I Wrote A Song by Mae Muller.
What a difference a year makes! When the double nul points came through for James Newman in 2021 it was hard to imagine that just 12 months later the United Kingdom would be winning the jury vote and finishing second overall behind Ukraine. Little did we know at the time that 12 months on from that we’d be standing on the brink of a UK-hosted Eurovision, albeit in a caretaker role.
So how to follow Sam Ryder? And with the added pressure of being the home entry? Sam’s boots may be big to fill but step forward Mae Muller, a sassy young singer songwriter on an upward trajectory in her short career. The boots seem to fit just fine.
Mae’s diss-track hits just the right spot. It’s a song of hurt and revenge, but not the kind of urgent revenge that sees her wanting to smash up their car and bad-mouth them to everyone. Mae’s revenge comes in her barbed words as she heads out on the town with her girlfriends. It has a hint of flamenco and is a proper banger.
Ok, ok, so some of the live performances at the preview parties could have been better vocally, but these are neither choreographed or mixed for TV so I’m not overly worried about this at this stage. There’s plenty of opportunity to perfect this. In fact, we’ll be waiting longer than for any other song as Mae has been randomly drawn in last place of the final. The arena is going to be pumped for this, and the atmosphere is going to be wild!
I love this. It’s the kind of thing I’ve wanted the UK to bring for years and will hopefully bring a solid top 10 result that the BBC can use to court more credible artists and songwriters. A post-Eurovision career bounce even half as big as Sam’s would be a massive success for any artist so I hope those managers of new talent are paying attention. It might even be my favourite ever home entry.
My marks: DOUZE POINTS!