United Kingdom: BBC confirms James Newman for Eurovision 2021

United Kingdom: BBC confirms James Newman for Eurovision 2021
Friday, 19 February 2021

  • The British broadcaster, BBC, confirmed today that James Newman will be the nation's Eurovision 2021 representative in Rotterdam next May. 

    One more nation is sticking with its ESC 2020 hopeful which was the deprived the chance to complete last year's journey to Rotterdam due to the contest's cancellation. James Newman will represent the UK at Eurovision 2021 next May in The Netherlands. 

    The British act says on his return: 

    “I’m so excited and honoured to be getting a second chance at representing my country in the Eurovision Song Contest. I haven’t stopped making new music in lockdown and I can’t wait for everyone to hear the song I’m taking to Eurovision in 2021.”

    After 4 years of national finals through the Eurovision: You Decide format,  BBC decided last year to swtich to an internal selection, selecting its representative in co-operation with record label BMG. An agreement was signed between the BBC and BMG in the summer of 2019. The BBC also announced the renewed collaboration between BBC Studios and music company BMG for this year’s contest. The song will be released and published by BMG, and BBC Studios will once again produce the BBC’s coverage of the biggest and most watched song competition in the world.

     

    A few words for James Newman

    James Newman is an English singer-songwriter based in London and  hails from Settle, Yorkshire, in North England.. He is the brother of pop star John Newman. At the 2014 Brit Awards, Newman won the Brit Award for British Single of the Year as a co-writer of “Waiting All Night” by Rudimental. He has also co-written hits such as “Blame” by Calvin Harris (feat. John Newman) and “Love Me Like You” by Little Mix.

    James is no stranger to the Eurovision family as he was co-writer of “Dying to Try” by Brendan Murray, who represented Ireland at ESC 2017, in Kiev. He has also collaborated with the Australian ESC 2015 act, Guy Sebastian, in his track “Keep Me Coming Back” which is included in his album entitled Conscious.

     

    The United Kingdom in Eurovision 

    The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 1957 and has been crowned winner five times (1967, 1969, 1975, 1981, 1997). The UK holds the record of finishing in the 2nd place the most times than every other country in the contest, specifically 15 times. Although big names of the music scene have represented the country in the past ( Sandie Shaw, Olivia Newton John, Lulu, Buckz Fizz, Brotherhod of Man, Cliff Richard, Sonia, Gina G, Bonny Tyler and many more) in the latest years its results are rather disappointing for a country with such a big share in the international music industry.

    In the latest years, UK followed the same formula of national selection in 2016 to select Joe and Jake who finished 24th. In  2017 through the same process Lucie Jones was decided to represent the UK ending in the final 15th while in Eurovision 2018 'You Decide 2018' winner, SuRie finished in the 24th place in the grand final. In 2019 Michael Rice won the national selection Eurovision You Decide 2019 and represented the British colours in Tel Aviv with his entry Bigger than Us, but scored another disappointing result for the Uk as he finished last in the Grand final.

    Last year James Newman was set to represent the country with the song “My last breath”. The song was signed by Ed Drewett, Adam Argyle and Iain James. Among others, they’ve written numerous hits for established acts, including Little Mix, Dua Lipa, One Direction and Olly Murs. Iain James is also a past Eurovision winner as he was co-writer of the ESC 2011 winning entry “Running Scared” by Ell & Nikki for Azerbaijan.

    James never had the chance to perform his entry in Rotterdam as the contest was cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic, but will have the chance to complete his Eurovision journey this year. 

    News source: BBC