Exciting news teased for Welsh Eurovision fans
Stephen Price
Welsh singer Sara Davies, winner of this year’s Cân i Gymru, is teasing some important news for Welsh Eurovision fans ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden this year.
On Monday evening, the winner of this year’s Can i Gymru gave fans a sneak peek on her social media, teasing, “Welsh Eurovision Vibes Incoming.”
The short teaser, now making rounds on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram, features Sara seated at a piano, donning a Kylie-esque dress, with an ‘angel’ companion by her side.
“Eurovision, Cymru is coming”
Then, on Tuesday night, she and her label, Coco & Cwtsh, dropped another post—an electrifying image of Sara on a club-like stage, surrounded by dancers, declaring, ‘Eurovision, Cymru is coming,’ alongside a cryptic date set for this Friday and a cheeky ‘watch this space’ reminder.
Speculation runs high especially among Welsh fans who ardently believe in their nation’s right to compete independently in Eurovision. As this year’s Can i Gymru winner, it seems natural that Sara would believe this too..
While tight-lipped about the specifics, insiders from her label said: “There’s definitely a collective interest in understanding why Wales isn’t afforded the opportunity to compete in Eurovision as a nation. Let’s just say it’s sparked some ideas about what we could do about it.”
This year, Nation Cymru even launched a petition, currently under review by the Senedd, advocating for Wales’ rightful place on the Eurovision stage.
Eligibility
Phil Jackson, Associate Head of Media at Edge Hill University and expert on all things Eurovision, told Nation.Cymru that it would be difficult to see a Welsh entry while the BBC remained the main public service broadcaster in Wales.
“Wales is currently not eligible to be a competitive country as we compete as the United Kingdom,” he said.
“Devolved government does not mean separate participation, as the Eurovision Song Contest is populated by the main member public service broadcaster of each country.
“For the UK it’s the BBC, although S4C are members of the European Broadcasting Union.”
Continued calls
In 2021, Plaid Cymru pledged in their manifesto that they would prepare for Wales to enter the Eurovision Song Contest as a nation in our own right if they were to win power.
As part of their pledges for Culture, Media and Sport in Wales, Plaid Cymru have said that they will “prepare a bid” for Wales to enter Eurovision as an independent nation.
Cân i Gymru
In the 1960s, it was proposed for the first time that Wales should enter the Eurovision Song Contest as an independent nation. As a result of this, the music festival Cân i Gymru was launched – which is still held annually in March. The festival would have acted as a national selection for Wales.
For the first time ever, Cân i Gymru is set to be held at the Swansea Arena on 1 March (St David’s Day) this year, with tickets and more information available here.
The bid to enter Eurovision as an independent nation was unsuccessful but Wales has still taken part in several other EBU events, including Jeux Sans Frontières, Eurovision Choir and the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
The BBC
Lynn Kenway of Eurovision Times concurred that while the BBC was in charge, Wales would not be represented.
“Although we’ve seen Wales compete in the Junior Eurovision in 2018 and 2019, I don’t see how they can possibly compete in the adult version whilst the BBC is still officially the UK’s broadcaster for Eurovision,” she said.
“If the BBC ever gave up being the broadcaster, then we may see the possibility of different broadcasters picking it up – as United Kingdom Independent Broadcasting did for Junior Eurovision.
“Then we could see nations entering rather than a United Kingdom entry, but whilst the publicly-funded BBC runs the show, they will want to represent the whole of the United Kingdom.”
Dr. Paul Jordan, expert on the Eurovision Song Contest, said that one possible solution was for the nations of the UK to take turns in putting up an act.
“It may technically be possible to devolve the entry each year but I think it would probably still end up being a UK entry,” he said.
While nothing has been confirmed so far, it looks as though something may be about to happen on that front.
Stay tuned for Sara’s big reveal on Friday.
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