Jemini
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| Jemini | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Origin | Liverpool, United Kingdom | |
| Genre(s) | Pop, Dance | |
| Instrument(s) | singing | |
| Years active | 2003 | |
| Label(s) | Integral Records (2003) | |
Jemini was a British pop band, best known for scoring "nul points" and finishing in last place with their song "Cry Baby" at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest in Latvia. It was the first time a UK entry had suffered that particular indignity, most associated in the popular imagination with Norway.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Chris Cromby and Gemma Abbey (born 1982) met in 1995 at Liverpool's Starlight Stage School and toured Liverpool's pubs and clubs with the academy's kids' roadshow. At 16, after leaving college, they formed Tricity, named after the brand of electrical appliances. They formed Jemini ("Gem-and-I") at the age of 19. They spent the next two and a half years touring pubs and clubs in the UK performing Stevie Wonder, Randy Crawford, Motown covers and ABBA medleys, as well as their own compositions. Gemma says she has loved Eurovision since childhood and count previous Eurovision entrants such as Sonia, Precious and Dana International amongst her favourites.
[edit] Cry Baby: Their Debut-Single
Jemini and the song "Cry Baby" were selected to take part in Eurovision by a public phone poll in the BBC's A Song for Europe competition. However, given the novel voting procedure used in the selection that year, some people questioned whether they really were the popular choice in any meaningful sense, a question which obviously loomed larger after the outcome in Latvia. The new system was essentially a synthesis of the familiar popular vote, and the points system that had existed before telephone voting was first deemed feasible in 1988. Votes were tallied separately in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and three regions of England (North, South and the Midlands), and were then converted into points. What to many seemed the unsatisfactory nature of this arrangement was exacerbated by the fact that, due to a clash with football coverage, the competition was only televised in Scotland on minority channel BBC Two, leading to the possibility of a very low number of votes from there.
Jemini won by netting maximum points from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the North of England, but "Help Me" sung by Emily Reed topped the poll in the South of England and the Midlands. Given that the majority of the UK's population live in these two regions, and given that disproportionately few votes were likely to have been cast in Scotland in any case, it is perfectly possible that "Help Me" did in fact carry the popular vote. The BBC did nothing to dispel this suspicion by keeping those figures under wraps.
[edit] Failure & Break-up
The Eurovision failure prompted a great deal of mirth and consternation in the British media. Jemini admitted that their performance was off-key, and claimed they were unable to hear the backing track due to a technical fault. Chris claimed that Terry Wogan had before the contest warned them that they would not get any points due to the Iraq War.
The exposure the duo received after the contest at least gave them a No. 15 hit with the single "Cry Baby".
Due to their failure, they were immediately dropped by their record label (Integral Records UK), and as a consequence of this, their first ever album was never released. This was due to the fact that they only made the Top 20 for one week with "Cry Baby", falling to #35 on the UK Top 75 in its second week. They split up as a band. In his book Nul Points, Tim Moore meets the duo, finding Gemma working in a car showroom and Chris working in a clothes shop. Nothing is known of them since that interview took place.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles
- Cry Baby (2003) - #15 (UK), #73 (Ireland)
- UK Chart Running: 15-35-59-98-142-Out (Only 1 week on the Top 20)
- Ireland Chart Running - 73-Out
[edit] References
- Nul Points (2006) (ISBN 0-224-07780-5) by Tim Moore
| Preceded by Jessica Garlick |
UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 |
Succeeded by James Fox |
