THE Eurovision Song Contest showed its support for Scotland with a celebration of our nation’s entries to the competition.

In what is now a predictable outcome, the UK performed incredibly poorly at this May’s event. No points given out for guessing why. James Newman received zero points from the other European countries – a feat only matched for a UK contestant by 2003’s Cry Baby by Jemini.

Many Scots are now backing the idea of Scotland gaining their own entry to the contest, including SNP MP Alyn Smith. Smith told the Times: “Scotland is rich in talent and culture, and I want the world to see it.”

That sentiment seems to be returned by Eurovision itself, as the contest’s official account shared a tweet celebrating Scottish Eurovision entrants to mark Euro 2020 kicking off.

The most notable of these appearing on the mock line-up would be Lennoxtown-born Lulu who tied to win the contest in 1969 with her hit Boom Bang-a-Bang.

Scotland has also provided two of the competition’s second place entries. First up in 1972 are The New Seekers, with Scottish member Eve Graham, who gained 114 points with their track Beg, Steal Or Borrow.

This was followed 16 years later by Glasgow singer Scott Fitzgerald’s Go, which garnered the UK 136 points. The track was written and composed by Julie Forsyth, daughter of legendary TV host Bruce.

Kenneth McKellar came 9th with A Man Without Love in 1966, and Richard Peebles, performing as Rikki, sang Only The Light in 1987. He was widely panned as one of the worst UK performances ... though his 13th place out of 22 seems respectable by modern standards.

Lorraine Kelly even gets a mention for her stint as the UK's national spokesperson in 2003 and 2004.

Also appearing are the Alba Choir and their organiser Joy Dunlop, who featured in the 2019 Eurovision Choir Song Contest.

Obvious choices if Scotland did gain its own entry would be current chart-stormers Lewis Capaldi and Chvrches. Perhaps Calvin Harris, who was born in Dumfries, could be coaxed into being the nation’s inaugural entrant?

The National: Lewis Capaldi

Whenever point scoring is involved, a great backstory always helps. Enter Glasgow based singer-songwriter Connor Fyfe.

Connor released his debut album at just 13 years old in 2020 and is the youngest act ever to sell out legendary Glasgow venue King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, with tickets going on sale just days after his 14th birthday.

Another act selling-out Glasgow venues are self-described dreamy rock & rollers Shambolics whose thick accents pour over bouncy choruses which are bound to get everyone moving and, hopefully, the points racking up.

In any case, Scotland gaining any more than 0 points could very easily be considered a win by this year’s standards.