Fans of Engelbert Humperdinck have reacted angrily after hearing the legendary singer's track 'Only Love Can Set You Free' for this year's Eurovision Song contest. The 75-year-old was a surprise choice as the United Kingdom's entry, but optimistic fans predicted he could inject some class into the contest, following years of poor entries from the UK.
That prediction appears to have been wide of the mark, after the Bbc premiered a video for Engelbert's song. The Spanish guitar style ballad is co-written by Grammy Award winning Martin Terefe (the man behind KT Tunstall and James Morrison) and Sach Skarbek, who wrote James Blunt's smash hit 'You're Beautiful. Lyrics include, "If you love someone follow your heart, cos love comes once if you're lucky enough.Though I'll miss you forever, the hurt will run deep. Only love can set you free". Early reaction to the song was a mixture of anger and disappointment, with showbiz journalist Dan Wootton saying on Twitter, "Just forced myself to listen to Engelbert Humperdinck's Eurovision entry. Nearly fell asleep halfway through. Awful. Another disaster". One fan offered, "So, the Engelbert Humperdinck Eurovision song. It could do with a bit more of the end and a lot less of the beginning". A fan on the UK's Guardian blog said, "Engelbert is a legend and deserves a lot better than this. I'd rather hoped when they announced he'd be taking part they'd give him a Tom Jones 'Sex Bomb'-style stadium rocker. This, unfortunately, falls into the 'loo break' category. Missed opportunity I'm afraid".