The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song „Even If“ written by Andy Abraham, Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins. The song was performed by Andy Abraham. The British entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia was selected via the national final Eurovision: Your Decision, organised by the British broadcaster BBC. Six acts competed in the national final and the winner was selected through three rounds of voting.
As a member of the „Big Four“, the United Kingdom automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 2, the United Kingdom placed 25th (last) out of the 25 participating countries with 14 points, making it the second time the nation had placed last in the history of the competition.
Eurovision: Your Decision
Eurovision: Your Decision was the national final developed by the BBC in order to select the British entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Six acts competed in a televised show on 1 March 2008 held at the BBC Television Centre’s Studio 8 in White City, London and hosted by Terry Wogan and Claudia Winkleman. The winner was selected through a professional jury and a public televote. The show was broadcast on BBC One.[6] The national final was watched by 5.1 million viewers in the United Kingdom with a market share of 24%.
Competing entries
Six finalists were selected to compete in the national final and split into three categories: soloists, girl groups and Joseph v Maria (consisting of the two finalists from the BBC reality television shows Any Dream Will Do and How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?). The six artists were announced on 18 February 2008, while previews of the competing songs were premiered during The One Show on BBC One, hosted by Christine Bleakley and Adrian Chiles, between 26 and 28 February 2008.
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Category |
| Andy Abraham | „Even If“ | Andy Abraham Paul Wilson Andy Watkins | Soloists |
| LoveShy | „Mr. Gorgeous“ | Oscar Görres Teresia Bjarneby Aimee Kearsley Emma Beard | Girl groups |
| Michelle Gayle | „Woo (U Make Me)“ | Michelle Gayle Morten Schjolin Rashelle Davies | Soloists |
| Rob McVeigh | „I Owe It All to You“ | Paul Barry Mark Read | Joseph v Maria |
| Simona Armstrong | „Changes“ | Simon Ellis Emma McGettrick Mari Loretzen Eleanor Wilson Caroline Reed | Joseph v Maria |
| The Revelations | „It’s You“ | Adam Howorth | Girl groups |
Final
Six acts, two from each category, competed in the televised final on 1 March 2008. In addition to their performances, guest performers included previous Eurovision Song Contest winner Katrina Leskanich, who won the contest for the United Kingdom in 1997 as the lead vocalist of the band Katrina and the Waves performing the song „Love Shine a Light“.
The winner was selected over three rounds of voting. In the first round, a three-member professional jury selected one song per category to proceed to the second round: „It’s You“ performed by The Revelations, „Changes“ performed by Simona Armstrong and „Woo (U Make Me)“ performed by Michelle Gayle. The jury consisted of Terry Wogan, John Barrowman (actor, dancer, singer and television presenter) and Carrie Grant (member of the 1983 British representatives Sweet Dreams, vocal coach and television presenter). „Even If“ performed by Andy Abraham was selected by Wogan from the remaining three songs to proceed as a wildcard. In the second round, a public televote selected „Woo (U Make Me)“ performed by Michelle Gayle and „Even If“ performed by Andy Abraham to proceed to the final round. In the final round, the public televote selected the winner, „Even If“ performed by Andy Abraham.
First Round – 1 March 2008
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury Vote | Total | Result | ||
| J. Barrowman | C. Grant | T. Wogan | |||||
| 1 | LoveShy | „Mr. Gorgeous“ | N/A | 0 | Eliminated | ||
| 2 | The Revelations | „It’s You“ | X | X | N/A | 2 | Advanced |
| 3 | Rob McVeigh | „I Owe It All to You“ | 0 | Eliminated | |||
| 4 | Simona Armstrong | „Changes“ | X | X | X | 3 | Advanced |
| 5 | Michelle Gayle | „Woo (U Make Me)“ | X | X | X | 3 | Advanced |
| 6 | Andy Abraham | „Even If“ | 0 | Wildcard |
Second Round – 1 March 2008
| Draw | Artist | Song | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Revelations | „It’s You“ | Eliminated |
| 2 | Simona Armstrong | „Changes“ | Eliminated |
| 3 | Michelle Gayle | „Woo (U Make Me)“ | Advanced |
| 4 | Andy Abraham | „Even If“ | Advanced |
Final Round – 1 March 2008
| Draw | Artist | Song | Place |
| 1 | Michelle Gayle | „Woo (U Make Me)“ | 2 |
| 2 | Andy Abraham | „Even If“ | 1 |