Knock Knock Who’s There?
Andy Abraham was the former bus driver and binman who almost won the X Factor in 2005, polling just one percent or so of votes less than winner Shayne Ward. The next year he released his debut album, which went platinum, followed by another just months later, which went gold. His only foray into the singles chart was “December Brings Me Back To You” which made #18 at Christmas 2006.
Making Your Mind Up
The last multi-song UK final for eight long years again featured six songs, but the procedure for selecting the winner was bizarrely convoluted. The first round was based on the artists rather than the songs so we had two girl groups, two casting show singers, and two “soloists” facing off in knockout rounds. The winner of each round was chosen by an “expert jury” meaning three songs went forward, plus a “wildcard” chosen by Sir Terry Wogan. The wildcard was Andy Abraham with his song “Even If”. The four remaining songs were then reduced to two by a public vote, and in a straight head-to-head, “Even If” bested Michelle Gayle’s “Woo (U Make Me)” to win the ticket to Belgrade.
I Love The Little Things
Drawn 2ndnd of 25 in the last contest to date that was decided purely by televoting.
Andy co-composed the song together with Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins
After championing this song in the BBC selection programme, the late Sir Terry Wogan decided it was time to quit Eurovision following this contest and the UK’s result.
That Sounds Good To Me
Result: 25th of 25
NB: “Even If” ended the night on fourteen points, equal with both the German and Polish entries. Each received points from just two other countries. The tie-break rules at the time meant that as the UK’s top mark was lower than the others it was deemed to end 25th and last.
“Even If” got votes from two of the other forty-two countries. Its top vote was an eight from Ireland.
The song limped to #67 in the UK singles chart
Where Are You Now?
Andy’s most recent album “Remember When” came out in 2014. He continues to perform in musical theatre and live shows. This Easter he’ll be touring the UK as the sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood.
Flying The Flag
The song whose result convinced the late Sir Terry Wogan to quit Eurovision (and to convince the BBC to internally select the UK entry for the next seven years) is obviously an important point in the UK Eurovision story. A lot of things were against the song on the night in Belgrade. 100% televoting still ruled but was on it’s last legs. Andy was drawn in the graveyard second position.
But at the end of the day let’s be honest, the song wasn’t strong enough, was it?. It has a great groove that was enhanced by the disco staging, but it all gets very “meh” when we get to the chorus. Not that we could have sent anything that would have done better. We are no lovers of internal selections for Eurovision but you can almost understand why the Beeb changed tack following the sorry selection of ditties served up in 2008. And anyone who thinks Michelle Gayle’s “Woo” would have captivated a continent is just being smutty.
