The UK’s national final was held this year at BBC studios in Salford, Manchester. Mel and Måns were back at presenting duties with a new format to the show. Three incredible songs performed twice by two different artists. So three songs and six artists battling it out to represent the United Kingdom at the 64th Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv in Israel.
The six artists will be split into three song battles. The Two artists will perform their version of the song and then it will be decided by an expert panel on what song makes it to the final three. The final three will then face the public vote to decide the winning song. Rylan Clark Neal, Mollie King and Marvin Humes were on the expert panel.
First up in Song Battle 1 with the song Sweet Lies we have Kerrie-Anne and Anisa.
Kerrie-Anne
Kerrie-Anne’s version was a massive throwback into the 90’s club scene. This energetic number of Sweet Lies was a great way to open the show. Kerrie-Anne gave us a great performance with killer vocals and dance moves. This performance went down with the crowd in the studio and the judges loved it.
Anisa
Anisa’s version of Sweet Lies is a stripped back ballad showing a lot of emotion. The performance starts with Anisa playing a black piano and leading up to her standing in the middle stage. I don’t think it was the best vocal performance out of the two versions of this song. The judges were mixed about Anisa’s performance.
The judges were unanimous and picked Kerrie-Anne to go into the final three.
Next in Song Battle 2 with the song Freaks we have Jordan Clarke and MAID.
Jordan Clarke
Jordan’s version of Freaks is giving us Freddie Mercury realness, with a hint of the greatest showman. This is a memorable song which is very catchy but despite me not being convinced of the song when I first heard it Jordan sold this song to me in his performance. The judges loved Jordan’s performance and applauded him of his vocals and dance moves.
MAID
A girl band that has only been together for a year giving us a dark pop version of Freaks. The girls gave us a great vocal performance but everything else was a little dull, the whole arrangement of the song didn’t work and it felt like something was missing. The judges were overwhelmingly negative over their performance.
The judges put through Jordan Clarke through to the final three.
Lastly in Song Battle 3 with the song Bigger Than Us we have Holly Tandy and Michael Rice.
Holly Tandy
Holly’s version of Bigger Than Us is a country pop song that does remind me of Kylie Minogue’s new music. Holly is only seventeen years old but she was able to deliver a strong performance. Holly was giving us something different which the audience loved. The judges loved Holly’s county pop version of this song.
Michael Rice
Michael’s version of Bigger Than Us is your typical Eurovision ballad which can sometimes be a bit predictable. Michael gave a good performance with very strong vocals but I hate to say it but it was one of those performances that you have seen before. The Judges loved Michael extensive range and performance.
The judges unanimously pick Michael Rice go through to the final three, but this was a difficult decision for them to make as they thought this was the strongest battle.
So to recap the judges have put through to the public vote Kerrie-Anne with Sweet Lies, Jordan Clarke with Freaks and Michael Rice with Bigger Than Us. They will perform once again before the voting opens!
Interval performances and first up we have Eurovision’s reigning Queen, Netta performing Toy which of course went down with well the crowd.
Graham Norton has been the BBC’s commentator for the last 10 years, would you believe it! We have a quick VT of his favorite moments of the last ten years.
Next we have SuRie performing a stripped back version of Storm on the piano with a four piece orchestra which was the UK’s entry last year.
Voting closed and while votes are being counted and verified Måns gives us a mash up performance of some of the UK’s famous entries going through the years. Måns was joined by two UK Eurovision winners The Fizz (Bucks Fizz) and Katrina (Katrina and the Waves)
The winner of Eurovision You Decide 2019 and who will represent the United Kingdom in Tel Aviv in May is Michael Rice with the song Bigger Than Us.