Didn't get to watch #Eurovision this year. This sums up for me why the UK loses so badly:
"The UK is the best at music all around the world. You have the Beatles and everything. So this is not good enough."
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy72e81dp28o
The voters *know* we can do better. Yet we rarely put our best foot forward. Established artists don't want the embarrassment of getting nul points (even if it's only because of geopolitics).
They sense that the British treat it as a joke, and respond accordingly.