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UK press: BBC program ambushed UK Eurovision-2012 representative Engelbert Humperdinck

24 May 2012 12:19 (UTC +04:00)

APA reports quoting Daily Mail that BBCâ€™s interview with Engelbert Humperdinck was demonstrated in the one episode of the film â€œEurovisionâ€™s Dirty Secretâ€.

â€œMr Humperdinck, 76, was approached by Panorama’s Paul Kenyon after an interview with Radio 2 in a BBC recording studio. He was asked why he was taking part in the competition and what his views on human rights in the country. Mr Kenyon then presented him with a T-shirt that bore the slogan: â€œPlease Release Themâ€, a play on Mr Humperdinck’s well known hit Please Release Me and political prisoners held in the Soviet stateâ€, the newspaper said.

â€œThe singer, who will belt out Love Will Set You Free during the competition next weekend, stayed calm and smiled. But he and his entourage were said to be incensed by the incident. After the interview, Mr Humperdinck’s agent Chris Hewlett said that I wanted to make very clear how surprised and disappointed we all were that Panorama felt it appropriate to ambush Engelbert on BBC property in order to force a reaction from him, without even giving him the courtesy of time to frame his thoughtsâ€.

Russiaâ€™s Express newspaper reported quoting the UK press that the English journalists tried to force the singer to make statement in Baku and call to release political prisoners. â€œBut Engelbert stayed calm. He underlined that he didnâ€™t want to interfere in politics and the music has no relation to politics.â€