Wogan blames 'racists' for Eurovision failure

TERRY Wogan has blamed "racist" Eastern Europeans for failing to award a single vote to Britain's entrant in the Eurovision Song Contest.

He claimed Andy Abraham finished in joint last place in the contest because Eastern Europeans could not bring themselves to vote for a black singer.

Abraham did not pick up any votes from the 22 Eastern European countries for his song, 'Even If'. He scored 14 points, finishing joint last with the German entry, No Angels, a band which includes two black vocalists.

Wogan, who hosts the BBC coverage of the event, wrote in a Sunday newspaper: "The elephant in the room was our singer Andy Abraham's colour. East of the Danube, they won't be voting for any black singer any day soon."

Eastern European diplomats in London denied that racism had played any part. Irena Dimitrova, Bulgaria's cultural attaché, said: "We are very well educated musically and we like black music."