Andrew Lloyd Webber Blames U.K.'s Eurovision Failures Partly on Racism

3:09 AM PDT 7/3/2012 by Georg Szalai

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The musical producer points the finger at Eastern European countries, but the BBC says there is "no evidence whatsoever of any racism around the event."

LONDON - British musical impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber has argued that racism, particularly in Eastern European countries, has affected the annual Eurovision Song Contest.

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He partly blamed the U.K.'s recent weak record in the competition on it.

In an interview with Radio Times, the 64-year-old discussed the recent string of disappointments at the European singing competition with such acts as Javine Hylton, Andy Abraham, Jade Ewen and boyband Blue. Lloyd Webber co-wrote the U.K. song performed by Jade in 2009, which came in fifth.

The musical producer said he was asked that year in host city Moscow "why have you brought a black artist?" He said his reply was: "Because she is the most talented artist that we had, and I think she's a major, major star."

Asked if racism was the reason that Britain did not win in 2009, Lloyd Webber emphasized though: "Well, it doesn't mean that we would necessarily have won that year, but we could have come second."

Asked more broadly about the Eurovision Song Contest, Lloyd Webber said: "I don't think there's any point beating around the bush...If you had seen it [this year], you might have noticed one thing - I don't think there was one black face on the program."

He suggested that Eastern European countries are the real challenge. "If you're talking about Western Europe - Germany, fine; France, fine; Spain, fine; Greece, fine; Scandinavian countries, fine," he said. "But Ukraine? Not so good."

This year's Eurovision had results that run counter to any racism allegations. Swedish singer Loreen, who is of Moroccan-Berber origin, won. U.K. entry Engelbert Humperdinck came in second-to-last.

A BBC spokesperson said that the British public broadcaster doesn't see a racism problem in Eastern Europe or beyond. "The BBC is committed to Eurovision and has no evidence whatsoever of any racism around the event," the representative said.

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com

Twitter: @georgszalai