Country United Kingdom Language English Final result 2nd | As Live Report Conductor Ronnie Hazlehurst | |
Artist(s) Ray Caruana,
John Beeby,
Brian Hodgson,
Maggie Jay,
Mike Bell,
Peter May | ||
"Why Do I Always Get it Wrong?", written and composed by Brian Hodgson and John Beeby, was the United Kingdom's entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1989, performed by the sextet Live Report, led by Ray Caruana.
Live Report won the right to perform at Lausanne by winning the UK national final, A Song for Europe, where they were the sixth act to perform. For the second of four consecutive years, Live Report was picked via a nationwide telephone vote, receiving more than twice as many votes as the second-place finisher.
At Lausanne, the song was performed seventh on the night, after Belgium's Ingeborg Sergeant with "Door de wind", and before Norway's Britt Synnøve with "Venners nærhet." At the end of judging that evening, "Why Do I Always Get it Wrong?" took the second-place slot with 130 points. Norway, Portugal, Luxembourg, France and Germany all gave their 12-point designations to the UK that evening. Despite losing the contest by six points to Yugoslavia's Riva with "Rock Me," the UK actually received the most sets of 12 point designations for the evening (Yugoslavia received the 12 points from four countries).
For the second year in a row, the UK entered a ballad at the Eurovision final. This song revolved around a man who took off running "where [his lover] won't find [him]," as she causes him to hurt, and leaving her presence for good is the only way to stop the pain. Crying out against his illogical love for the woman who has treated him so badly, Caruana asks, "Why do I always get it wrong?"
After Eurovision, the song placed at No. 73 on the UK Singles Chart.