Olly Alexander slapped down by Eurovision icon with 4-word statement as she reveals why UK won't win
Eurovision legend Cheryl Baker says Olly Alexander has little chance of success on Saturday night even though she desperately wants him to win for the UK.
The 33 year old Years And Years frontman took to the stage representing the UK with his song Dizzy on Tuesday night, 7 May, and gave fans their first live taste of the track during a semi-finals show, but the reactions were incredibly mixed – with some already totally ruling him out of the running.
Cheryl, who won Eurovision in 1981 as part of pop band Bucks Fizz, sides with those bluntly claiming the tune is not strong enough to go all the way at Saturday's final, 11 May, and says if Olly wants to win, he must make some important changes with little over 48 hours to go.
Speaking to the Mirror on behalf of Heart Bingo, she issued a blunt 4-word statement about what she thought of the song when she first heard it, saying: "OK, this is good."
However she continued: "I like the song, I just don't think it's strong enough to win. I love his voice but it's up against some really good acts. Do you think it's good enough to win? Really?"
She added: "I like the song, but it doesn't go anywhere. It's chart worthy but I don't think it's strong enough for Eurovision. You've got three minutes or less to make your mark. In that three minutes, you need to build and make it go. He has changed it vocally with some high notes but I just don't think the song is quite there for it, it just stays on the same level."
Explaining how she would turn the song into a winner, the Eurovision legend explained: "I know it's a simple thing but how about throwing in a couple of key changes? It gives it an automatic lift. Is it too late to change it now, I don't know. I don't see why not, there's still a few days to go."
Despite some fans criticising him for being "off-key" and "out of tune" during Tuesday's performance, others defended the singer, suggesting his performance was affected by his mic pack falling off.
The singer appeared on Lorraine Kelly's ITV show on Wednesday, where he chatted with the host via video link.
Lorraine praised the Eurovision hopeful's song Dizzy as "a banger", to which he responded: "This whole Eurovision experience is wild. Last night was amazing. It was the first time performing in the arena and on TV. It was just... yeah, it was amazing."
He then admitted: "I had a slight wardrobe malfunction - my mic pack fell off - and had to improvise but that's fine - it's live TV, it happens."
