The United Kingdom’s first Eurovision win came in 1967, with a curious oompah song called “Puppet on a String.” The vocalist who sang it, Sandie Shaw, hated the track: She later said she found it sexist and twee. But she was cajoled into recording it, and the song became a success, topping the British charts for three weeks. A bar of “Puppet on a String” is the first thing you hear on “Angel of My Dreams,” Jade Thirlwall’s debut solo single. Like Shaw, Thirlwall spent years being pushed into things by men in her orbit. Its songs both amplified and softened the girl power messaging of forebears like the Spice Girls and Girls Aloud with songs like “Shout Out to My Ex” and “Power,” which exemplified the sloganeering feminism of the mid-2010s.

Source: The Times August 16, 2025 15:05 UTC