The UK's Only Zero Points Comes With a Monitor Failure

MAY 15 2003 · 12:00

Jemini · "Cry Baby" · United Kingdom · 2003 Placement: 26 · Score: 0 · Language: English · Composers: Martin Isherwood · Venue: Skonto Hall · Host: Riga, Latvia · Type: scandal · Broadcast: digital hd Jemini — Gemma Abbey and Chris Cromby, a Liverpool pop duo in coordinated white outfits — take the Skonto Hall stage without functioning in-ear monitors. Chris can't hear the key. They start the song in one key, drift wildly, and by the second chorus the performance is audibly off-pitch. Zero points. Last place. The UK's only nul-points result in Eurovision history. Context Martin Isherwood, head of music at Liverpool's Paul McCartney-founded LIPA, had written 'Cry Baby' as a straightforward pop single. The BBC's 'A Song for Europe' had a weak field that year. Latvian broadcaster LTV's technical setup for its debut hosting contest was notoriously under-resourced. Jemini's in-ear failure was blamed on the venue's audio hardware. Legacy The zero-points finish became an inflection point in UK Eurovision attitude — the BBC's long slide from 1997 winner to 2003 last-place inaugurated a two-decade era of ironic failure. Gemma and Chris were both under 20; neither recovered a major pop career. Isherwood kept directing LIPA. 'Cry Baby' is now cited in audio-engineering pedagogy as the textbook case of why artists need backup monitoring protocols.