John Lydon has changed his mind about never watching Eurovision, saying Good Morning Britain that it was a huge part of his childhood.
The 66-year-old former Sex Pistols frontman and his band Public Image Ltd (PiL) are competing to represent Ireland at this year’s festival in Liverpool with their song Hawaii, a ‘love letter’ to the singer’s wife Nora, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.
Last week, Lydon revealed during a broadcast on RTE’s Radio 1 that he had not once watched the entire series, dubbing the whole thing ‘disgusting’.
‘I’m a songwriter, I perform live, and these shows just come across as so dreadfully phoney to me,’ he said at the time.
During a talk with Susanna Reid and Ed Balls on Monday’s Good Morning Britain, Lydon appeared to backtrack on his prior remarks, which began with Reid apologising for ‘defaming’ him for stating he hadn’t watched Eurovision.
‘Are you trying to get me booted out before I even begin?’ he chuckled.
‘I think everybody has been brought up by it,’ Lydon continued. ‘It was one of the highlights of TV in my youth where you would sit around with your family.
‘It’s part of the culture. Of course, I wondered off and did my own thing for a few years and now, oddly enough, this TV show in Ireland has nominated me out of 200 contestants with this song to go forward into the Eurovision.’
‘Win, lose, or draw, I’m bringing awareness to Alzheimer’s and that’s a win, and a win, and a win.
Last week, Cormac Ó hEadhra quizzed Lydon on how he plans to shake Eurovision up, to which he shrugged: ‘I’ve no idea. Apparently, I have to do karaoke over a backing track.’
Despite her disdain for the event, the singer expressed thanks for being invited to compete for Ireland.
‘What a fantastic opportunity these people have given me,’ he enthused.
He also discussed his song Hawaii, stating that he sobbed his eyes out when writing and recording it.
‘My wife when she sees this, it’s going to melt her, Alzheimer’s or not. It’s the most rewarding thing,’ he said.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.