Here are the votes from the Fizzywizzy jury (Tim Moore - Nul Points)

Member Name: fizzywizzy

Product:	Tim Moore - Nul Points
Date:	24/07/07 (100 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Occasionally very funny; a good idea

Disadvantages: Opening chapters too long; fails to deliver; limited number of subjects

Although the actual words “Nul points” have never been uttered during the Eurovision Song Contest, they have become synonymous with the annual competition designed to select the – ahem- best song in Europe (of the twenty-odd assembled, and using the term “Europe” in a very broad sense).

The author, Tim Moore, was inspired to go in search of some of the unfortunate recipients of the “nul points” tag by his friend, Jane Alexander who came third in the UK contest A Song for Europe that selects the country’s entry in the contest proper.

His premise was this: each of the entries have been selected by competition to represent their respective nations so they have already been chosen as the best of their home nations. Why then do they do so badly in the Eurovision Song Contest? How do they performers feel about it and why do they think they failed to score even a single point? Can you ever shake off the indignity?

Tim Moore sets out to track down all those performers who scored no points from Jahn Tegien of Norway in 1974 to the dreadful Jemini who represented the UK in 2003. Of those infamous performers, one had died and three refused to talk to him: that lack of scope is reflected in the book and I think it suffers as a result.

Having read several other of Tim Moore’s works I thought I knew what I was in for and, to some extent, I was correct. Tim Moore is a comic writer along the lines of Tony Hawks or Dave Gorman; his books usually involve some sort of challenge and I have so far found his books easy to enjoy and pretty funny.

However, “Nul Points” is slightly different because it sees Moore take on a hitherto unseen symapathetic side and it is one that clashes with the dry wit and cutting humour he uses. I found it quite voyeuristic at times and felt that I was complicit in this scheme to make a quick buck out of the misfortune of others.

There are some very funny moments, I cannot deny that but I found the jokes a bit too predictable. If you like the observational type comedy of someone like Peter Kay then you would probably appreciate this; for me, though, it was too easy and too obvious. I also felt that there was too much repetition so the jokes lost their edge and, no doubt because the format of the book was altered when Moore discovered that some of his subjects were shy, the first two chapters at least go on far too long. This is the kind of book that I would expect to be able to digest in a couple of days but halfway through I began to lose the will to finish it. The problem was that humorous as the opening was, it didn’t really promise much and it didn’t inspire me much to read on.

Of course, I did finish it because it is the responsibility of a good book reviewer to have the full picture. It would be wrong to say that I didn’t enjoy it and it would be wrong to say that I didn’t learn anything from it; in fact I learned a great deal, some of which was pretty interesting. There are some interesting details about the origins and history of the contest and about some of the political aspects including the French boycott and the notorious and oft joked about neighbourly voting patterns.

However, the central idea, while original and, on the surface, intriguing, fails to deliver. It would have been better if there had been more short and snappy chapters, though, of course, I understand why this wasn’t possible.

If you have not read Tim Moore before I suggest you look at “French Revolutions” (in which the author cycles the route of the Tour de France solo) or “Frost on my Moustache” (in which he follows in the footsteps of an Artic Expedition).

Die-hard Eurovision fans will probably not think much of this irreverent look at some its most famous flops – and neither did I.

Two stars awarded for the occasional glimpses of Moore’s comic talent.

Published by Vintage
304 pages
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Summary: A good idea poorly executed