[RhysJR]

Jonathan Pearce treated it somewhat like Eurovision, which is probably more respect than it deserved.  As these things go though the actual draw was done pretty quickly.


Trying to remember what happened last time in relation to BBC/ITV announcing their picks - did they wait until the play off outcome or place their picks beforehand?  A final group game of Wales v France to stay in the tournament is a very different match to Finland v France.

I'm not sure what someone like Jonathan Pearce adds for an English-speaking audience; it's easy enough to follow with everything being conducted in English and most stuff he adds is not essential (I had to turn it off at the end of the draw but I would guess the studio recapped where and when England, Scotland etc. played). Following the ZDF coverage in German it makes more sense to have commentary for translation purposes.

I also was pleasantly surprised how quickly the draw itself went. It was good of the BBC to start at 17:15 and not join straight away, bypassing the musical performance and interviews with the artists and Gigi Buffon. ZDF also did the same, albeit they joined straight off some ski jumping, but also showed highlights of the U17 World Cup final rather than the music.

The BBC and ITV TV picks were announced on the Thursday after the draw in 2019, which surprised me as Scotland were not yet qualified so those picks were 50/50 bets (an England match at 20:00 on a Friday, v. Scotland or anyone was a good pick either way though).
www.bbc.com