The six artists vying to become the United Kingdom’s entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 were unveiled this week by the BBC. One of the artists is Michael Rice, a 21 year-old singer from Hartlepool who first gained attention when he participated in (and won) the BBC entertainment show ‘All Together Now’.
The BBC’s selection process sees a twist this year, with six artists competing, but with just three songs between them. Each song will be performed in two different styles by two different artists. A panel will then choose their favourite version of the three songs, at which point the responsibility will pass to the viewers to decide the ultimate winner
In ‘Eurovision: You Decide’, Michael will perform the song ‘Bigger Than Us’ which is written by Jonas Thander, Anna-Klara Folin, John Lundvik and Laurell Barker. They are a very experienced songwriting team, Jonas wrote ‘I’ve Been Waiting For This Night’ for Donny Montell (Lithuania 2016), and co-wrote My Turn with Anna-Karin for Jphn Lundvik to perofrm at Sweden’s Melodifestivalen 2018. Laurell co-wrote the 2018 swiss entry ‘Stones’.
We met with Michael and he shared his thoughts with us about the process, his view of the alternative version of the song (performed by Holly Tandy), and his own personal journey to the competition and the whirlwind of emotions since his participation was announced.
You can listen to Michael’s version of ‘Bigger Than Us’ here:
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