So, the UK song is out, and in all fairness to the BBC, they’ve decided to take a risk. But will it pay off?
I must admit I was excited when I heard about the artist. Look Mum No Computer (aka Sam Battle) is a DIY artist who builds organs out of Furbies and flamethrowers out of Henry Hoovers. He’s someone interesting and different, whom people will want to talk about. I also registered some alarm bells when I heard that the song title was “Eins, Zwei, Drei”. I don’t think that’s a phrase Verka Seduchka can claim copyright over, but the obvious reference started to flicker the alert in my brain marked “Dustin the Turkey”. This morning, the song came out, and I’ll run through the pluses and minuses.
A Hero For The Analogue Age
On the plus side is adorkability. Eurovision audiences love an endearing dweeb. Adorkable worked for Dadi Freyr, the great uncrowned winner of Eurovision 2020. It also worked for Serbia’s Luke Black in 2023, whose song about just wanting to sleep and play computer games was clearly gazing into my soul. And let’s not forget our Finnish Ür-Dork Kaarija, or indeed, the last time the UK fielded a guy called Sam.
Also, there’s a perverse way in which LMNC’s analogue aesthetic, building machines out of old junk, might tap into the zeitgeist. If the past couple of years have seen the rise of AI, we’re now starting to see the backlash.
Talk of an AI stock market bubble has become so common it already has its own Wikipedia page. The worldwide growth in data centres has sparked protests from environmentalists and local residents. And then there’s the constant complaints about slop art clogging up our Facebook reels and pointless chat boxes crammed into every app, whether we want them or not. Even the artist’s name, “No Computer”, has the potential to resonate with that. Not to mention vinyl records’ surge in popularity among Gen-Z music fans, even in an age of Spotify and Bandcamp.
Don’t Forget This Is The British Entry
So let’s turn to the song. I must admit that on first listen, my reaction was of a hot mess. Not a hot mess that worked immediately like Baby Lasagna’s ‘Rim Tim Tagi Dim,’ but one that didn’t. After a few repeat listens, the infectious pop beat had worked its way into my brain and stayed there. One open question in my mind – there’s a whole bunch of self-consciously British references in the music video. The digestive biscuit being dunked into baked beans, the Mini Cooper trailing the Red Arrows colours. Will European audiences treat it as enjoyably British kitsch, or will it simply go over their heads?
One concern I have is the decision to pair him with a couple of Danish songwriters, both of whom also worked on Luxembourg’s environmentalist anthem. Why make the bold decision to pick an indie artist with their own distinctive approach, and then order up a couple of Scandi composers to staple to his efforts?
The Last Time The UK Headed To Vienna…
We’ve been here before. Back in 2015, a fun new sound emerged on the UK festival scene, combining vintage imagery with modern dance beats. I speak, of course, of electro-swing, which led the BBC to pick Electro Velvet. At the time, this website initially praised the BBC for at least being willing to think outside the box, but it didn’t work out on the night.
I think there’s a clear reason why Electro Velvet didn’t work. Instead of approaching one of the artists who had pioneered and developed that particular scene, they went with a song written by someone with no real connection to it. And it showed. For comparison, this is the sort of thing that was actually emerging organically from electro-swing.
I invite the reader to watch the video above, and then compare it to Electro Velvet. The difference is night and day.
The risk in 2026 is that if Sam Battle is smothered by other people’s visions of “this is what a Eurovision performance should be like,” his own ethos gets smothered, and the mistakes of 2015 get repeated. If I have any advice for the BBC, it’s to let Sam be Sam.
If that means furby organs and flamethrowing hoovers appearing onstage, so be it.
The Potential Of Look Mum No Computer
My best guess is that it’ll get some love from the televote, but less so from the juries. Ironically, this is a reversal of Remember Monday’s fortunes from last year. Is it enough to make me come off the picket lines to support the UK at Eurovision? Honestly, no.
Tomorrow I’m going to finish off the National Final season with Melodifestivalen and Festival da Cançao. Then I’m going to join the boycott and cultivate a nice, healthy Pan-Arcticvision hyperfixation.
That said, I’m wishing Sam well in Vienna.