His participation was officially revealed last Saturday by the British broadcaster BBC. The maestro himself appeared before the popular TV-show Strickly Come Dancing and asked the public to help him in finding a performer for his Eurovision Song Contest entry. "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country," the composer quoted the former US president John F. Kennedy.
This news spread fast all over the world and by now hundreds of articles have been written about the announcement. The most attention came from the UK itself, naturally, but newspapers from Estonia to Greece, Norway to Turkey and Germany to Canada reported on it as well.
So far the reactions have been quite enthusiastic, with some exceptions. Bookmaker William Hill has set its odds on the side of Webber's failure to win the Eurovision Song Contest, rating his chances to 1 against 16. The Telegraph's Neil McCormick and Andrew Pierce also have their doubts about the composer's chances. Remarkable conclusions, as the song is likely not to have been written, no artists has been found and no other country picked its song for Moscow yet.
In the Eurovision Song Contest fan community, the news has been received with great enthusiasm. "This might help to rekindle the British public's love for Eurovision," wrote Simon Kirkpatrick Green on Eurovision.tv . Many of them believe the UK will place at least amoung the ten best songs, some wait for a victory.
Time will tell who is right, and in the end, it is in the hands of juries and viewers from across Europe. Eurovision.tv will keep you posted on the developments leading up to the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, Russia!
