Terry Wogan, the long time British commentator of the Eurovision Song Contest and an institution in himself, has hinted that if the United Kingdom scores badly on Saturday night, he will consider retiring from his commentary duties, and also believes that the country may withdraw from the competition altogether.
In an interview with today's Independent newspaper, he states: "Eurovision is such silly fun, and I love doing it, but if the enthusiasm isn't there … this year is pretty crucial for me. Eurovision without Le Royaume-Uni would be unfortunate." He goes on to say that "If we finish nowhere again, I worry that disenchantment might take hold".
British bookmakers believe Andy Abrahams, despite being praised for a strong song and a high cabilbre performance, is heading for a very poor result. Betting odds of 66/1 are far longer than any previous British participant. Javine was the previous longest odds at 25/1.
The feeling in the press centre is that the song is the strongest that the United Kingdom has sent for several years, with many delegation heads stating that they believe it should do well. There has been a lack of promotion for the song, with very few public appearances and no international promotion, which may also make British fans nervous of seeing the country slip to the lower reaches of the scoreboard once again.
Terry Wogan was at the centre of a media storm a week ago after apparent criticism of his style from Bjorn Erichsen, Director of Eurovision TV at the EBU. At the time, there was no mention of him declaring that he would retire, but these comments do beg the question: Who should replace Terry Wogan if and when he retires from commentating at the Eurovision Song Contest final? readers are welcome to leave their thoughts in the reactions section below.
It would certainly be a knock to the competition if one of the Big Four countries was to withdraw, however media interest for the Eurovision Song Contest in the United Kingdom has rarely been higher. Stories about Austria's withdrawal, the French language debate, Andy Abraham's national final victory and the alleged rigging of the 1968 competition has meant more pre-contest publicity than has been seen for decades.
