The act representing the United Kingdom at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest has finally been revealed.
On Thursday (9 March), it was announced on Zoe Ball’s BBC Radio 2 breakfast show that 25-year-old Londoner Mae Muller will be the UK’s entry for 2023.
Muller, who made the announcement herself in the studio, won fans after supporting Little Mix on tour in 2019. The singer has amassed more than six million streams on Spotify for songs such as “Close” and “Better Days”.
The latter track earned a place in the top 10 in the US, and she performed it on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
For Eurovision, Muller will be performing her track “I Wrote a Song”. She is the first female act the UK has had for five years, and she was born in the year that the UK last won, when Katrina and the Waves sang “Love Shine a Light” in 1997.
The singer takes up the mantle from Sam Ryder who, after years of UK acts getting underwhelming Eurovision results, placed second to Ukraine in 2022.
Muller said she has been keeping the news secret for about two months, telling Ball: “The words have been on my lips, in my soul, in my nails.”
Rylan, who is one of the 2023 presenters, was also in the studio and said that Eurovision is like “gay Christmas” for him every year. He called Muller’s song an “earworm”.
Euovision ruled that it was too dangerous to host the competition in Ukraine this year, so it is taking place in Liverpool instead.
Earlier this week, tickets for the event in May sold out in half an hour.
There had been rumours that Rina Sawayama would be this year’s act, with names such as Birdy and Mimi Webb also thrown in the mix.
Eurovision week kicks off on Monday 8 May, with semi-finals taking place on Tuesday 9 and Thursday 11 May. The grand finale will then take place on Saturday 13 May.
Tickets went on sale on Tuesday (7 March) at midday for all three televised shows, as well as six previews. The events will be taking place at the ACC Liverpool arena.
