United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The British entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal, was selected via the national final , organised by the British broadcaster BBC. On 16 November 2017, it was announced that Måns Zelmerlöw, winner of the 2015 contest for Sweden, would join the show as co-host alongside Mel Giedroyc. The national final took place on 7 February 2018 at the Brighton Dome. Six acts competed in the national final, with the song "Storm" performed by SuRie being selected the winner.
As a member of the "Big 5", the United Kingdom automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Background
Prior to the 2018 contest, the United Kingdom has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty times. 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 2017 contest, the United Kingdom finished in fifteenth place out of twenty-six competing entries with the song "Never Give Up on You" performed by Lucie Jones amassing a total of 111 points.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 2018 on 29 September 2017. Between 2011 and 2015, BBC opted to internally select the British entry. For their 2016 entry, the broadcaster announced that a national final would be organised featuring a competition among several artists and songs to choose the British entry for Eurovision. The same process was used in 2017.
Before Eurovision
''Eurovision: You Decide''
Eurovision: You Decide is the national final that was used to select the 2018 entrant, being previously used in the past two years. Six acts competed in a televised show on 7 February 2018 which was held at the Brighton Dome and once again hosted by Mel Giedroyc, being joined this year by Eurovision Song Contest 2015 winner Måns Zelmerlöw. The winner was selected via the combination of a public televote, consisting of televoting and online voting, and the votes of a professional jury panel. As in 2017, the show was broadcast live on BBC Two. The national final was watched by 900,000 viewers in the United Kingdom with a market share of 4.8%.Competing entries
On 29 September 2017, BBC announced an open submission for interested artists to submit their songs. The submission period lasted until 27 October 2017. The BBC invited the UK branch of the international OGAE fan club to assist in shortlisting the open entries and also revived its partnership with the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors who ran a songwriting competition amongst its members. The BBC also consulted with music industry experts including writers, producers, artist managers and members of the British Phonographic Industry. Former music director of RCA Records and founder of Innocent Records, Hugh Goldsmith, acted as music consultant to the BBC. As in 2017, multiple songwriting camps were also held to promote the submission of entries. Songs from all entry methods were included in a final shortlist which was presented to a professional panel, who ultimately selected six finalists to compete in the national final. The six songs were announced on 24 January 2018.Final
Six acts competed in the televised final on 7 February 2018. A combination of the votes from the public and the votes from an eight-member professional jury selected the winner, SuRie, with "Storm". The three members of the panel, who provided feedback regarding the songs during the show, were:- Rylan Clark-Neal – singer, television presenter, television personality and model
- Rochelle Humes – singer and television presenter
- Tom Fletcher – singer-songwriter and guitarist
Zelmerlöw and the United Kingdom's 2017 representative, Lucie Jones, opened the show performing an ABBA medley.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter |
| 1 | RAYA | "Crazy" | Emil Rosendal Lei, Greta Salóme Stefánsdóttir, Samir Salah Elshafie |
| 2 | Liam Tamne | "Astronaut" | Ashley Hicklin, Jacob Pedersen, Jeanette Bonde, Rune Braager |
| 3 | Asanda | "Legends" | Christopher Wortley, Laurell Barker, Roel Rats |
| 4 | Jaz Ellington | "You" | Ashley Hicklin, Herman Gardarfve, Laura White |
| 5 | SuRie | "Storm" | Nicole Blair, Gil Lewis, Sean Hargreaves |
| 6 | Goldstone | "I Feel the Love" | Eric Lumiere, Joakim Buddee, Laura White, Roel Rats |
At Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 took place at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal and consisted of two semi-finals on 8 and 10 May and the final on 12 May 2018. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. As a member of the "Big 5", the United Kingdom automatically qualifies to compete in the final. 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 29 January 2018, the United Kingdom was assigned to broadcast and vote in the first semi-final on 8 May 2018.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. Mel Giedroyc announced the United Kingdom jury results.
Grand Final
performed 9th in the running order during the Grand Final. In the middle of her performance, a stage invader grabbed her microphone and shouted: "Modern Nazis of The UK media, we demand freedom! War is not peace!", before being removed by security and taken into police custody. SuRie was without her microphone for about 10 seconds, but was nevertheless able to finish her performance. She was offered the opportunity to perform again by the EBU after the final country, Italy, had performed, but declined, claiming she and her team were "proud of her performance". After returning to The UK, in an interview on This Morning, SuRie revealed she had some bruises on her hands where the invader had grabbed her and also on her shoulder where he had barged into her, but she said that she had not been seriously harmed by the incident.Points awarded to the United Kingdom
Points awarded by the United Kingdom
Split voting results
The following five members comprised the British jury:- Richard Beadle – Chairperson – musical director, orchestrator, composer
- Natalie Shay - singer-songwriter
- Michelle Escoffery – singer-songwriter
- Toby Lawrence – club and radio DJ
- Eady Crawford – singer