United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019


The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The British broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation organised the national final Eurovision: You Decide 2019 in order to select the British entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel.
As a member of the "Big 5", the United Kingdom automatically qualified to compete in the final of the contest. The United Kingdom came in 26th place with 11 points from 41 international juries and the Public.

Background

Prior to the 2018 contest, the United Kingdom 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 2018 contest, the United Kingdom finished in twenty-fourth place out of twenty-six competing entries with the song "Storm" performed by SuRie amassing a total of 48 points.
The British national broadcaster, the BBC, broadcasts the event within the United Kingdom and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. The BBC announced that the United Kingdom would participate in the 2019 contest on 19 September 2018. Between 2011 and 2015, the 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 the contest. The same process was used in 2017 and 2018, and changes were brought in for 2019.

Before Eurovision

''Eurovision: You Decide''

Eurovision: You Decide is the national final that was used to select the 2019 entrant, having previously been used in the past three years. On 30 November, the BBC announced that a new format would be used for 2019. Three songs, selected with the help of an international jury, were each performed in two musically different styles by two different artists, with one act from each pair going through to a final public vote. Six acts competed in a televised show in February 2019 on BBC Two, again hosted by Mel Giedroyc and Måns Zelmerlöw. For the first time, the national final took place at Dock10, MediaCityUK in Salford, which has previously hosted All Together Now and The Voice UK. The national final was watched by 1,170,000 viewers in the United Kingdom with a market share of 6.4%.
Edward af Sillén returned as a screenwriter to produce a UK Eurovision medley interval act sung by Zelmerlöw and guest featuring past winners Bucks Fizz and Katrina Leskanich from Katrina and the Waves. The other interval acts were 2018 Eurovision winner Netta, who won the contest for Israel with the song "Toy" and the United Kingdom's 2018 representative SuRie, who performed a piano rendition of her entry "Storm".

Competing entries

On 19 September 2018, the BBC announced an open submission for interested artists to submit their songs. The submission period lasted until 26 October 2018. The BBC invited the UK branch of the international OGAE fan club to assist in shortlisting the open entries and also continued 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. Greig Watts replaced Hugh Goldsmith as music consultant to the BBC. In the past two years, 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 the finalists to compete in the national final. As of 2019, the songs were chosen with help from international juries instead of an industry professional panel. The six competing artists and three songs were revealed on 23 January 2019 through social media and the BBC Eurovision website.

Final

The six acts competed in the televised final on 8 February 2019. In the duels round, an expert panel that included Rylan Clark-Neal as head judge, Marvin Humes and Mollie King determined which three acts and version of each song would go forward to face the public vote. Eventually, Kerrie-Anne, Jordan Clarke and Michael Rice advanced for the final round. The three remaining singers performed their songs for the second time, and a public vote consisting of televoting and online voting selected the winner, "Bigger than Us" performed by Michael Rice.
Duels round
Final round

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 took place at the Expo Tel Aviv in Tel Aviv, Israel and consisted of two semi-finals on 14 and 16 May and a final on 18 May 2019. 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 was automatically qualified to compete in the final. In addition to their participation in the final, the United Kingdom was also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals; as such the United Kingdom voted in the second semi-final on 16 May.

Final

United Kingdom performed sixteenth in the final, following the entry from Norway and preceding the entry from Iceland. At the end of the show, United Kingdom placed last in the final, receiving a total of 11 points: 3 points from the televoting and 8 points from the juries. With the 2013-15 voting system, United Kingdom would have ranked last with 0 points.

Voting

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.
At the final, the United Kingdom's jury voting results were announced by Rylan Clark-Neal.

Points awarded to the United Kingdom

Points awarded by the United Kingdom

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the British jury:
Sophie Ellis-Bextor was first announced as the chairperson of the jury, but left the jury on 15 May for personal reasons.