The United Kingdom was represented by

Emma Emma may refer to: * Emma (given name) Film * Emma (1932 film), ''Emma'' (1932 film), a comedy-drama film by Clarence Brown * Emma (1996 theatrical film), ''Emma'' (1996 theatrical film), a film starring Gwyneth Paltrow * Emma (1996 TV film), '' ...

in the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 with the song "Give a Little Love Back to the World".

Before Eurovision

A Song for Europe 1990

The eight songs in contention to represent the UK were presented during Terry Wogan's '' Wogan'' chat show on BBC1. Two songs were presented during each of four broadcasts between 21 and 28 March. The songs were also featured in various programmes on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

. A separate results show was broadcast on BBC1 the same evening.

simulcast the final and also broadcast the results show, both with commentary by Ken Bruce.

Final

The 1990 edition of '' A Song for Europe'' was held in Television Centre, London on 30 March in Studio 1. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of Alyn Ainsworth as conductor accompanied all the songs, but despite performing live, the orchestra were off-screen, behind the set. Terry Wogan presided over the eight finalists and a panel of celebrities was assembled to comment on each of the entries. The panel was composed of Gloria Hunniford,

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ' ...

, Cathy McGowan and Carl Davis. As in the last two years, a national telephone vote decided the outcome of the contest. Emma won with a runaway phone poll of 97,625 calls over John Miles, who polled 38,966.

UK Discography

*Kelly - ''Better Be Good to Me'': Loading Bay LBAY25 (B Side). *Emma - ''Give a Little Love Back to the World'': Big Wave BWR33 (7" Single)/BWRT33 (12" Single)/BWRCD33 (CD Single)/BWRC33 (Cassette).

At Eurovision

The final was held in Zagreb, Yugoslavia on 5 May. Emma was supported by several backing singers including Miriam Stockley (later a backing vocalist for

Katrina and the Waves Katrina and the Waves were a British rock band widely known for the 1985 hit " Walking on Sunshine". They also won the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Love Shine a Light". History Pre-history (1975–1980) The band's earliest inc ...

in 1997) and

Sam Blue Sam Blue (born Simon Blewitt 1959 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England) (also known as Sam Blewitt) is an English hard rock singer, who has been part of the bands Emerson, Axis, L. A. Secrets, Paul Samson's Empire, Ya Ya, Ultravox, GTS, and Burns ...

(who competed against Katrina and the Waves in the 1997 national final). Despite being one of the favourites to win, "Give a Little Love Back to the World" had to settle for sixth place with 87 points. The British jury voting was quite idiosyncratic awarding no points to Italy or France (unlike neighbours Ireland who gave Italy 12 points and France 8) and 12 points to Iceland who finished 4th as well as awarding Ireland 10 points.

Voting

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1990

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1990

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...