The Eurovision Song Contest is a long-running festival of music and entertainment with over 60 years of history. It brings people from different backgrounds, cultures and countries together for a night that they will never forget. It promotes messages of peace and love, with a following of hundreds of millions of people.

Up until 1998, the Contest had a resident orchestra, who would provide the accompaniment for the various songs that would be performed. Backing tracks first appeared as far back as the 70s, with such things being especially popular in 1997 and 1998.

Starting with the 1999 Contest, the orchestra was discontinued, with all music now being provided by a backing track except, of course, the vocals. Rather outrageously, the EBU have turned down requests from the likes of Andrew Lloyd-Webber to perform their instruments live, as they insist on miming from all on stage musicians who have instruments.

How can it be, in the biggest music competition in the world, that music must, in all cases, be pre-recorded? Is it not true that Eurovision, in it’s current format, is no more that a glorified karaoke contest?

Eurovision should be about the music above all else. It should be an experience to be remembered for decades. Live music should be a fundamental right for its performers, many of whom in interviews have admitted that they would prefer it if they could perform live. Part of the Eurovision magic was in hearing the lush orchestration which accompanied many of its songs. Songs, such as Secret Garden’s “Nocturne”, the 1995 winner for Norway, would not be the same without live music.

Of course, many people, the EBU themselves included, have come up with tonnes of excuses as to why live music is not present. These people have insisted that modern electronic music is incompatible with a live orchestra. Also, the cost of such a thing has often been an excuse for not putting in the effort. Of course, with over 40 countries participating and a lot of money spent on the contest anyway, an orchestra should not be an issue, financially speaking.

Personally, I believe that full artistic freedom should be granted to performers, so that electronic musicians can still use a backing track if they don’t think the orchestra will work for them. This kind of freedom was the standard seen in the 1998 Contest. With this petition, I call upon the EBU and any other influential figures to restore live music to the Contest and do so in two important ways.

Firstly, I would like to see the orchestra return. This would give performers the option of having their song performed by a band of live musicians who are passionate about the music and who will doubtless manage to produce a rather spectacular sound.

Secondly and finally, I would like for Eurovision musicians to have the ability to perform their instruments live. This would make the Contest seem a lot more professional, and it would allow these musicians to express their wonderful talents for the benefit of millions of people.

I hope you have understood my points quite clearly. I close now, hoping that you will sign my petition and share it with other people to increase awareness of it. I look forward to hopefully seeing lots of signatures, and I hope that with this petition, a huge difference can be made to the Eurovision Song Contest.