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United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

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Eurovision Song Contest 2019
Country United Kingdom
National selection
Selection processEurovision: You Decide
Selection date(s)8 February 2019
Selected artist(s)Michael Rice
Selected song"Bigger than Us"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Final result26th, 11 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2018 • 2019 • 2020►

The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Bigger than Us" written by Laurell Barker, Anna-Klara Folin, John Lundvik and Jonas Thander. The song was performed by Michael Rice. Songwriter John Lundvik represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest the same year with the song "Too Late for Love". The British entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel was selected via the national final Eurovision: You Decide, organised by the British broadcaster BBC. Six acts competed in the national final and the winner was selected through two rounds of voting.

As a member of the "Big Five", the United Kingdom automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 16, the United Kingdom placed 26th (last) out of the 26 participating countries with 11 points. This was the fourth time the nation had placed last in the history of the competition.

Background

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Main article: United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2019 contest, the United Kingdom has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty-one times.[1] Thus far, the United Kingdom has won the contest five times: in 1967 with the song "Puppet on a String" performed by Sandie Shaw, in 1969 with the song "Boom Bang-a-Bang" performed by Lulu, in 1976 with the song "Save Your Kisses for Me" performed by Brotherhood of Man, in 1981 with the song "Making Your Mind Up" performed by Bucks Fizz and in 1997 with the song "Love Shine a Light" performed by Katrina and the Waves. To this point, the nation is noted for having finished as the runner-up in a record fifteen contests. Up to and including 1998, the UK had only twice finished outside the top 10, in 1978 and 1987. Since 1999, the year in which the rule was abandoned that songs must be performed in one of the official languages of the country participating, the UK has had less success, thus far only finishing within the top ten twice: in 2002 with the song "Come Back" performed by Jessica Garlick and in 2009 with the song "It's My Time" performed by Jade Ewen. For the 2018 contest, the United Kingdom finished in twenty-fourth place out of twenty-six competing entries with the song "Storm" performed by SuRie.

The British national broadcaster, BBC, broadcasts the event within the United Kingdom and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. BBC announced that the United Kingdom would participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 on 19 September 2018.[2] Between 2011 and 2015, BBC opted to internally select the British entry, while the broadcaster organised a national final featuring a competition among several artists and songs since 2016. For their 2019 entry, BBC announced that a national final involving a public vote would be held to select United Kingdom's entry.

Before Eurovision

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Eurovision: You Decide

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Main article: UK national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision: You Decide was the national final developed by the BBC in order to select the British entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. Six acts competed in a televised show on 8 February 2019 held at Dock10 venue at the MediaCityUK in Salford and hosted by Mel Giedroyc and previous Eurovision Song Contest winner Måns Zelmerlöw who won the contest for Sweden in 2015 with the song "Heroes". The winner was selected through a professional jury and a public televote. The show was broadcast on BBC Two as well as streamed online via the BBC iPlayer. The national final was watched by 1.17 million viewers in the United Kingdom with a market share of 6.4%.[3]

Competing entries

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On 19 September 2018, BBC announced an open submission for interested songwriters to submit their songs until 26 October 2018.[4] The received submissions from the open call were reviewed and a shortlist was compiled by the UK branch of the international OGAE fan club. Additional entries were provided to the BBC by songwriter, publisher and co-founder of DWB Music, Greig Watts, who held songwriting camps with professional songwriters.[5] Songs from both entry methods were included in a final ten-song shortlist which was presented to an international professional panel that ultimately selected three songs to compete in the national final.[6][7] The three competing songs were then matched with two artists each, which were announced via social media and the BBC Eurovision website on 23 January 2019.[8]

Song Songwriter(s)
"Bigger than Us"
"Freaks"
"Sweet Lies"

Final

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Six acts competed in the televised final on 8 February 2019. In addition to their performances, guest performers included previous Eurovision Song Contest winners Bucks Fizz, who won the contest for the United Kingdom in 1981 with the song "Making Your Mind Up", and Katrina Leskanich, who won the contest for the United Kingdom in 1997 as the lead vocalist of the band Katrina and the Waves with the song "Love Shine a Light", performing a medley of past British Eurovision songs with Måns Zelmerlöw. Guest performers also included previous Eurovision Song Contest winner Netta, who won the contest for Israel in 2018 performing the song "Toy", and SuRie, who represented the United Kingdom in 2018 performing a piano rendition of the song "Storm".[9]

The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, each of the three songs were performed by two artists in different versions and a three-member professional jury selected one artist per song to proceed to the second round. The jury consisted of Rylan Clark-Neal (singer, television presenter, television personality and model), Marvin Humes (singer, television and radio presenter) and Mollie King (singer-songwriter, television and radio presenter and model).[10] In the second round, a public vote consisting of televoting and online voting selected the winner, "Bigger than Us" performed by Michael Rice.[11]

Duels Round – 8 February 2019
Duel Draw Artist Song R. Clark-Neal M. Humes M. King Total Result
I 1 Kerrie-Anne "Sweet Lies" X X X 3 Advanced
2 Anisa "Sweet Lies" 0 Eliminated
II 3 Jordan Clarke "Freaks" X X 2 Advanced
4 Maid "Freaks" X 1 Eliminated
III 5 Holly Tandy "Bigger than Us" 0 Eliminated
6 Michael Rice "Bigger than Us" X X X 3 Advanced
Final Round – 8 February 2019
Draw Artist Song
1 Kerrie-Anne "Sweet Lies"
2 Jordan Clarke "Freaks"
3 Michael Rice "Bigger than Us"

Promotion

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Michael Rice made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Bigger than Us" as the British Eurovision entry. On 31 March, Michael Rice took part in promotional activities in Croatia where he performed "Bigger than Us" during Zvijezde pjevaju, the Croatian version of Just the Two of Us.[12] On 14 April, Rice performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the AFAS Live venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Edsilia Rombley and Marlayne.[13] On 21 April, Rice performed during the Eurovision Pre-Party Madrid event, which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid, Spain and hosted by Tony Aguilar and Julia Varela.[14] On 24 April, Rice performing during the Eurovision Pre-Party, which was held at the Vegas City Hall in Moscow, Russia and hosted by Alexey Lebedev and Andres Safari.[15]

In addition to his international appearances, on 14 April, Michael Rice performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London and hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell.[16] On 3 May, Rice was part of the guest line-up for the BBC One programme The Graham Norton Show where he performed "Bigger than Us" live and were interviewed by host Graham Norton.[17]

At Eurovision

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According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to compete in one of two semi-finals, and qualify in order to participate in the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. As a member of the "Big Five", the United Kingdom automatically qualified to compete in the final on 18 May 2019.[18] In addition to their participation in the final, the United Kingdom is also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. During the semi-final allocation draw on 28 January 2019, the United Kingdom was assigned to broadcast and vote in the second semi-final on 16 May 2019.[19]

In the United Kingdom, the semi-finals were broadcast on BBC Four with commentary by Scott Mills and Rylan Clark-Neal, while the final was televised on BBC One with commentary by Graham Norton and broadcast on BBC Radio 2 with commentary by Ken Bruce.[20][21] The British spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the British jury during the final, was Rylan Clark-Neal.[22]

Final

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Michael Rice during a rehearsal before the final

Michael Rice took part in technical rehearsals on 10 and 12 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 15, 17 and 18 May. This included the semi-final jury show on 15 May where an extended clip of the British performance was filmed for broadcast during the live show on 16 May and the jury final on 17 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries. After technical rehearsals were held on 12 May, the "Big Five" countries and host country Israel held a press conference. As part of this press conference, the artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. The United Kingdom was drawn to compete in the second half.[23] Following the conclusion of the second semi-final, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final. The running order for the semi-finals and final was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. The United Kingdom was subsequently placed to perform in position 16, following the entry from Norway and before the entry from Iceland.

The British performance began with Michael Rice performing alone on stage under a spotlight. As the song progressed, Rice was joined by five backing vocalists with the LED screens displaying a galaxy of shooting stars. The performers concluded the performance by gathering together in a circle, which symbolised hope and love between the performers.[24][25] The backing vocalists that joined Michael Rice for the performance were Anna Sahlene, Chin Simon, Desta Zion Wilson, Linda Pritchard and Melanie Wehbe. Sahlene previously represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 where she placed third with the song "Runaway".[26] The United Kingdom placed twenty-sixth (last) in the final, scoring 11 points: 3 points from the televoting and 8 points from the juries.

Voting

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Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.[27]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to the United Kingdom and awarded by United Kingdom in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Points awarded to the United Kingdom

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Points awarded to the United Kingdom (Final)[28]
Score Televote Jury
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points  Ireland
2 points
1 point

Points awarded by the United Kingdom

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Detailed voting results

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The following members comprised the British jury:[27][30][31]

  • Pete Watson (jury chairperson) – musical director
  • Jai Ramage – vocal coach
  • Adele Roberts – BBC Radio 1 DJ
  • AJ Bentley – singer, actor
  • George Ure – actor
Detailed voting results from the United Kingdom (Semi-final 2)[29]
Draw Country Jury Televote
P. Watson J. Ramage A. Roberts AJ Bentley G. Ure Rank Points Rank Points
01  Armenia 14 17 15 11 17 17 17
02  Ireland 17 10 11 17 13 15 8 3
03  Moldova 6 14 5 9 3 7 4 16
04   Switzerland 10 12 14 7 14 12 5 6
05  Latvia 15 18 8 18 15 16 14
06  Romania 7 6 4 10 5 6 5 10 1
07  Denmark 16 3 10 1 18 5 6 13
08  Sweden 3 2 1 4 2 2 10 7 4
09  Austria 18 16 18 16 16 18 18
10  Croatia 5 8 3 2 8 3 8 15
11  Malta 4 11 6 8 12 10 1 3 8
12  Lithuania 13 7 17 15 10 14 1 12
13  Russia 8 4 13 6 7 8 3 9 2
14  Albania 11 15 16 14 6 13 11
15  Norway 12 13 7 13 11 11 2 10
16  Netherlands 9 5 12 12 4 9 2 6 5
17  North Macedonia 1 1 2 5 1 1 12 12
18  Azerbaijan 2 9 9 3 9 4 7 4 7
Detailed voting results from the United Kingdom (Final)[28]
Draw Country Jury Televote
P. Watson J. Ramage A. Roberts AJ Bentley G. Ure Rank Points Rank Points
01  Malta 10 15 14 14 13 14 15
02  Albania 16 9 12 20 8 13 20
03  Czech Republic 23 12 10 3 12 10 1 16
04  Germany 21 16 19 19 18 23 24
05  Russia 8 5 15 6 6 7 4 13
06  Denmark 17 6 5 4 21 8 3 5 6
07  San Marino 20 25 22 25 24 25 21
08  North Macedonia 2 1 2 2 2 1 12 18
09  Sweden 1 2 3 8 1 2 10 6 5
10  Slovenia 24 23 9 24 25 20 23
11  Cyprus 11 17 23 17 19 19 10 1
12  Netherlands 5 7 13 11 3 5 6 7 4
13  Greece 19 22 25 22 22 24 19
14  Israel 18 19 17 18 17 21 17
15  Norway 15 10 4 12 11 11 1 12
16  United Kingdom
17  Iceland 14 21 24 23 16 22 3 8
18  Estonia 9 11 21 16 7 12 12
19  Belarus 12 20 18 13 15 18 22
20  Azerbaijan 3 8 8 5 4 4 7 8 3
21  France 7 3 20 10 9 9 2 14
22  Italy 25 18 11 9 20 15 11
23  Serbia 13 13 16 15 14 16 25
24   Switzerland 6 14 6 7 5 6 5 4 7
25  Australia 4 4 1 1 10 3 8 2 10
26  Spain 22 24 7 21 23 17 9 2

References

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  1. ^ "United Kingdom | Country profile | Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  2. ^ "BBC opens public song submissions for Eurovision 2019". BBC Media Centre. BBC. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  3. ^ Granger, Andy (9 February 2019). "United Kingdom: 1.17 Million Viewers for Eurovision: You Decide". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  4. ^ "We're opening our song submission for Eurovision 2019!". bbc.co.uk. 19 September 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  5. ^ "We're opening our song submission for Eurovision 2019!". BBC. 19 September 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  6. ^ "Six acts, three songs, You Decide returns in 2019!". BBC. 30 November 2018.
  7. ^ "Eurovision 2019 on the BBC". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  8. ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (Sergio) (23 January 2019). "United Kingdom: BBC unveils the national final acts and songs". Esctoday. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  9. ^ "Zelmerlöw i svenska flaggan-kalsonger: Trippel svensk succé i Storbritanniens uttagning till Eurovision" [Zelmerlöw in Swedish flag-underpants: Triple Swedish success in Britain's selection for Eurovision]. Schlagerbloggen (in Swedish). 9 February 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  10. ^ "Rylan Clark-Neal, Mollie King and Marvin Humes confirmed as the expert judges for Eurovision: You Decide". bbc.co.uk. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  11. ^ Groot, Evert (8 February 2019). "Michael Rice to fly the UK flag in Tel Aviv with 'Bigger Than Us'". Esctoday. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  12. ^ Groot, Evert (31 March 2019). "Croatia's Roko and Michael Rice from the UK meet in Zagreb". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  13. ^ "This was Eurovision in Concert 2019 in Amsterdam". Eurovision.tv. 6 April 2019.
  14. ^ Escudero, Victor M. (25 April 2019). "This was PrePartyES 2019 in Madrid". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  15. ^ "Moscow Eurovision Pre Party 2019: Record number of participants confirmed for April 24 concert". Wiwibloggs. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  16. ^ "This was the London Eurovision Party 2019". eurovision.tv. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  17. ^ Fox, Debra (3 May 2019). "In pictures: Hartlepool Eurovision star Michael Rice takes to the stage on The Graham Norton Show". Hartlepool Mail. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  18. ^ "Tel Aviv to host Eurovision 2019! - Eurovision Song Contest Israel 2019". eurovision.tv. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  19. ^ Granger, Anthony (2 January 2019). "Eurovision'19: Semi-Final Allocation Draw to Take Place at Tel Aviv Museum of Art". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  20. ^ Herbert, Emily (5 April 2019). "United Kingdom: BBC Reveals Eurovision Commentary Team for Tel Aviv". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 5 April 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  21. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2019". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  22. ^ Ling, Thomas (25 April 2019). "United Kingdom reveals Eurovision 2019 spokesman". Radiotimes.com. Immediate Media Company Limited. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  23. ^ "Michael Rice is back for the UK". eurovision.tv. 12 May 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  24. ^ LaFleur, Louise (10 May 2019). "Michael Rice debuts 'Bigger Than Us' for the United Kingdom". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  25. ^ Luukela, Sami (10 May 2019). "LIVE DAY 7 REVIEW: An out of this world performance from Michael Rice". escXtra. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  26. ^ "United Kingdom". Six on Stage. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  27. ^ a b Groot, Evert (30 April 2019). "Exclusive: They are the judges who will vote in Eurovision 2019!". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  28. ^ a b c "Results of the Grand Final of Tel Aviv 2019". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 2 April 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  29. ^ a b "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Tel Aviv 2019". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 2 April 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  30. ^ "Sophie Ellis-Bextor replaced on Eurovision UK jury by George Ure". BBC News. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  31. ^ "Ellis-Bextor quits UK's Eurovision jury". BBC News. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
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