My, my ... Abba offer to write a song for Britain to win its Eurovision Waterloo

Benny and Björn say the UK doesn’t take it seriously – but give them a top act and they’ll change that

TO BREAK its streak of lowly finishes at Eurovision, the UK may be able to call for help from the masters of the contest – Abba.

The band, who shot to fame in 1974 by winning Eurovision with Waterloo, have suggested they could step in and write a song for the UK to help erase the misery of two consecutive last place finishes.

Abba said they would be open to penning a song for the UK, but they insisted they would need a great artist to write for and suggested Dua Lipa, 26, as the singer.

Björn Ulvaeus, 76, and Benny Andersson, 74, made the offer while promoting Abba’s first album in nearly four decades, Voyage. Speaking to the BBC, the pair said the UK needed “better songs” and “good artists” to challenge for the title.

Britain’s entry next year is to be released by a major record label to help improve its chances of victory. When asked what they thought about this idea, Andersson replied: “Good. Picking an act is one thing, writing a song is different so you need both a great song and a good act.”

The duo, who together with Annifrid Lyngstad, 75, and Agnetha Fältskog, 71, make up the Swedish pop group, said they would be open to lending their creative talents.

Andersson said: “What’s the risk? It can’t be worse [for Britain] than last time.”

Ulvaeus was initially more sceptical, before suggesting he would only do it if the artist was someone “really good”. The pair also attributed the UK’S lack of success at the contest to the fact the country does not take it seriously enough.

Ulvaeus said: “[Abba] had to take it seriously. I think that is the difference in attitude because for us it was the only way out. I don’t think you have [been taking it seriously]. I think your attitude was to laugh at Eurovision, which is laughable in a way.” Ulvaeus and Andersson have previously written songs for Elaine Paige and Murray Head for the musical Chess.

Earlier this year, TAP Management – which represents Lipa, as well as Lana Del Rey, Ellie Goulding, and Hailee Steinfeld – announced it would collaborate with the BBC to choose a song and act to represent the UK in next year’s contest.

Lipa, a Londoner who has Kosovo Albanian parents, said: “I’m a proud Brit whilst also being a proud Kosovan. I’m happy to lend my manager to the cause. I’ll be cheering them on.”

Ben Mawson, the cofounder of TAP Music, said: “For many years, we’ve witnessed the United Kingdom not doing as well as we would’ve liked, when pop music is something we usually excel at. The simple fact is it’s time to show what we can do and the wonderful musical talent we have – ultimately we can’t blame politics.”

The UK came last in the previous two editions of Eurovison. In 2019 former X-factor contestant Michael Rice failed to impress, scoring just 11 points in Tel Aviv, Israel. This year James Newman failed to score a single point with his song, Embers. No British entrant has made it into the top 10 since Jade Ewen in 2009 when Lord Lloydwebber composed It’s My Time for the competition.

Next year’s Eurovision contest will take place in Turin, after the Italian act Maneskin won this year’s competition with