UK confirms participation and announces new selection method
Exciting news from the British Isles! This morning the BBC posted on their official Eurovision blog confirming the United Kingdom's participation in the contest to be held in Rotterdam next May.
In the post, they announced that the BBC will be collaborating with record label BMG in order to find a song and artist(s) for next years contest. After the UK has been finishing in the bottom five during the last few years, this could be considered a hopeful and smart selection move by the British broadcaster.
The BBC said they had approached many record labels in regards to a collaboration for the Eurovision Song Contest but BMG stood out to them amongst the rest, saying that it 'shared the BBC and BBC Studios' vision of selecting a song with broad international appeal'.
BMG's UK music publishing and recording team based in London will be working closely with the BBC during the collaboration, the chosen entry for Eurovision 2020 will be then published and released by BMG.
BMG's track record with releasing number one albums and singles by world class musicians is impressive, and could be seen as a relief for British Eurovision fans. BMG has published popular tracks such as 'Shotgun' by George Ezra, 'Someone You Love' by Lewis Capaldi and 'I'll Be There' by Jess Glynne, just to name a few.
The record label is no stranger to the Eurovision Song Contest by any means, though. In 2015, BMG published the 2015 Swedish winning entry, 'Heroes' by Måns Zelmerlöw. The label also signed Netta in 2018 after her win for Israel in Lisbon.
The Creative Director for BBC Studios, Mel Balac, said: "The Eurovision Song Contest is a huge global event and it’s exciting that our collaboration with BMG marks an important turning point for the UK at Eurovision. We very much hope this marks the start of an exciting new chapter."
The United Kingdom was represented by Michael Rice in Tel Aviv in May with the song "Bigger Than Us", which finished last in the final. You can check out his performance below:
What do you think about the BBC's decision for Rotterdam 2020? Let us know down below in the comments or on our social media!
