It’s that time of year again as the BBC looks for an act to represent the UK at Eurovision. For the last couple of years, the corporation has given the task of choosing the act to an internal panel, which recruited some big names – such as Bonnie Tyler, Blue and Engelbert Humperdinck.
This year, however, the selection process has been handed back to the British public. In the live show You Decide, to be screened on Friday 26 February on BBC4, Mel Giedroyc will present six acts hoping for Eurovision victory at this year’s contest in Sweden. The public will then vote for their favourite.
The last time this happened was in 2010, when Josh Dubovie took the Pete Waterman-penned That Sounds Good To Me to the contest. Unfortunately, Essex-born Josh came last with 10 points at the contest, which that year was held in Oslo, Norway.
Among the six acts competing to represent the UK are Joe and Jake, who both appeared in the last series of The Voice. Jake Shakeshaft, 20, from Stoke-on-Trent was selected to be on Team Will, but lost out in the Battle Rounds. Meanwhile, Joe Woolford, 21, from Ruthin in Wales, made it to the final on Team Rita. The boys will be hoping for more success with their song You’re Not Alone.
The other contestants are Matthew James, once a member of 1990s boyband Bad Boys Inc, whose song is titled A Better Man; Bianca, who had chart success with girl group Parade and will sing a ballad entitled Shine A Little Light; Karl William Lund, a 29-year-old singer from Liverpool, who will sing his self-penned Miracle; Country pop duo Darline – aka Cara and Abby – who will sing Until Tomorrow; and Canterbury buskers Tomas Twyman and Dulcima Showan, who will perform When You Go.
You can listen to all the songs here.
