“We didn’t know how to do it right anymore,” says Duncan, who creatively mentored Mia and Dion at Liverpool. “We just had to fart, so to speak, or it was really terrible. We became clickbait.” The duo were heavily criticized and ridiculed for weeks after they sang out of tune during their first two joint live performances and were unable to advance past the semi-finals of the Eurovision Song Contest. Duncan was accused of not providing adequate guidance to the two.
According to the former Eurovision winner, there are always things happening in front of or behind the scenes at the Eurovision Song Contest “that you can learn from or grow from”. “Even in the year I had, things happened that made me think: Oh God, I hope that never happens to me again.”
However, according to Duncan, the media attention has become “pretty bad.” “At one point you were lying in bed at Liverpool and you knew: ‘I have to go out and I have to talk to the media.’ I felt very sorry for them.
Duncan even describes his second Eurovision adventure as his “darkest hour”. “I really tried to do something out of love and help new artists that I believe in. I still think they are great artists.” The singer says he remains in sporadic contact with Mia and Dion. “We’ve all taken our time to process this in our own way. A lot has happened, and it’s good to give each other space.”
The Eurovision Song Contest has now reached a new low:
