BBC Radio 2 listeners got the lowdown on the showbiz talking-point of the weekend this morning. Talking about the cock-up surrounding the announcement of this year's Song For Europe winner, Terry Wogan told the TOGs, "Nobody died, it's a TV programme. It wasn't the general election. People got a bit confused."
On Saturday night, millions watched as Sir Terry and his co-presenter, Radio 1 DJ Fearne Cotton, announced the name of the winning act at the same time – but said different names. Terry declared solo singer Cyndi the winner, whilst Fearne screamed out the name of cheesy pop act Scooch.
The UK's most listened-to breakfast host told his audience this morning, "There's no doubt Scooch won. They clearly won. We wish them well and I shall be there to cheer them on by word and gesture in Helsinki. Just ignore what you hear old fools say."
The BBC said it was simply a "mistake" that different winners were announced, insisting Sir Terry WAS given the correct information in his earpiece. A spokesman acknowledged that the studio was noisy, but said the Irish broadcaster wasn't being blamed. Director General Mark Thompson joked on the corporation's Sunday AM programme, "I think they were trying so hard to get the phones right that something else must have gone wrong, but whoever's fault it was I'm sure it wasn't Terry Wogan's."
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