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James Newman: My Last Breath – UK Eurovision 2020 entry is serviceably bland

With his unremarkable blend of Lewis Capaldi, Mumford & Sons and Coldplay, Newman is unlikely to trouble the Republic of Macedonia on the leaderboard

Only a demented optimist doesn’t feel a sense of hopelessness overwhelm them as the UK’s entry for Eurovision 2020 appears. In fairness to James Newman, the feeling overwhelms you before you actually hear My Last Breath.

Eurovision was never exactly a source of national pride – not even the most swivel-eyed, sunlit-uplands jingoist would attempt to elicit a surge of nostalgic patriotism by mentioning the Brotherhood of Man wowing the foreigners with Save All Your Kisses for Me – but it’s turned into an annual national humiliation. There’s no point blaming resentment about Brexit: we last won 23 years ago. We haven’t even made the Top 10 since 2009, a minor success that was wiped out the following year when nobody at all voted for the UK’s entry. Our latter-day lot at Eurovision is to end up in the chastening low 20s.

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2VrfjpW
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