#lesley garrett

For the interval, the BBC decided to go for something representative of modern Britain. At the time of the contest, the main spoken word radio station in the UK, BBC Radio 4 opened every day with a medley made up of UK folk tunes and pieces with associations with particular regions inside the UK.

This seems to be similar in thinking to the interval act. Several groups of musicians and dancers representing various cultures that make up the UK circa 1998 all performing an arrangement of Holst's 'Jupiter, Bringer of Jollity' Starting of with the inevitable group of Scottish pipers.

There's a Welsh male voice choir, the Grimethorpe colliery brass band, an Irish harp and whistle. Hang on. Ireland? Yes Northern Ireland, but Ireland? This isn't 1921. But I suppose there's a significant and large Irish community within the UK, and the Good Friday Agreement has been voted on and signed, so we'll let it pass...

..Bhangra dancers? Now it's feeling even more awkward. Yes, it's good to see not only Indian but representation at Eurovision and to acknowledge that Indian communities make up a significant and welcome part of a diverse UK population. Bhangra is especially big in Birmingham too, but aren't there some overtones of...

...Zulu dancing? OK, it's time to say it. Colonialism. It's not intended. It's supposed to be a celebration of multiculturalism and inclusion, but looking at it from 2023, the sight of various cultures singing and dancing to a piece of music to which the words of Sir Cecil Spring Rice, "I Vow to Thee My Country", have been set, it feels like a final nationwide spasm of Empire.

Vanessa Mae (from Singapore) and Lesley Garrett finish things off with the patriotic triumphant conclusion to the production.

It's a misfire - the arrangement is all over the place, trying to force different musical styles onto a 20th century classical piece in rapid-fire succession. The best thing about it is the magnificent blocking and control of camera angles that hide almost completely the movements of the large groups of musicians and dancers as they come and go from the stage.

Carol concert at Westminster Abbey Cloisters