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Emperors of Soul lose out in United Kingdom Semi-Final

24 January 2009 at 21:34 CET

 

After the eliminations of Damien and Charlotte over the last two weeks, four acts were left fighting it out for a place in next weeks grand final in the United Kingdom, where the decision will be made as to who will represent the nation in Moscow in May in the Eurovision Song Contest, and therefore perform a specially commissioned song written by Diane Warren and composed by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber.

In tonight's Semi-Final, all four entrants opened the show by singing together the 1969 United Kingdom contest winning entry Lulu's "Boom Bang a Bang".  This evening  Mark, Jade, Emperors of Soul and The Twins had to each perform two songs. It was decided they would each would be given a slower ballad, and a more uptempo number to tackle to show off their vocal, dancing and performing capabilities to selection manager Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Andrew was joined once again by 1969 Eurovision Song Contest winner Lulu, and this time the other guest slots were occupied by Emma Bunton of Spice Girls fame and Alesha Dixon formerly with the group Mis-Teeq and more recently winner of the British Strictly Come Dancing 2007 edition. Andrew, Lulu, Alesha and Emma offered feedback after all of the performances.As in previous weeks, the televoting public would decide which two acts would be put in to the Danger Zone, these being the two of the four with the lowest number of votes.

Andrew's Decision

Whilst votes were being cast, in keeping with previous weeks traditions there were two group performances. The guys sang together the Elton John hit "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me"  followed by the girls singing together the Pretenders hit "I'll Stand By You". Presenter Graham Norton then made a short interview with the friends and family of all of the contestants. After that Alesha Dixon then performed her new hit "Breathe Slow" whilst the final analysis of votes was taking place.

The Twins and Mark were announced to have qualified directly to next weeks Grand Final. This left Emperors of Soul and Jade in the Danger Zone. Andrew Lloyd Webber deliberated before announcing he wanted to keep Jade in the competition and send Emperors of Soul home, he added  "I have to think about the song, I won't keep people waiting tonight I have to save Jade".

In next weeks Grand Final The Twins, Mark and Jade will compete to establish who will represent the United Kingdom in Moscow in May in the Eurovision Song Contest.


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