Eurovision song choices to face scrutiny from UK MPs

Britain’s long and largely painful relationship with Eurovision is set to come under formal parliamentary scrutiny, after MPs announced plans to examine why the UK keeps picking songs that bomb on the European stage. The inquiry follows this year’s particularly bruising result, when Look Mum No Computer finished last in the May final in Basel with just one point — a single solitary score that prompted widespread mockery and genuine soul-searching about how the BBC selects its entries.

The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee confirmed it will call broadcasters and industry figures to give evidence, with hearings expected to begin in the autumn. It’s a rare moment of political attention for a contest that many dismiss as trivial, yet commands audiences of tens of millions across Europe every year.

A pattern of failure that won’t go away

The UK’s track record at Eurovision is, by any honest measure, grim. Before Sam Ryder’s stunning second-place finish in 2022, the country had collected five last-place finishes since 2003, including the infamous nul points in 2003 and 2008. Ryder’s success briefly suggested something had changed. But Look Mum No Computer’s one-point collapse this May suggested it hadn’t — at least not in any lasting way.

Critics have long argued the problem isn’t just the songs themselves. It’s the entire process behind selecting them. Unlike many competing nations, which run elaborate national selection shows with public votes over months, the BBC has often relied on internal decisions or low-profile processes that generate little buzz before the contest even begins.

A spokesperson for the DCMS Committee said the inquiry would look at “the selection process, the level of investment, and the long-term strategy for the UK’s participation” in the contest. They added that the committee wanted to understand whether the current approach represented value for money for licence fee payers, given the BBC’s annual membership fee to the European Broadcasting Union runs to several million pounds.

What the inquiry could actually change

So what happens if MPs conclude the process is broken? The committee can make formal recommendations, but it can’t compel the BBC to overhaul how it picks its act. Still, public pressure and parliamentary attention have shifted BBC policy before, and broadcasters are rarely comfortable sitting in front of a select committee with nothing to show for it.

There’s a broader debate lurking underneath all of this. Some argue the UK should simply withdraw from Eurovision entirely and stop wasting public money on repeated humiliation. Others believe the contest matters culturally and diplomatically, offering a rare soft-power platform that the country would be foolish to abandon.

The hearings are expected to run through late 2025 and into early 2026, with a final report likely before Eurovision 2026 kicks off in Edinburgh — the city chosen to host after Switzerland’s win in Basel. Whether any of it changes what song Britain sends, or who picks it, remains very much to be seen.