405: The British popular music charts in the pre- Beatles era from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard from 1958 to 1968, and have joined him for several reunion tours. The Shadows had 69 UK chart singles from the 1950s to the 2000s, 35 as the Shadows and 34 as Cliff Richard and the Shadows , ranging from pop , rock , surf rock and ballads with
14280-506: The CBBC Channel and CBeebies Channel. In addition to the television channels, new digital radio stations were created: 1Xtra , 6 Music and Radio 4 Extra . BBC 1Xtra was a sister station to Radio 1 and specialised in modern black music, BBC 6 Music specialised in alternative music genres and BBC7 specialised in archive, speech and children's programming. The following few years resulted in repositioning of some channels to conform to
14490-701: The Corporation's governance and regulatory arrangements as a statutory corporation, including the role and composition of the BBC Board. The current Charter began on 1 January 2017 and ends on 31 December 2027; the Agreement being coterminous. The BBC Board was formed in April 2017. It replaced the previous governing body, the BBC Trust, which itself had replaced the board of governors in 2007. The board sets
14700-550: The Eurovision Song Contest final itself. From 1964 up until 1975, an artist would be chosen by the BBC, and that artist would sing all six songs (five in 1966 and 1967) in the selection, and the public (bar 1964 and 1971) would choose by postcard which song they would like to represent them in the contest. Regional juries selected the winner in 1964. A postal strike in 1971 prevented the ballot from taking place, so regional juries were once again constructed to pick
14910-525: The Eurovision contest. A fourth internal selection followed in 2014, with Molly Smitten-Downes , under her artist name of Molly, being chosen to represent the UK with the song " Children of the Universe ", written and composed by Smitten-Downes herself. However, Smitten-Downes was an unknown artist who was chosen through the BBC Introducing scheme. The announcement of the selected artist and song
15120-503: The Eurovision final with 100 points and peaked at no.16 in the UK singles chart. For 2012, Engelbert Humperdinck was selected internally by the BBC to represent the UK in Baku , Azerbaijan with the song " Love Will Set You Free ". The song is written by Grammy award-winning producer Martin Terefe and Ivor Novello winner Sacha Skarbek, who co-wrote James Blunt hit " You're Beautiful ". It
15330-426: The Eurovision final, scoring no points from either the jury or the televote. On 21 October 2021, it was confirmed that BBC Studios would partner with TaP Music to select and produce its entry for the 2022 contest, and that the UK's television coverage would be produced and broadcast from Salford , with the points awarded by the UK jury announced live from Dock10 studios . The song " Space Man " performed by Sam Ryder
15540-660: The GPO and the BBC had become deadlocked and the Postmaster General commissioned a review of broadcasting by the Sykes Committee. The committee recommended a short-term reorganisation of licence fees with improved enforcement in order to address the BBC's immediate financial distress, and an increased share of the licence revenue split between it and the GPO. This was to be followed by a simple 10 shillings licence fee to fund broadcasts. The BBC's broadcasting monopoly
15750-472: The Heart" at #47 – all reached the UK top 100. In 1996, a semi-final was reintroduced for the first time since 1960 and the show's name was changed to The Great British Song Contest . All eight songs were performed on Top of the Pops on 1 March, and the public voted to decide the four finalists. The results were announced the following day, but there was no information given on who finished where. On 8 March
15960-472: The Pops performances, notably Mud , the Rubettes , Showaddywaddy and Yellow Dog . 'The walk' is three steps within a 60–60–60-degree triangle, with a reverse right-heel back-kick, with optional can-can finale. This was varied throughout a gig during certain numbers, for example "FBI". During the 1980s, rather than play in a static posture during an instrumental number, or using the walk, their live act
16170-505: The Prime Minister, maintained the censorship of editorial opinions on public policy, but allowed the BBC to address matters of religious, political or industrial controversy. The resulting political "talk series", designed to inform England on political issues, were criticised by members of parliament, including Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George and Sir Austen Chamberlain . Those who opposed these chats claimed that they silence
16380-531: The Shadows as Wishee, Washee, Noshee and Poshee; Cinderella at the Palladium in 1966 featured Richard as Buttons and the Shadows as the Broker's Men. Their film and stage roles allowed the group to develop as songwriters. They wrote only a few songs for the earliest film, 1961's The Young Ones , but, by Finders Keepers in 1966, almost the entire soundtrack was credited to Marvin-Welch-Bennett-Rostill. In 1967,
16590-477: The Shadows each have had four No. 1–selling EPs. The Shadows formed as a backing band for Cliff Richard under the name The Drifters . The original members were founder Ken Pavey (born 1932), Terry Smart on drums (1942), Norman Mitham on guitar (1941), Ian Samwell on guitar and Harry Webb (before he became Cliff Richard ) on guitar and vocals. They had no bass player. Samwell wrote their debut single, " Move It ", often mistakenly attributed to "Cliff Richard and
16800-592: The Shadows performed at the Royal Variety Performance , at the same time announcing their forthcoming 50th anniversary tour. The tour began in September 2009 with 36 shows throughout the UK and continental Europe, extending in 2010 to Australia , New Zealand and South Africa . A 'final reunion' of Cliff and the Shadows was performed in the O2 Arena in London in November 2009. This performance
17010-507: The Shadows released a double album on the Tellydisc label, titled Shadows Silver Album , which contained previously released recent material, along with new, recently recorded tracks. In July 1984, the Shadows reunited with Cliff Richard for a series of celebratory concerts at Wembley Arena and Birmingham NEC . In 1986, the Shadows had a top ten hit on the LP chart with Moonlight Shadows ,
17220-617: The Shadows used Olivia Newton-John on the track " The Day I Met Marie " on their album From Hank Bruce Brian and John . In October 1968, Marvin and Welch decided to disband the group following a concert at the London Palladium . In the event, only Welch left, but the Shadows had disbanded by the end of the year. The group began 1970 by appearing on the BBC 's review of the '60s music scene, Pop Go The Sixties , performing "Apache" and backing Richard on " Bachelor Boy ", broadcast across Europe and BBC1 , on 31 December 1969. This
17430-461: The Shadows" and not the Drifters. At the insistence of the group's producer and manager Norrie Paramor , in order to ensure a strong sound, two session players, guitarist Ernie Shear and bassist Frank Clark, played on the "Move It/Schoolboy Crush" single. Initially Paramor wanted to record using only studio musicians, but after persuasion he allowed Smart and Samwell to play as well. In his memoirs, Welch regrets that he and Marvin were not able to be at
17640-635: The Top 30 programmes viewed on BBC Two for the week. At the contest, the song placed 24th, but became infamous for its performance being disrupted at the live Grand Final in Lisbon by a stage invader. Song submissions for the 2019 edition opened on 19 September 2018. On 30 November, the BBC announced that a new format would be used for 2019. Three songs, selected with the help of an international jury, were each performed in two musically different styles by two different artists, with one act from each pair going through to
17850-491: The UK branch of the international OGAE fan club, the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) and Hugh Goldsmith , former managing director of RCA Records and founder of Innocent Records . The six competing songs were premiered during The Ken Bruce Show on BBC Radio 2 on 22 February 2016. " You're Not Alone " performed by Joe and Jake won the national final; 746,000 viewers watched
18060-400: The UK in 2006 as a soloist, placing second in the heat behind Daz Sampson . Other Blue personnel Lee Ryan had written one of the finalists in the 2005 UK heat and Duncan James was a panellist in the 2009 heat, going on to announce the UK scores at the Eurovision final from Moscow. James posted in a separate Twitter message that they have pre-selected their own song. The process thus excludes
18270-543: The UK viewing public from any participation in the British Eurovision selection for the first time. Blue became the first UK representatives since The Shadows in 1975 to have had multiple No.1 singles in the UK chart prior to appearing in Eurovision, and the first since Sonia in 1993 to have had a chart-topper at all. A documentary entitled Eurovision: Your Country Needs Blue was produced for BBC One broadcast on Saturday 16 April 2011. The group placed 11th at
18480-476: The UK with the song " My Last Breath ", however the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . On 19 February 2021, BBC confirmed that Newman will represent the United Kingdom in the 2021 contest. The BBC also announced the renewed collaboration between BBC Studios and record label BMG . The song " Embers " was released and published by BMG and was revealed in March 2021. Newman went on to place last in
18690-501: The UK's first Independent local radio station, LBC came on-air in the London area. As a result of the Pilkington Committee report of 1962, in which the BBC was praised for the quality and range of its output, and ITV was very heavily criticised for not providing enough quality programming, the decision was taken to award the BBC a second television channel, BBC2 , in 1964, renaming the existing service BBC1 . BBC2 used
18900-600: The United Kingdom, with Daz finishing 19th in the contest out of 24 competing countries, the following week his single reached Number 8 in the UK charts. During a press conference on 28 February 2007, the BBC confirmed that the artists taking part in Making Your Mind Up would include Big Brovaz , an RnB group who had 4 UK Top 10 singles in 2002–2003, Brian Harvey , a former member of the boy band East 17 ; Cyndi ; Justin Hawkins of The Darkness , performing
19110-593: The United States, the GPO proposed that it would issue a single broadcasting licence to a company jointly owned by a consortium of leading wireless receiver manufacturers, to be known as the British Broadcasting Company Ltd , which was formed on 18 October 1922. John Reith , a Scottish Calvinist , was appointed its general manager in December 1922 a few weeks after the company made its first official broadcast. L. Stanton Jefferies
19320-629: The air and forced the British government finally to regulate radio services to permit nationally based advertising-financed services. In response, the BBC reorganised and renamed their radio channels. On 30 September 1967, the Light Programme was split into Radio 1 offering continuous "Popular" music and Radio 2 more "Easy Listening". The "Third" programme became Radio 3 offering classical music and cultural programming. The Home Service became Radio 4 offering news, and non-musical content such as quiz shows, readings, dramas and plays. As well as
19530-485: The back, and we were really impressed at the way the saxophone players moved in unison, taken, I suppose, from the Glenn Miller days. It looked fantastic and we thought, "We must do something like that because it looks so interesting from the front." The Shadows developed sequences using their bodies and guitars in tempo with the music, such as 'the walk'. It has been copied by other groups as part of their Top of
19740-580: The band in 1976, moving to the US to become the music producer for Olivia Newton-John . (Among her hits, Farrar wrote " You're the One That I Want " from the film Grease which was covered by the Shadows in 1979, and " Suddenly ", from the film Xanadu , which was a popular duet between Newton-John and Cliff Richard). The packaging of hits in Twenty Golden Greats by EMI in 1977, which led to
19950-491: The bottom of the leaderboard as Pete 'stuck in the 80's' Waterman offers a song that even Butlins would call tacky." On 29 January 2011, the BBC confirmed that boy band Blue had been chosen to represent the UK in the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf with the composition " I Can " written by Duncan James, Lee Ryan, Ciaron Bell, Ben Collier, Ian Hope, Liam Keenan and 'StarSign'. Band member Antony Costa had tried to represent
20160-462: The broadcast of baseball, rugby and hockey, the BBC emphasised service for a national rather than a regional audience. Boat races were well covered along with tennis and horse racing, but the BBC was reluctant to spend its severely limited air time on long football or cricket games, regardless of their popularity. John Reith and the BBC, with support from the Crown , determined the universal needs of
20370-631: The challenge of better reflecting and representing a changing UK". Since 2017, the BBC has also funded the Local Democracy Reporting Service , with up to 165 journalists employed by independent news organisations to report on local democracy issues on a pooled basis. In 2016, the BBC Director General Tony Hall announced a savings target of £800 million per year by 2021, which is about 23% of annual licence fee revenue. Having to take on
20580-556: The charts. In October 1963, Locking left to spend more time as a Jehovah's Witness . Meanwhile, Harris and Meehan teamed up at Decca as an eponymous duo to record another Lordan instrumental, " Diamonds ". It rose to UK no. 1 in January 1963. Two further hits, " Scarlett O'Hara " (also by Lordan) and "Applejack", followed in the same year. On the Lordan tunes, Harris played lead using a six-stringed Fender Bass VI . During 1963, ironically
20790-469: The closure of BBC Television Centre in March 2013. On 16 February 2016, the BBC Three television service was discontinued and replaced by a digital outlet under the same name, targeting its young adult audience with web series and other content. Under the new royal charter instituted in 2017, the corporation must publish an annual report to Ofcom, outlining its plans and public service obligations for
21000-430: The contenders for the UK competition, none of whom were able to secure the much cherished ticket to the Eurovision final. In the early 1960s, record companies became involved in the selection process for the first time and submitted songs by their artists. This produced hits for Craig Douglas , Karl Denver , Jackie Lee , Kenny Lynch , Vince Hill and Ricky Valance , but again, none of them were selected to go forward to
21210-454: The contest " Dizzy ", co-written with Danny L Harle , was released on 1 March 2024. For UK Singles Chart positions, only tracks that have appeared in the officially recognised and published Top 50 (to 1978), Top 75 (to 2012) and Top 100 (from 2012) are included. Any track that fell below the published threshold was not a UK chart hit. From 1964 to 1975, the Song for Europe programme was pre-recorded, often several weeks in advance. The result
21420-415: The contest, Brotherhood of Man and Lynsey de Paul & Mike Moran , had many hits under their belts before attempting Eurovision. In 1977, a strike by BBC cameramen led to the contest being blacked out on TV, although the show went ahead and the audio portion was later broadcast on BBC Radio 2. The TV programme has never been broadcast and is not listed in the BBC archives, yet it was transmitted to
21630-408: The corporation began to sell off a number of its operational divisions to private owners; BBC Broadcast was spun off as a separate company in 2002, and in 2005, it was sold off to Australian -based Macquarie Capital Alliance Group and Macquarie Group Limited and rebranded Red Bee Media . The BBC's IT , telephony and broadcast technology were brought together as BBC Technology Ltd in 2001, and
21840-484: The day with a spot on the TV magazine show Nationwide , where the top 5 were revealed and the winners, Black Lace , were interviewed as guests on the show. As a result of this industrial action, all future contests were staged at BBC studios and not as outside broadcasts from venues. The 1980 result ended in a tie between Prima Donna 's "Love Enough for Two" and Maggie Moone 's "Happy Everything". To resolve this, in an unrehearsed panic, host Terry Wogan called back
22050-561: The division was later sold to the German company Siemens IT Solutions and Services (SIS). SIS was subsequently acquired from Siemens by the French company Atos . Further divestments included BBC Books (sold to Random House in 2006); BBC Outside Broadcasts Ltd (sold in 2008 to Satellite Information Services ); Costumes and Wigs (stock sold in 2008 to Angels Costumes ); and BBC Magazines (sold to Immediate Media Company in 2011). After
22260-429: The early 1960s. This badge became the "default" band logo but was never commercially exploited by the group. The Shadows never used the logo on the front of the bass drum, preferring to allow Meehan and Bennett to use their names instead. Belatedly, the logo was used once on the front artwork of the 1975 original studio album Specs Appeal . As of 2009, the logo still remains untrademarked and uncopyrighted. In lieu of
22470-476: The ex-Shadows were competing in the charts with their former bandmates. It is perhaps also worth noting that Jet Harris also acquired himself a Burns guitar, only this time it was a Barracuda Bass. Jet Harris The Shadows, meanwhile, had issued a run of 13 consecutive top 10 UK hits from 1960 through 1963. The Shadows had met John Rostill on tour with other bands and had been impressed by his playing, so they invited him to join. This final and longest-lasting line-up
22680-407: The facilitation of a loan to Prime Minister Boris Johnson . Dame Elan Closs Stephens was appointed as acting chairwoman on 27 June 2023, and she would lead the BBC board for a year or until a new permanent chair has been appointed. Samir Shah was subsequently appointed with effect from 4 March 2024. In October 2024 it was announced that the BBC along with Sky Sports signed a deal to broadcast
22890-419: The fans, Cliff invited onto the stage former and classic-era members of the group Jet Harris and Tony Meehan to perform " Move It " with him and his band. On 30 June 1990, Cliff and the Shadows performed to an estimated 120,000 people at Knebworth Park as part of an all-star concert line-up that also included Paul McCartney , Phil Collins , Elton John and Tears for Fears . The concert in aid of charity
23100-514: The films The Young Ones , Summer Holiday , Wonderful Life , and Finders Keepers . They also appeared as marionettes in the Gerry Anderson film Thunderbirds Are GO , and starred in a short B-film called Rhythm 'n Greens which became the basis of a music book and an EP. They appeared in pantomime : Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp in 1964 at the London Palladium with Arthur Askey as Widow Twankey , Richard as Aladdin, and
23310-427: The final stages of another ITV show Pop Idol . The standard of songs was stronger than previous years, and Jessica Garlick had a runaway victory of nearly 70,000 votes with her ballad " Come Back ". The song was also a success in Eurovision with it finishing joint third with host country Estonia . 2003 saw terrible disappointment. The new voting system of regional televoting, where 9, 10 and 12 points were awarded to
23520-480: The final was held, with Gina G winning very easily with her dance number " Ooh Aah... Just A Little Bit ". The song became an instant hit in the charts, reaching Number 1 on the UK Singles Chart. It was the first UK non-winner to do so since 1968 but it was not as successful in the Eurovision Contest itself. In Oslo , Gina could only manage eighth place, but was perhaps consoled by her Europe-wide hit with
23730-523: The final. The two finalists chosen by the viewers were Michelle Gayle singing "Woo (You Make Me)", and Andy Abraham singing " Even If ". Despite having been originally eliminated at the first stage, Terry Wogan's "wild card" pick turned out to be the winner when the viewers voted Andy Abraham the victor with " Even If ". This received a total of 14 points in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 on 24 May 2008 in Belgrade , finishing in last place, although sharing
23940-447: The first fully electronic television system in the world to be used in regular broadcasting. The success of broadcasting provoked animosities between the BBC and well-established media such as theatres, concert halls and the recording industry. By 1929, the BBC complained that the agents of many comedians refused to sign contracts for broadcasting, because they feared it harmed the artist "by making his material stale" and that it "reduces
24150-429: The following year, BBC Choice was launched as the third general entertainment channel from the BBC. The BBC also purchased The Parliamentary Channel, which was renamed BBC Parliament . In 1999, BBC Knowledge launched as a multimedia channel, with services available on the newly launched BBC Text digital teletext service (later rebranded as BBC Red Button), and on BBC Online . The channel had an educational aim, which
24360-458: The forthcoming ending of the remaining £253 million funding towards pensioner licence fees would increase financial pressures. In January 2021, it was reported that former banker Richard Sharp would succeed David Clementi , as chairman, when he stepped down in February. In March 2023, the BBC was at the centre of a political row with football pundit Gary Lineker , after he criticised
24570-506: The four national channels, a series of local BBC radio stations were established in 1967, including Radio London . In 1969, the BBC Enterprises department was formed to exploit BBC brands and programmes for commercial spin-off products. In 1979, it became a wholly owned limited company, BBC Enterprises Ltd. In 1974, the BBC's teletext service, Ceefax , was introduced, created initially to provide subtitling, but developed into
24780-439: The fourth time in the past 16 years that the United Kingdom has finished at the bottom of the scoreboard. On 16 September 2019, it was announced that You Decide had been axed and that the song selection would return to the internal selection format most recently used between 2011 and 2015. The entry for the 2020 contest was chosen in collaboration with BMG . It was announced on 27 February 2020 that James Newman would represent
24990-633: The full cost of running the BBC World Service and the BBC Monitoring service from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and partially finance the Welsh broadcaster S4C . Further cuts were announced on 6 October 2011, so the BBC could reach a total reduction in their budget of 20%, following the licence fee freeze in October 2010, which included cutting staff by 2,000 and sending a further 1,000 to
25200-647: The government. Throughout the 1930s, political broadcasts had been closely monitored by the BBC. In 1935, the BBC censored the broadcasts of Oswald Mosley and Harry Pollitt . Mosley was a leader of the British Union of Fascists , and Pollitt a leader of the Communist Party of Great Britain . They had been contracted to provide a series of five broadcasts on their parties' politics. The BBC, in conjunction with The Foreign Office of Britain, first suspended this series and ultimately cancelled it without
25410-511: The group also recorded occasional vocal numbers, and hit the UK top ten with the group-sung " Don't Make My Baby Blue " in 1965. Four other vocal songs by the Shadows also made the UK charts. They disbanded in 1968, but reunited in the 1970s for further commercial success. The Shadows are the fifth-most successful act on the UK Singles Chart , behind Elvis Presley , the Beatles , Cliff Richard and Madonna . The Shadows and Cliff Richard &
25620-738: The group came second to the Dutch entry, Teach-In 's " Ding-A-Dong ". Having long stepped out of Richard's shadow, this was a rare excursion into vocals for a band known for instrumentals (although they had cut vocal tracks on most albums, plus some singles 'B' sides, and had four charting vocal singles in the '60s). Welch sang lead and let the world know when, forgetting a couple of words, he turned to colleagues and said "I knew it" in range of his microphone. Author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor notes in The Eurovision Song Contest ;– The Official History that they were not
25830-483: The group signed a 10-year contract to Polydor Records . The first album released under the Polydor banner was the aptly titled Change of Address in September 1980. With the influential arrival of keyboardist Cliff Hall, the musical style shifted from the traditional sound, becoming more electronic-based, with prominent keyboards and synthesizers burying Welch's contributions. For the group's 25th anniversary in 1983,
26040-419: The group's third CD release. This top ten album consisted entirely of cover songs. The album spent 16 weeks on chart peaking at number 6. In June 1989, the Shadows once more reunited with Cliff to celebrate 30 years in show business, where the singer filled London's Wembley Stadium for two nights, with a spectacular titled "The Event", in front of a combined audience of 144,000 people. As a special surprise for
26250-405: The higher resolution 625-line standard which had been standardised across Europe. BBC2 was broadcast in colour from 1 July 1967 and was joined by BBC1 and ITV on 15 November 1969. The 405-line VHF transmissions of BBC1 (and ITV) were continued for compatibility with older television receivers until 1985. Starting in 1964, a series of pirate radio stations (starting with Radio Caroline ) came on
26460-461: The juries to announce their favourite of the two songs. This led to extreme confusion when the scoreboard failed to keep up and some juries contradicted the results they had given earlier. Prima Donna won, with eight juries to Maggie Moone's six. A detailed check of the votes after the show did confirm that Prima Donna were the correct winners. Prima Donna were the first winners of the competition specifically formed to take part in Eurovision. This became
26670-431: The jury spokesman (there were no women announcing any of the scores) and none of them identified themselves; despite some of the voices being familiar to BBC viewers and listeners. The list provided is thus independently researched. Only tracks that have appeared in the officially recognised Top 50 (to 1978), Top 75 (to 2012) and Top 100 (from 2012) are included: BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC )
26880-494: The late 1960s. During the 1970s, EMI dropped the silhouettes, preferring to use two guitar necks or colour photos of the Shadows. During the later 1980s, Polydor used a red Fender Stratocaster (with white scratch plate) as a symbol. In 1958, Bruce Welch went to a concert as part of the 1958 Jerry Lee Lewis tour of the UK of which he said: On the show was this black American band called the Treniers . Hank Marvin and I were at
27090-549: The late 1980s, the BBC began a process of divestment by spinning off and selling parts of its organisation. In 1988, it sold off the Hulton Press Library, a photographic archive which had been acquired from the Picture Post magazine by the BBC in 1957. The archive was sold to Brian Deutsch and is now owned by Getty Images . In 1987, the BBC decided to centralize its operations by the management team with
27300-686: The leader of the Free French, made a speech, broadcast by the BBC, urging the French people not to capitulate to the Nazis. In October 1940, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret made their first radio broadcast for the BBC's Children's Hour , addressing other children who had been evacuated from cities. In 1938, John Reith and the Government of the United Kingdom , specifically the Ministry of Information which had been set up for WWII, designed
27510-546: The loss-making consortium, and Reith was keen that the BBC be seen as a public service rather than a commercial enterprise. The recommendations of the Crawford Committee were published in March the following year and were still under consideration by the GPO when the 1926 United Kingdom general strike broke out in May. The strike temporarily interrupted newspaper production, and with restrictions on news bulletins waived,
27720-442: The main reason. The core members from 1958 to the present are guitarists Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch and drummer Brian Bennett (who has been with the group since 1961) with various bassists and occasionally keyboardists through the years. The Shadows' number-one hits include " Apache ", " Kon-Tiki ", " Wonderful Land ", " Foot Tapper " and " Dance On! ". Although these and most of their best-remembered hits were instrumentals,
27930-776: The material their broadcasts would cover. Nothing was to be added outside the preordained news items. For example, the BBC Polish Service was heavily censored due to fears of jeopardising relations with the Soviet Union . Controversial topics, i.e. the contested Polish and Soviet border, the deportation of Polish citizens, the arrests of Polish Home Army members and the Katyn massacre , were not included in Polish broadcasts. American radio broadcasts were broadcast across Europe on BBC channels. This material also passed through
28140-433: The method used from 1961 – 1963 was reinstated. Twelve songs were performed by artists chosen by the songwriters themselves and the winner was chosen by regional juries across the country during a stand-alone show called "A Song For Europe". This system produced an immediate success by choosing the song which went on to be the Eurovision winner that year, "Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man . The first few years of
28350-534: The modest, church-going elderly or a member of the Clergy . Until 1928, entertainers broadcasting on the BBC, both singers and "talkers" were expected to avoid biblical quotations, Clerical impersonations and references, references to drink or Prohibition in the United States , vulgar and doubtful matter and political allusions. The BBC excluded popular foreign music and musicians from its broadcasts, while promoting British alternatives. On 5 March 1928, Stanley Baldwin,
28560-413: The new corporation adopted the coat of arms , including the motto "Nation shall speak peace unto Nation". British radio audiences had little choice apart from the upscale programming of the BBC. Reith, an intensely moralistic executive, was in full charge. His goal was to broadcast "All that is best in every department of human knowledge, endeavour and achievement.... The preservation of a high moral tone
28770-477: The next year. In its 2017–18 report, released July 2017, the BBC announced plans to "re-invent" its output to better compete against commercial streaming services such as Netflix . These plans included increasing the diversity of its content on television and radio, a major increase in investments towards digital children's content, and plans to make larger investments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to "rise to
28980-467: The norm in the 1980s and the artists taking part in the contest became more and more obscure and amateurish. However, a few notable acts did enter the contest in the 1980s, with scant success. Liquid Gold , Alvin Stardust , Sinitta and Hazell Dean all failed to come through the heats. By 1981, the number of songs had dropped to eight, and interest had started to wane. Four out of eight songs in both
29190-413: The notice of the public. Less radical politicians faced similar censorship. In 1938, Winston Churchill proposed a series of talks regarding British domestic and foreign politics and affairs but was similarly censored. The censorship of political discourse by the BBC was a precursor to the total shutdown of political debate that manifested over the BBC's wartime airwaves. The Foreign Office maintained that
29400-559: The opinions of those in Parliament who are not nominated by Party Leaders or Party Whips, thus stifling independent, non-official views. In October 1932, the policemen of the Metropolitan Police Federation marched in protest at a proposed pay cut. Fearing dissent within the police force and public support for the movement, the BBC censored its coverage of the events, only broadcasting official statements from
29610-407: The people of Britain and broadcast content according to these perceived standards. Reith effectively censored anything that he felt would be harmful, directly or indirectly. While recounting his time with the BBC in 1935, Raymond Postgate claims that BBC broadcasters were made to submit a draft of their potential broadcast for approval. It was expected that they tailored their content to accommodate
29820-435: The positive impression created by its balanced coverage of the views of government and strikers, Seaton has characterised the episode as the invention of "modern propaganda in its British form". Reith argued that trust gained by 'authentic impartial news' could then be used. Impartial news was not necessarily an end in itself. The BBC did well out of the crisis, which cemented a national audience for its broadcasting, and it
30030-482: The post, with a note saying 'We regret, etc.'" In the 1930s music broadcasts also enjoyed great popularity, for example the friendly and wide-ranging BBC Theatre Organ broadcasts at St George's Hall , London by Reginald Foort , who held the official role of BBC Staff Theatre Organist from 1936 to 1938. Television broadcasting was suspended from 1 September 1939 to 7 June 1946, during the World War II , and it
30240-504: The pressure from these quarters and uneasiness among the staff of the licensing authority, the General Post Office (GPO), was sufficient to lead to a ban on further Chelmsford broadcasts. But by 1922, the GPO had received nearly 100 broadcast licence requests and moved to rescind its ban in the wake of a petition by 63 wireless societies with over 3,000 members. Anxious to avoid the same chaotic expansion experienced in
30450-476: The public (amateur or professional) compete to represent the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 , which was to be held in Moscow, Russia. In the final the three remaining contestants performed the song " It's My Time ", composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics by Diane Warren . The winner of the contest was Jade Ewen who went on to score a credible fifth place at the Eurovision final in Moscow. For 2010,
30660-682: The public in a special presentation show titled Our Song for Eurovision 2015 broadcast via the BBC Red Button service in March 2015. In the final the UK could only manage 24th place out of the 27 entries. The BBC announced on 30 September 2015 that the national public vote format would be returning to select the entry for the 2016 contest. The 2016 competition consisted of six entrants, performed and broadcast live on BBC Four from The O2 Forum in Kentish Town , London on 26 February and hosted by Mel Giedroyc . The six acts were selected by
30870-466: The public should not be aware of their role in the censorship. From 1935 to 1939, the BBC also attempted to unite the British Empire's radio waves, sending staff to Egypt, Palestine , Newfoundland , Jamaica, India, Canada and South Africa. Reith personally visited South Africa, lobbying for state-run radio programmes which was accepted by South African Parliament in 1936. A similar programme
31080-423: The radio and television divisions joining forces together for the first time, the activities of the news and currents departments and coordinated jointly under the new directorate. During the 1990s, this process continued with the separation of certain operational arms of the corporation into autonomous but wholly owned subsidiaries , with the aim of generating additional revenue for programme-making. BBC Enterprises
31290-412: The results show from 1991 onwards. From 1992 to 1994, the programme was again pre-recorded, but the result show was live and broadcast on the same, or following night. In 1997 and 1998, the results were announced the following Saturday after the final and on the following Friday in 1999. From 1957 to 1960, there were various televised semi-finals ahead of the UK final. This was reintroduced in 1996, with
31500-498: The results show. The song finished 16th at the contest in Istanbul . For 2005, six songs dropped to five, and the show was moved to an early Saturday evening slot on 5 March, to avoid a clash with Comic Relief Does Fame Academy ; and Natasha Kaplinsky replaced Gaby Roslin as co-host with Sir Terry Wogan. The press focused on two performers. Javine Hylton who is a relatively well-known urban singer, and Katie Price , aka Jordan,
31710-415: The revamped format also saw a plethora of well-known names take part in the competition. Frank Ifield , Tammy Jones , Sweet Sensation , Lyn Paul , Tony Monopoly , Carl Wayne , Hazell Dean , Tony Christie , The Foundations , Labi Siffre , Guys 'n' Dolls , The Nolan Sisters , Polly Brown and Sweet Dreams all took part in the competition, but none were successful. Likewise, the first two winners of
31920-443: The sales of OBs and costumes, the remainder of BBC Resources was reorganised as BBC Studios and Post Production , which continues today as a wholly owned subsidiary of the BBC. The 2004 Hutton Inquiry and the subsequent report raised questions about the BBC's journalistic standards and its impartiality. This led to resignations of senior management members at the time including the then Director General, Greg Dyke . In January 2007,
32130-426: The same format continued, but the final four songs were performed live in A Song For Europe , still shunted to a graveyard Sunday afternoon slot. The result proved disappointing. Nicki French gave what author John Kennedy O'Connor describes in his book The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History as a far from strong performance, despite her previous chart success and attained the UK's worst ever placing at
32340-407: The same formula again, but with an added twist. All eight contestants would be heard on Ken Bruce 's radio show on BBC Radio 2 , with a public vote to decide the four finalists. The four would perform on The National Lottery Live until 1998, and then on Top of the Pops in 1999. The final itself would just consist of repeats of the performances made in the above shows, in a special programme on
32550-420: The same score with Poland (24th) and Germany (23rd). The BBC announced in a televised call for talent on 18 October 2008, that in 2009 there would be another change to the national final. The show was renamed Eurovision: Your Country Needs You , hosted by Graham Norton , and followed a format similar to popular BBC talent shows I'd Do Anything and Any Dream Will Do . The multi-week format had members of
32760-410: The show and the manner in which the winner is chosen has gone through many mutations. In its early days, there was a round of televised semi-finals, with the winner chosen by regional juries situated across the country. This format was used until 1960. During this era the show was known as the "Festival of British Popular Songs" (1957) and "Eurovision Song Contest British Finals" (1959 and 1960). In 1961
32970-399: The show became known by its more familiar title, "A Song For Europe", with regional juries once more deciding the winner. Typically, during that period, singers would be invited by the BBC to choose and perform a song that they liked from the shortlist available. Household names such as Petula Clark , Lita Roza , Anne Shelton , Frank Ifield , Ronnie Hilton and David Hughes were amongst
33180-546: The show either live or within 7 days of its broadcast, making it the third highest rating programme for BBC Four in the week ending 28 February 2016. The duo placed 24th out of 26 entries at the Eurovision final in Stockholm, peaking at No.81 in the UK singles chart. On 6 October 2016, the BBC announced that the You Decide show would return in 2017 with more details to be announced later in the year. On 9 December 2016, it
33390-490: The show. This raised the profile of the competition, although there was criticism of the fact that four of the six acts were from reality TV shows. The winner, chosen by 70% regional televoting (regions awarding 0,2,4,6,8 and 12 points) and 30% SMS and Interactive voting, was James Fox , who had finished fifth in the second series of Fame Academy , with a gentle ballad "Hold on To Our Love", written by Gary Miller and Tim Woodcock. Viewing figures were peaked at over 7 million for
33600-504: The song, which also became one of the few Eurovision songs, and one of the relatively few dance songs, to be a major hit in the United States where it peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 , was #1 on their Dance Chart and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording. Jonathan King resigned, certain that, if Gina G could not win, nothing he selected could, but the BBC persuaded him to stay in charge and he decided to retain
33810-530: The songs would fare at the Contest. After an exciting voting sequence, Javine came out on top with her ethno-urban song " Touch My Fire ", although she also caused some controversy when she briefly fell out of her top during an energetic dance routine. At the 50th Eurovision Song Contest held in Kyiv , Javine finished 22nd out of 24 participants in the final, the UK's second poorest finish ever. In February 2006 it
34020-402: The start of making history with "Move It". The Drifters signed for Jack Good's Oh Boy! television series. Paramor of EMI signed Richard, and asked Johnny Foster to recruit a better guitarist. Foster went to Soho 's 2i's coffee bar , known for musical talent performing there, particularly in skiffle , in search of guitarist Tony Sheridan . Sheridan was not there but Foster's attention
34230-427: The strategy for the corporation, assesses the performance of the BBC's executive board in delivering the BBC's services, and appoints the director-general. Ofcom is responsible for the regulation of the BBC. The board consists of the following members: The executive committee is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the broadcaster. Consisting of senior managers of the BBC, the committee meets once per month and
34440-411: The televiewers then selecting the winner. The winner was Josh Dubovie , who represented the UK in Oslo on 29 May and finished last with 10 points. The 2010 song was heavily criticised by fans and the media. Celebrity gossip blogger Christopher Couture went as far as to say "...last year, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jade Ewen proved a good song and a good singer can get us a good score. This year, we're back to
34650-545: The time, a mere 16th in Stockholm with " Don't Play That Song Again ". This format continued the following year, and another poor showing for the UK. Lindsay D only got one place higher in Copenhagen. The entries from Six Chix in 2000 and Luke Galliana, the latter of which did not make the 2001 final, became minor hits, with Galliana just failing to make the Top 40, but becoming a popular hit on cable request line music channel The Box . The 2002 A Song For Europe generated
34860-464: The top three songs, led to an unsuccessful winner. Jemini 's " Cry Baby " won by four points over "Help Me" by Emily Reed. Confidence in the UK entry was low for both fans and the public, and in the actual contest held in Riga, Jemini picked up the UK's worst-ever showing, scoring "nul points" and finishing last, due to a very poor performance, although some reports attempted to blame European disapproval of
35070-563: The value of the artist as a visible music-hall performer". On the other hand, the BBC was "keenly interested" in a cooperation with the recording companies who "in recent years ... have not been slow to make records of singers, orchestras, dance bands, etc. who have already proved their power to achieve popularity by wireless." Radio plays were so popular that the BBC had received 6,000 manuscripts by 1929, most of them written for stage and of little value for broadcasting: "Day in and day out, manuscripts come in, and nearly all go out again through
35280-401: The various regional juries in BBC studios around the country, in order for them to cast their votes. The 1979 "A Song For Europe" final was never held at all, due to a strike by BBC sound engineers. The juries had to judge using audio recordings of the rehearsals. The songs were presented to the public on Terry Wogan 's radio show the following day, after the result was known, followed later in
35490-534: The video cut into the weekly show. For the presentation of the songs on week seven and the announcement of the result on week eight, the pre-recorded performances were run again. Two of the songs ("No, No Nina" and "This House Runs on Sunshine") were co-written by members of the group. The public voted for " Let Me Be the One ", composed by Paul Curtis , to go to the Eurovision final in Stockholm , Sweden in 1975. There,
35700-447: The viewers sent postcards with their vote to the BBC, but more recently televoting and online. In 2009 and 2010, the singer was chosen by a public vote and the song internally selected. The most recent name and format, Eurovision: You Decide , was adopted in 2016, as between 2011 and 2015 the UK representative had been internally selected by the BBC, resulting in the televised selection show being suspended. The 2016 edition of You Decide
35910-535: The votes of a professional jury panel. Lucie Jones with the song " Never Give Up on You ", written by Lawrie Martin, The Treatment and Danish Eurovision 2013 winner Emmelie de Forest , won the show. At the contest in Kyiv, Jones finished in 15th place, having placed 10th on jury votes alone, but attaining a weak score from public voting. On 29 September 2017, it was confirmed that Eurovision: You Decide would return in 2018 on BBC Two. On 16 November 2017, Måns Zelmerlöw
36120-531: The winner to be Cyndi. After some confusion from both performers, each thinking the other had won, it was revealed that the true winner was Scooch. In 2008 the show's name was changed to Eurovision: Your Decision . It was screened in two parts in March 2008, and was hosted by Claudia Winkleman and Sir Terry Wogan . The six competing acts were paired as girl groups ( LoveShy and The Revelations ), soloists ( Michelle Gayle and Andy Abraham ), and "Joseph and Maria" contestants (Rob McVeigh and Simona Armstrong) from
36330-430: The winner. In 1972, national power cuts meant that the broadcast of the show was blacked out in many areas, leading to a much lower postal vote. In its early days of this format, only "light entertainment" singers were used, such as Kenneth McKellar and Kathy Kirby . However, the poor showing of McKellar in Luxembourg (he placed 9th of 18 entries with scores from only 2 countries, including top marks from Ireland) prompted
36540-519: The £700 million cost for free TV licences for the over-75 pensioners, and rapid inflation in drama and sport coverage costs, was given as the reason. Duplication of management and content spending would be reduced, and there would be a review of BBC News . In September 2019, the BBC launched the Trusted News Initiative to work with news and social media companies to combat disinformation about national elections. In 2020,
36750-442: Was a widely reported urban myth that, upon resumption of the BBC television service after the war, announcer Leslie Mitchell started by saying, "As I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted ..." In fact, the first person to appear when transmission resumed was Jasmine Bligh and the words said were "Good afternoon, everybody. How are you? Do you remember me, Jasmine Bligh ... ?" The European Broadcasting Union
36960-499: Was adopted in Canada. Through collaboration with these state-run broadcasting centres, Reith left a legacy of cultural influence across the empire of Great Britain with his departure from the corporation in 1938. Experimental television broadcasts were started in 1929, using an electromechanical 30-line system developed by John Logie Baird . Limited regular broadcasts using this system began in 1932, and an expanded service (now named
37170-470: Was also second the following year. However, after a suggestion by Don Black to the BBC 's new head of light entertainment David Liddiment in 1994, Tony Award winning stage star Frances Ruffelle was offered the job of representing the UK. A virtually unknown singer, meant that interest was low. Her final position in the Eurovision Song Contest held in Dublin was a disappointing tenth, the same achieved by Samantha Janus in 1991. A dramatic modernisation
37380-492: Was announced as co-host for the UK national selection, which took place on 7 February 2018 at the Brighton Dome . The Dome was the venue for the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 . The contest was won by SuRie performing " Storm " written and composed by Nicole Blair, Gil Lewis and Sean Hargreaves. The national final was watched by 900,000 viewers in the United Kingdom with a market share of 4.8% and thus failed to register in
37590-463: Was announced that artists competing in the 2006 contest would include Kym Marsh and Antony Costa , both relatively well known in the UK for their past involvement with music bands (the former appearing in Hear'say and the latter in boy band Blue ). Following the format of the previous year (and with six songs this time), Making Your Mind Up returned in 2006 in a prime-time Saturday evening slot, and
37800-487: Was broadcast at 7:30 pm on 17 March 2007 on BBC One, with the half hour results show showing at 9:30 pm on the same date. Although this was past the 12 March cut-off set by the EBU, the BBC were given a special extension because the EBU were made aware of this over a year in advance. The show ended in disarray when Fearne Cotton shouted out that the winner was Scooch, while co-host Terry Wogan simultaneously announced
38010-435: Was broadcast on BBC Four , while the You Decide editions between 2017 and 2019 were aired on BBC Two . In September 2019, the You Decide format was dropped in favour of a return to the internal selection method, in which BBC Studios partners with a music company ( BMG in 2020 and 2021, and TaP in 2022 and 2023) to select and produce its entry. The internal selection process continues to be used as of 2024. The format of
38220-473: Was broadcast on 4 March on BBC One . Terry Wogan and Natasha Kaplinsky once again presented and were accompanied by a 'Celebrity Jury' that included chat-show host Jonathan Ross , pop star Kelly Osbourne and Top of the Pops presenter Fearne Cotton . The eventual winner of the 2006 contest (after the 7 tele-juries from around the UK and mobile and web votes) was Daz Sampson and his song "Teenage Life". Although it brought another disappointing result for
38430-520: Was caught by Hank Marvin, who played guitar well and wore Buddy Holly -style glasses. In spring of 1959, the owner of the United States vocal group The Drifters threatened legal action over naming rights after the release and immediate withdrawal of "Feelin Fine" in the US. The second single, "Jet Black", was released in the States under the name of The Four Jets to avoid further legal aggravation, but
38640-535: Was confirmed that Eurovision: You Decide would return on 27 January 2017. The 2017 competition consisted of six entrants, performed and broadcast live on BBC Two from the Eventim Apollo , in Hammersmith , London. The songs were revealed on 23 January during The Ken Bruce Show on BBC Radio 2. Six acts competed in the national final. The winner was selected through a public vote and, for the first time,
38850-519: Was divided on how to handle the BBC, but ended up trusting Reith, whose opposition to the strike mirrored the PM's own. Although Winston Churchill in particular wanted to commandeer the BBC to use it "to the best possible advantage", Reith wrote that Stanley Baldwin 's government wanted to be able to say "that they did not commandeer [the BBC], but they know that they can trust us not to be really impartial". Thus
39060-412: Was established under a royal charter , and operates under an agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport . Its work is funded principally by an annual television licence fee which is charged to all British households, companies, and organisations using any type of equipment to receive or record live television broadcasts or to use the BBC's streaming service, iPlayer . The fee
39270-498: Was followed by Marvin and a reconstituted Shadows becoming resident guests on Richard's debut TV series for the BBC, It's Cliff Richard! In July 1970, Australian musician John Farrar moved to Britain and was invited to become a member of Marvin, Welch & Farrar . By that time, Olivia Newton-John and Welch had become engaged, and Farrar and Welch became two of her songwriters and producers. While The Shadows were famous for their instrumental work, Marvin, Welch & Farrar were
39480-441: Was followed by the Government's acceptance of the recommendation made by the Crawford Committee (1925–26) that the British Broadcasting Company be replaced by a non-commercial, Crown-chartered organisation: the British Broadcasting Corporation. The British Broadcasting Corporation came into existence on 1 January 1927, and Reith – newly knighted – was appointed its first director general. To represent its purpose and (stated) values,
39690-425: Was formed on 12 February 1950, in Torquay with the BBC among the 23 founding broadcasting organisations. Competition to the BBC was introduced in 1955, with the commercial and independently operated television network of Independent Television (ITV) . However, the BBC monopoly on radio services would persist until 8 October 1973 when under the control of the newly renamed Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA),
39900-409: Was highly successful for the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest. Author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor notes in his book The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History , that every UK entry to the contest from 1967 to 1977 finished in the top four, with only three songs not being first or second. Indeed, the UK were only 7 points short of four consecutive victories from 1967 to 1970. In 1976,
40110-442: Was introduced in 1995 in an attempt to boost the profile of the contest. Jonathan King was drafted in as Executive Producer to make the event more modern. The 1995 event had a diverse range of songs and some relatively well-known acts performing, such as Londonbeat who had a hit with " I've Been Thinking About You ", pop-combo Deuce and Sox , which featured singer and former Page 3 model Samantha Fox . All songs were presented on
40320-453: Was its first director of music. The company was to be financed by a royalty on the sale of BBC wireless receiving sets from approved domestic manufacturers. To this day, the BBC aims to follow the Reithian directive to "inform, educate and entertain". The financial arrangements soon proved inadequate. Set sales were disappointing as amateurs made their own receivers and listeners bought rival unlicensed sets. By mid-1923, discussions between
40530-401: Was known, for most of its history, as A Song for Europe (1961–1995, 2000–2003). The selection process, originally broadcast on BBC One , has varied between selecting both the performer and song, or just the song in some years, and has been hosted by a variety of presenters over the years. For most years the public has been able to vote for the winner, in the past with postcard voting, where
40740-406: Was left to BBC Radio broadcasters such as Reginald Foort to keep the nation's spirits up. The BBC moved most of its radio operations out of London, initially to Bristol , and then to Bedford . Concerts were broadcast from the Bedford Corn Exchange ; the Trinity Chapel in St Paul's Church, Bedford was the studio for the daily service from 1941 to 1945, and, in the darkest days of the war in 1941,
40950-486: Was made explicit for the duration of its current broadcast licence, as was the prohibition on advertising. To avoid competition with newspapers, Fleet Street persuaded the government to ban news bulletins before 7 pm and the BBC was required to source all news from external wire services. The Radio Times , the world's first and longest-running radio and television listings magazine, was launched by Reith in September 1923. The first edition, subtitled "The official organ of
41160-533: Was made from the factory of Marconi Company in Chelmsford in June 1920. It was sponsored by the Daily Mail ' s Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe and featured the famous Australian soprano Dame Nellie Melba . The Melba broadcast caught the people's imagination and marked a turning point in the British public's attitude to radio. However, this public enthusiasm was not shared in official circles where such broadcasts were held to interfere with important military and civil communications. By late 1920,
41370-400: Was modified later on in its life to offer documentaries. In 2002, several television and radio channels were reorganised. BBC Knowledge was replaced by BBC Four and became the BBC's arts and documentaries channel. CBBC , which had been a programming strand as Children's BBC since 1985, was split into CBBC and CBeebies , for younger children, with both new services getting a digital channel:
41580-445: Was refined to include another movement. This featured Marvin, Welch and the bassist moving their guitars in time, or in sequence, with note or chord changes. Occasionally, during other instrumentals, this guitar presentation is re-engineered with Marvin and Welch acting out of sequence or alternating. When the group performed the popular live number "Shadoogie" (originally a track on their first LP), Hank and Bruce would walk forward whilst
41790-532: Was released in September. In December 2004, each of the then-current members of the Shadows was offered an appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), but Marvin declined. The group reformed in 2004 for a farewell tour, and recorded "Life Story" (written by Lordan) to accompany a hits package of the same name which featured 1980s re-recordings of all their 1960s and 1970s hits. This opportunity to see Marvin, Welch and Bennett, joined on keyboards by Cliff Hall and on bass by Mark Griffiths ,
42000-410: Was reorganised and relaunched in 1995, as BBC Worldwide Ltd. In 1998, BBC studios, outside broadcasts, post production, design, costumes and wigs were spun off into BBC Resources Ltd. The BBC Research & Development has played a major part in the development of broadcasting and recording techniques. The BBC was also responsible for the development of the NICAM stereo standard. In recent decades,
42210-479: Was replaced by BBC Two HD in the same month. On 18 October 2007, BBC Director General Mark Thompson announced a controversial plan to make major cuts and reduce the size of the BBC as an organisation. The plans included a reduction in posts of 2,500; including 1,800 redundancies, consolidating news operations, reducing programming output by 10% and selling off the flagship Television Centre building in London. These plans were fiercely opposed by unions, who threatened
42420-420: Was reportedly recorded in London, Los Angeles and Nashville. At 76 years of age, Humperdinck was the oldest artist ever to appear for the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest and the first UK artist since 1976 to sing first. He placed second-to-last, only beating Norway. Another internal selection took place for 2013, with Bonnie Tyler being chosen by the BBC to represent the UK in Malmö, Sweden. She came 19th in
42630-403: Was revealed as the UK entry on 10 March 2022. Ryder finished in second place at the Eurovision final with 466 points, becoming the highest-scoring UK Eurovision entrant. He won the jury vote and also scored the UK its best result since 1998 and its first top three since 2002. Ryder also won the Marcel Bezençon Press Award, becoming the first UK act to win a Bezençon Award. TaP Music partnered with
42840-446: Was revealed on 3 March 2014 in a show entitled The UK Launch , and broadcast via the BBC Red Button service. The song finished in 17th place at the Eurovision Song Contest. A fifth internal selection in 2015 selected the unknown act ' Electro Velvet ' who went on to represent the UK with the song " Still in Love with You ". The song was met with a mixed to negative reaction by the media and public. The artists and song were presented to
43050-491: Was successful enough that they extended the tour to continental Europe in 2005. The line-up was almost the same, except that Warren Bennett , son of Brian played the keyboards instead of Hall. Marvin, Welch and Bennett appeared together as special guests at Marty Wilde 's 50th anniversary concert at the London Palladium on 27 May 2007, performing "Move It" with Wilde on vocals. The concert also featured former Shadows Jet Harris and Brian Locking. On 11 December 2008, Richard and
43260-425: Was televised around the world and helped to raise $ 10.5 million for disabled children and young musicians. Brian Bennett resigned from the group just before the group were to embark on what would be their final tour for 14 years, with Marvin, Welch and Bennett going their separate ways on 1 December following the final concert in Southampton. The last studio album the Shadows recorded before they disbanded, Reflection ,
43470-498: Was the Song For Europe name, replaced with Making Your Mind Up . The radio semi-final was also gone, although the songs were presented on a regular edition of Top of the Pops two weeks prior to the live final. The six songs were performed live in a prime time Saturday night show hosted by Terry Wogan and Gaby Roslin with additional programmes on BBC Three hosted by Paddy O'Connell and Lorraine Kelly . Last year's ESC winner Sertab Erener performed " Everyway That I Can " to open
43680-399: Was the most innovative as they tried different guitars and developed a wider range of styles and higher musicianship. They produced albums but the chart positions of singles began to ease. The line-up still had ten hits, the first and most successful of which was " The Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt ". Beginning in 1965, the group also started issuing vocal numbers as singles, usually alternating
43890-410: Was this line-up that reunited with Cliff Richard for two concerts at the London Palladium in March 1978. Highlights of the concert, including four solo Shadows tracks, were released the following year on the top ten charting album Thank You Very Much . On the back of this, The Shadows recorded an instrumental version of " Don't cry for me Argentina " from the West End production " Evita ", released as
44100-414: Was typically broadcast one week after each Song for Europe programme. From 1988 to 1991, in 1995, and again from 2004 to 2008 the result was broadcast in a separate programme, shown later the same night as the performances. From 1986 to 1995, A Song for Europe was also broadcast on BBC Radio 2 with commentary by Ray Moore in 1986–87 and later by Ken Bruce from 1988, although Radio 2 did not broadcast
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