Bill Bailey has revealed he once made a Eurovision Song Contest submission but it was rejected for being ‘too silly’.
The Strictly Come Dancing winner has pledged to represent the UK at Eurovision 2022 after James Newman disastrously received nil points with his entry song, Embers, last weekend.
However, it won’t be Bill’s first attempt at flying the flag for the country as he revealed on Good Morning Britain: ‘A few years ago I sent a submission to Eurovision and it was a kind of spoof eco-anthem in the style of Dad’s Army.
‘And the BBC said “it’s too silly”, we can’t have that. And I just thought, well this taking it seriously, that’s not going well either is it.’
Susanna Reid then advised: ‘Dust off the eco-anthem and send it in because we’re kind of desperate aren’t we.’
Sharing his review of Newman’s performance this year, Bill said: ‘It was a serviceable song and performance, I just think we’re missing the trick a bit. We need to celebrate the eccentricity of Britishness.
James Newman scored zero points with Embers (Picture: Hollandse Hoogte/Shutterstock)
‘It’s well put together but it’s a bit underwhelming, a bit bland. There’s always something percolating [in my mind], a rock song, maybe have a giant badger.
‘I don’t know what it is. We’re not taking it seriously enough and taking it too seriously. We’ve got it the wrong way round. We should focus on the performance, the visuals and make it big and celebrate Britishness.’
He then joked: ‘Some cow bells, there’s not enough cow horns in it.’