Artist Sam Battle, whose musical vehicle Look Mum No Computer was selected by the BBC’s panel of judges, is an innovator and developer of curious objects, chief among them unique analogue synthesisers. He uses them to create his own brand of electronic pop, forgoing modern computerised effects which make up a vast majority of current chart music instrumentation. His single ‘Eins, Zwei, Drei’ made its debut on Scott Mills’ BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show last Friday, marking a real shift from the instantly-accessible theme of past Eurovision entries.

The song is a pulsating, energetic synth-pop banger, with vocals and lyrics in the style of 90s Britpop icons Blur. While the music has a eurobeat feel to it and the anthemic chorus refrain is in German, the vibe of the track is quintessentially British. The accompanying music video sells the story of escaping the 9-5 working existence and indulges in niche British cultural icons such as the humble “roly-poly” dessert, while showcasing Sam’s custom “Kosmo” synthesiser unit. Ending with him riding a modified Mini with a payload of speakers and synths into the sky, this is a very novel piece, even for the ESC’s threshold for weirdness. The full package is a far cry from 2025’s glamorous-but-safe entry ‘What The Hell Just Happened?’ performed by Remember Monday.

Battle explains the story behind the song in interviews with the BBC, with the origins being quite humorous. When talking to BBC Radio Kent, he explains that he’d initially approached the UK’s Eurovision committee to aid with writing an entry for another artist, but was shocked to find they wanted to write one in collaboration for him to perform – “somehow my manager managed to get in front of them and they said ‘oh you could try and write a song I suppose,’ so I tried to write a song and it was very conventional. But then I went to a writing session, and because I’m a songwriter for people, I was expecting I was going to write for people. And I was like ‘who are we writing for today? Which one of us are we writing for today?’ and they were like ‘we’re writing for you!’”

In another interview with BBC’s Mark Savage, he tells that the song’s name comes from a serendipitous incident during the writing session. “It’s ‘one, two, three’ in German. It’s completely wacky, the situation that happened. When I was coming up with the actual ‘Eins, Zwei, Drei,’ I was actually moving a sofa to get my synth set up and I was shouting ‘eins, zwei, drei’ and that’s when they were like ‘that’s the name of the song!’” With the ESC’s Grand Final taking place in Vienna, the German language chorus may be a hit with the local Austrian crowd. According to the BBC, the song has more German words than Germany’s own entry, ‘Fire’ performed by Sarah Engels.

The song was co-written by an all-star team of composers behind past Eurovision winners – Lasse Midtsian Nymann (NYLAN) who wrote on 2024 Swiss winner ‘The Code’ by Nemo; Julie ‘Kill J’ Aagaard, a multi-platinum singer-songwriter; and Thomas Stengaard, who contributed to 2013’s Danish champion ‘Only Teardrops’ by Emmelie De Forest. The live choreography for the performance is corralled by Fredrik ‘Benke’ Rydman, the visionary behind the spectacular staging of ‘The Code’, who has also dabbled in the bizarre with Käärijä’s hugely-memorable ‘Cha Cha Cha’ for Finland in 2023.

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Look Mum No Computer will bring his voice, his synthesisers, and no doubt his Mini to the Wiener Stadthalle for the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final on the 16th of May. Currently, speculation is very positive with this brave new approach from the UK, but we’ll have to wait and see how the European fans embrace it. You can follow Sam’s journey through his Youtube channel, his Instagram account, or his personal website, with the BBC also covering his course to May.

The Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) organisers have today announced a Europe-wide tour, which will take place after this year’s competition wraps in Vienna. In a time where the contest has been mired in controversy, is this a bold step forwards, or is it looking like “nul points”?

The tour has been announced to celebrate the ESC’s 70th anniversary, with the first competition being held in Lugano, Switzerland, in 1956. The contest has broken broadcasting records for its longevity, running every year since then, with the only exception being 2020’s edition’s cancellation at the hands of the global COVID pandemic.

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 Each contest involves a national entrant selection process before the finals take place in a host city, traditionally but not always in the home country of the previous year’s winner. The UK has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest nine times, four of them in London alone. On the last occasion, it was held in Liverpool in 2023 on the behalf of winner Ukraine, who were unable to viably accommodate it due to the ongoing Russian invasion.

Following Russia’s illegal military interventions, they were barred from the competition in 2022. However, Eurovision, which was founded to foster non-political relations and peace between nations, is now contending with another conflict in 2026. Following on from Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel in October 2023, the ensuing war and humanitarian disaster in Gaza has led to Israel’s presence in the contest receiving significant scrutiny. Israel, although not in Europe, has participated in the event since 1973, winning it in 1978, 1979, 1998, and 2018.

With tensions mounting due to Israel’s continued breaches of international law, their inclusion has led to several major members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) withdrawing from this year’s contest. The Republic of Ireland, The Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia and Iceland have all removed their entry and their national broadcasters have boycotted the televised showing. Continued protests across the continent still threaten to jeopardise the contest, even in those countries still engaged in it.

Despite the drama surrounding it, the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest final is still scheduled for the 16th of May, to be held in Vienna. Austria’s capital last held the event in 2015, and the Wiener Stadthalle will host it again following singer JJ’s 2025 victory with track ‘Wasted Love’. The newly revealed tour will begin a month later in June this year, stopping at 10 cities across Europe.

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The first date of the tour is on the 15th of June in London’s O2 Arena, a 20,000 capacity indoor venue inside the city’s O2 centre. The tour then passes through most of Western Europe, much to the chagrin of Eastern European fans, before finishing in Stockholm’s Aviici Arena on the 2nd of July.

So far no acts have been confirmed, but the organisers promise 10 of the grand finalists from this year’s contest will be there, performing a mix of their entries from this year and covers of songs from Eurovision’s illustrious past. The EBU aim to allow fans who couldn’t make it to Vienna, where the Grand Final has already sold out of tickets, to share in the experience of Eurovision. The promoters claim they will be posting information on performers and ticket sales soon on their website.

Remember Monday, a three-person girl group comprised of Lauren Byrne, Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele, were the UK’s entry for the 69th Eurovision Song Contest. The first girl group to represent the nation since 1999, the women hoped to wow the continent with their upbeat, harmonic pop song ‘What The Hell Just Happened?’  

The trio, a group of school friends from Farnborough, rose to prominence by first appearing on The Voice UK back in 2019, making it through to the knockout stages.  

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During Saturday’s live final, Remember Monday impressed the jury voters, racking up a total of 88 points, including the top score of 12 points from Italy. However, they received 0 points from the televote, making this the 2nd year in a row the UK has received the dreaded nil points from the public. Remember Monday ended up finishing 19th overall. After a tense battle, Austria’s JJ was crowned this year’s winner, with his touching operatic ballad ‘Wasted Love’.

In a statement, the group detailed their experience on the show, undeterred by their disappointing televote score: ‘WOW – what a ride! Three best mates walked onto the world’s biggest music stage and came out with a Top 10 Jury score, massive streaming numbers, and memories that will last a lifetime.

‘Performing at Eurovision was one of the most surreal and emotional moments of our lives. The love we’ve felt from fans, our incredible team, and everyone who streamed, voted, and believed in us has been overwhelming.

‘This is just the beginning for Remember Monday. We’ve got new music coming your way, a UK & Ireland headline tour this year, a summer packed with festivals, and we’ll be hitting the stage at Wembley Stadium for the Summertime Ball… no big deal! 

 

 

 

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‘We’re so grateful for the platform, the media support, and every single new fan who’s joined us on this wild journey. Eurovision? Completed it. Let’s go!’ 

Remember Monday are set to tour around the UK and Ireland from 16 October to 7 November. Tickets are available now.

For MXDWN coverage on Eurovision 2024 winner Nemo’s newly announced tour, click here. 

With the wave of rock and heavy metal sound slowly creeping its way into more mainstream media with Måneskin gaining some serious popularity after last years contest, are more experimental sounds finally getting the attention they deserve from the general public? Bambie Thug thinks so noting to NME that ‘Personally, I’m not one to shout…So for me, it’s really an outlet. Maybe people want a bit of a rush… Maybe that’s why they’re connecting with metal more, because it is a release.’ Has the wider world finally began to identify with the rush that metal and rock music provid? You decide for yourself and watch the video that goes alongside ‘Doomsday Blue’, Ireland’s entry this year, below.

Though Ireland has only around a 6% chance of winning as predicted by the Eurovisionworld website, Thug stated to NME that they are ‘never one to try and look at the odds…you could always beat the odds, because anyone can make the odds go up and down with a bit of money’ and told the platform that ‘the fact we (Ireland) are even in the top 10 is incredible. Bambie Thug will compete alongside Italy who are represented by Angelina Mango with the single ‘La noia’ and Croatia’s Baby Lasagna with the song ‘Rim Tim Tagi Dim’ who, with a 30% chance, are in the running to win this year.

The final will take place in the Swedish city of Malmö after Sweden’s victory in 2023 with Loreen, formally known as Lorine Talhaoui, and her single ‘Tattoo’. Loreen has recently announced a UK and European tour beginning in the spring which kicks off in Birmingham on March 17 before she headlines London’s Eventim Apollo on March 19. The tour will continue on throughout the rest of the UK, ending in Dublin on March 27th. In an Instagram post dated 7th of May she told fans ‘Last year’s tour was one of the best times of my life…this next tour is all for you’. You can pre register for tickets here and they will go on sale from the 10th of May.

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She is set to perform her newest single ‘Forever’ at the final this Saturday and the track will be released a day before. With the second leg of the semi-final fast approaching on the 9th of May, its still all to play (or sing) for. You can watch both the final and semi-final on BBC One at 8pm BST this Thursday and Saturday.

This marks the first time that a group will represent the UK at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. The song “Back To Life”, written by Sky Adams, Jakke Erixson, and Jack Hawitt, who have previously written for renowned artists such as Jason Derulo, Lauren Spencer Smith, Kylie Minogue, and Ava Max.

Hayla, a 12-year-old resident of Liverpool, possesses a captivating family background in relation to the Eurovision Song Contest. Notably, her grandfather had the privilege of serving as a backing dancer for the United Kingdom’s entry in 1987.

Meanwhile, Maisie, a 13-year-old hailing from Essex, finds immense joy in the realms of singing, dancing, and acting on stage. Furthermore, she shares a special bond with her grandad through their shared interest in clay pigeon shooting. Additionally, Maisie finds solace in the art of relaxation and has developed a fascination for collecting crystals.

Similarly, Yazmin, a 12-year-old residing in Newcastle, possesses a remarkable affinity for performing in front of audiences, particularly in the domains of Latin and Ballroom dancing. When not captivating crowds with her graceful moves, Yazmin finds solace in the company of her cherished chihuahua, Tinkerbell. Moreover, she channels her creativity through the art of storytelling and indulges in the pleasure of shopping.

The UK representatives were informed of their selection by BBC Radio 1’s Dean McCullough, surprising the trio of singers. They were invited to a dance studio in central London, under the pretence of attending an additional audition. It was during this gathering that Dean revealed the news of their selection to travel to France in November.

Patricia Hidalgo Reina, Director of BBC Children’s and Education, said, “The Junior Eurovision Song Contest was a real spectacle and success for us last year and we’re very happy that we have a new calendar moment for fans of Eurovision and a brand new girl group for audiences to get behind. We have a great song and high hopes for our brilliant trio, STAND UNIQU3, and we want families everywhere to cheer on Hayla, Maisie and Yazmin and watch them represent the UK in the competition across BBC Two, CBBC and iPlayer.”

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023 will take place in Nice, France and will be aired on CBBC in the United Kingdom.

The national juries and global online voting will determine the winner. Voting will commence on Friday 24 November, allowing everyone to vote for three countries. In contrast to the main Eurovision Song Contest, individuals will have the opportunity to vote for their own country. Stay updated by visiting junioreurovision.tv.

The singer announced her headline shows on the 28^th April across her social media platforms. Muller signed off her caption, “i can’t wait to tell you more and i can’t wait to see u all, a slay of truly enormous proportion!!!”.

Tickets for the dates will be on sale at 10 am on Friday 5^th May. For more information see here.

The singer will also be performing at an array of festivals across the UK this summer including Birmingham Pride, Truck Festival, Brighton & Hove Pride, and Big Feastival.

Muller will be performing “I Wrote a Song” at the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest on the 13^th May. The song, which she co-wrote with Karen Poole and Lewis Thompson, is the first UK Eurovision entry to debut inside the Top 40 on the Singles Chart in its first week since 2011. It peaked at number 30 on the UK Singles and number 3 on the UK Singles Downloads. The song debuted on the 9^th March this year coinciding with the announcement that Muller would be representing the UK in the contest. Watch the video for the song below:

“Not to toot my own horn, but I think it’s a great pop song,” Muller told Music Week. “You can dance to it and it’s also a heartbreak anthem, but it’s more than that: it’s about lifting yourself back up, empowering yourself, believing in your self worth and working through negative emotions to come out the other side. And I think that aligns with Eurovision.”

The 25-year-old singer from London, whose full name is Holly Mae Muller, has been rising in notoriety over the last few years. Her debut album Chapter 1 was released in 2019, the same year she supported Little Mix on their LM5: The Tour. Her collaboration with the Swedish music collective Neiked and American rapper Polo G, “Better Days” in 2021 charted in the top 40 in both the UK and the US. Her last record was her third EP, No One Else, Not Even You, in 2020.

This year the UK will host the 67^th Eurovision Song Contest in the Liverpool Arena on behalf of last year’s winners Ukraine. The Semi-Finals will be split between the 9^th and 11^th May to accommodate the volume of countries all jostling for the title. The winner will be announced on the 13^th May after the Grand Final. To see the official list of entries click here.

For a complete list of Mae Muller’s UK and Ireland dates see below:

26/05/23 – M&S Bank Arena – Liverpool
27/05 – Birmingham Pride – Birmingham
21/07 – Truck Festival – Steventon
22/07 – Tramlines – Sheffield
05/08 – Brighton & Hove Pride – Brighton
25/08 – Victorious Festival – Portsmouth
27/08 – The Big Feastival – Kingham
01/09 – Sundown Festival – Norwich
20/11 – SWG3 – Glasgow
21/11 – O2 Ritz – Manchester
23/11 – Roundhouse – London
24/11 – O2 Institute – Birmingham
25/11 – Beckett Student’s Union – Leeds

The Liverpool based group are set to play together for the first time in 36 years, having disbanded in 1987, and Eurovision 2023 seems to be the perfect place for just an occasion, given the fact that this year’s contest will be held in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine, thereby making this a hometown gig for the 80s synth-pop heavyweights.

The band’s lead vocalist Holly Johnson made the announcement in an instagram post, stating that “I’m happy to announce that Frankie Goes To Hollywood will reunite to perform at the opening concert of this very special event“.

The show that will kick things off in Liverpool is set, then, to be a spectacular one, featuring the classic Frankie Goes to Hollywood line-up, including vocalists Holly Johnson and Paul Rutherford, and the so-called ‘Lads': Mark O’Toole (on bass), Brian Nash (on guitar), and Peter Gill (on drums).

The group was formed in Liverpool in 1980, rising to prominence and national fame in 1983 with the release of their first major hit, “Relax“. Deemed to be lyrically obscene with a theme of an overtly sexual nature, the track was banned by the BBC on all of its platforms, but this only created publicity for the band and soon the record reached number one of the UK Singles Chart.

Watch a live performance of “Relax” on Top of the Pops in 1984 below:

They followed this with their second single, “Two Tribes“, released in May 1984 to more success, with this song too reaching number one in the UK. The band then released their debut album, Welcome to the Pleasuredome, later that year in October, easily reaching number one on the UK Albums Chart after advanced sales of the LP of more than a million copies.

Watch the music video for “Two Tribes” below:

Their third single, “The Power of Love“, was released in November 1984 to yet more success, reaching number one and marking a defining and record-breaking year for the group, being the first music act to reach number one of the UK Singles Chart with their first three singles since fellow Liverpool band Gary and the Pacemakers in the 60s.

Their second and final album, Liverpool, was released in 1986 and, despite reaching number five on the UK Albums Chart, was considered a commercial failure, owing naturally to their previous unprecedented success. The band subsequently disbanded the following year and haven’t performed together since.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood will perform in the opening concert of Eurovision 2023 on May 7th, see here for the songs that will follow throughout the semi-finals.

The singer and television personality has told the BBC that this year’s event is “so much more than a competition“, adding that “It’s very important. We feel that sense of responsibility, to do it with joy, love“.

Dixon will host this year’s Eurovision Song Contest alongside actress Hannah Waddingham, perhaps best known for her role in the comedy series Ted Lasso, and Julia Sanina, front woman of Ukrainian alternative rock band The Hardkiss, with the trio set to be joined by television presenter Graham Norton for the final.

Sanina has also stressed the competition’s importance, telling the BBC, “Even last year, when people were watching Eurovision from bomb shelters, lots of them were still voting and wanted to win“.

Waddingham added, “We have to always balance the joy and the love with what Julia just said. People voting from the bomb shelters hits me more than anything and there’s the reason I wanted to get involved“.

The competition was originally supposed to be hosted by Ukraine, given that the country, represented by rap group Kalush, won the event last year with the song “Stefania“, receiving the most amount of votes the competition has seen in its history. Organisers decided, however, that it was too dangerous to host this year’s event in the war-torn country following the Russian invasion, and Liverpool has stepped in to play host.

Watch Kalush in the 2022 Winner’s Performance below:

This motto for this year’s contest, ‘United by Music’, encompasses fully what responsibility the event has for the country, and indeed for the people, of Ukraine. Staunchly anti-war and a vehicle of peaceful protest, the contest is set to be a proud example of what the world of music can do in the face of injustice and indiscriminate violence, standing tall for the values of peace and prosperity and upright and strong with Ukraine in the face of hostile adversity.

Watch the video for Mae Muller’s “I Wrote a Song“, the official UK entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, below:

The competition is set to commence on May 9th with the first of the semi-finals, with the other being on May 11th. The final will then be held on May 13th. Full coverage of the event will be provided by the BBC. See here for a full breakdown of all the songs that will be performed.

Hosted in Liverpool and broadcast by the BBC, the event will be taking place on the 9th and 11th of May. The final being on the 13th of May. The semi finals have been split between two days since 2008, due to the large amount of acts that participate in the majestic show. In the past, the show has reached up to 52 participating countries. This year’s edition comprises of only 37. Still a generous amount for such a short-lived event.

The first showcasing on the 9th of May includes Norway singing “Queen Of Kings”, Malta playing “Dance (Our Own Party)”, Serbia playing one of their own “Samo mi se spava”, Latvia performing “Aija”, Portugal playing on of their classic “Ai Coraçao”, Ireland playing “We Are One”, Croatia with their own “Mama ŠČ!”, Switzerland playing “Watergun”, Israel playing “Unicorn”, Moldova playing “Soarele si luna”, Sweden singing in English “Tattoo”,  Azerbaijan who will be showcasing “Tell Me More” also in English, the Czech Republic performing “My Sisters Crown”, the Netherlands “Burning Daylight” and finally Finland performing the final “Cha Cha Cha”.

The second semi finals, hosted on the 11th of May, will include Denmark singing “Breaking My Heart”, Armenia performing “Future Lover”, Romania playing “D.G.T. (Off and On)”, Estonia playing “Bridges”, Belgium playing “Because Of You”, Cyprus on “Break A Broken Heart”, Iceland playing “Power”, Greece performing “What They Say”, Poland on “Solo“, Slovenia will be singing in their language “Carpe Diem“, Georgia on “Echo”, San Marino playing “Like An Animal“, Austria on “Who The Hell Is Edgar?“, Albania playing “Duje“, Lithuania “Stay” and Australia due to finish off with “Promise“.

The six countries to be playing at the finals involve Italy playing “Due Vite”, Germany “Blood and glitter”, France “Évidemment“, Spain “Eaea“, United Kingdom with “I Wrote A Song” and Ukraine “Heart Of Steel“.

The official compilation album of the competition has already be set. Named Eurovision Song Contest: Liverpool 2023. Having been put together by the European Broadcasting Union it was officially released on the 14th April by the Universal Music Group on all digital platforms. The physical editions are to be available on the 28th April.

Click here for more information.

Broadcasted across the BBC, the show is set to be like no other this year. Expect to have a whole series of different shows and programmed content for the audience to indulge in as a build up between broadcasts. For the first time ever the Semi-Finals and the Grand Final will be aired live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. During which they will provide wall to wall entertainment to the shows fans across TV, BBC iPlayer, the radio, BBC Sounds and online.

This distinguished event hosts the participation of 37 countries and the winning of a life changing trophy. Last year the Ukrainian rap group Kalush, who formed in 2019, took their humble victories home with a whopping 631 points. A third victory for the countries Eurovision history.

During the whole week there will be highlights from The One Show and BBC Breakfast live from Liverpool. Whilst BBC Radio and BBC Sounds deliver entertainment in the meantime, BBC 2 will be the main lodging for the actual broadcasting of the show.

The vast selection of entertainment will be carried out by our country’s leading and quick witted hosts to ensure a good running throughout the Eurovision display. For our Grand Final commentary we will be guided through by the English radio DJ and presenter Scott Mills and the renowned broadcaster Rylan. The Semi-Finals will be presented by the BBC presenter Paddy O’Connell. Whilst both Semi-Finals broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer will be presented by Alesha Dixon, Julia Sanina and Hannah Waddingham as well as the appearance Graham Norton joining the musical trio for the Grand Final.

“We couldn’t be more proud and excited to give our audiences such a huge array of world class Eurovision content. It’s an honour for the BBC to host the show on behalf of Ukraine, and we’re committed to do them proud. The level of collaboration and coordination across so much of the output is truly amazing. Let the Eurovision Song Contest begin!” Expressed Kate Phillips, BBC Director.

Not only will the contestants be taking to the stage but special visitors from around the world also. Artists such as Rita Ora, last years winners Kalush, UK star Sam Ryder, Rebecca Ferguson, Alyosha and more to be announced.

This years Eurovision Song Contest will be running from the 9th May to the 13th.