FURIOUS Eurovision fans have accused the BBC of breaking impartiality rules after it published a scathing article bad-mouthing some of the acts.
The article, published on the BBC News website, gave verdicts on where acts are likely to finish and slated others it deemed unlikely to even qualify for the final.
The BBC is the host broadcaster for next month’s pop extravaganza, which will be held in Liverpool.
But BBC music correspondent Mark Savage had no qualms about laying into the acts.
He described Ireland’s entry We Are One, by Wild Youth, as “a grasping, aspirational hymn to togetherness, with lyrics Coldplay would have rejected for being too twee”.
From tongue scraping to saying no, here are 12 health trends to try in 2023
And he said Wild Youth were “about as rowdy and unpredictable as a facecloth”.
He predicted they would be eliminated in the first semi-final.
Savage also gave a backhanded compliment to the UK entry, I Wrote a Song, by Mae Muller, 25.
He said: “It’s probably too generic to top the leaderboard, but this camp disco banger is difficult to ignore.”
He reckoned she would finish in seventh place.
Slovenia’s entry Carpe Diem, by Joker Out, was also mocked.
Savage said their song was destined for the bottom five and wrote: “When it finishes, you will have no memory that it ever happened.”
But Joker Out hit back, telling The Sun: “We must admit reading it on BBC, the host of Eurovision, left a bad taste in our mouths.
“The process and the journey before Eurovision is very heavy on the minds and bodies of the contestants, and we believe the BBC knows that and should not make contestants worry about not being taken seriously when we arrive at the event itself.
“Some of us countries are really racing against Lamborghinis with bikes, so every stick on the road makes it much harder for us to compete.”
How to de-clutter if you have a beauty stash to last you a lifetime
Fans of Eurovision, which will be presented by Graham Norton, 60, also hit out.
One wrote: “Very unfair on all contestants to be ranked by host broadcaster.”
Another said: “It is genuinely mad that you, as host broadcaster, has published this. Surely it goes up against impartiality rules?”
BBC staff involved in Eurovision are understood to have been told they cannot comment on who should win the contest.
Tonight a source at the Beeb said: “BBC News is completely editorially independent and not the voice of the BBC.”
NUL POINTS: HOW BBC JUDGED ACTS
SLOVENIA: CARPE DIEM, JOKER OUT
“Joker Out are what the world gets for tolerating Maroon 5 for the last two decades.
“When it finishes, you will have no memory that it ever happened.”
IRELAND: WE ARE ONE, WILD YOUTH
“A grasping, aspirational hymn to togetherness, with lyrics Coldplay would have rejected for being too twee.
“Wild Youth? About as rowdy and unpredictable as a facecloth.”
AZERBAIJAN: TELL ME MORE, TURALTURANX
“All very sweet until they decide to explore their feelings via the medium of clumsy white-boy rap.
“Ed Sheeran has a lot to answer for.”
