Mae Muller pushes for positivity as she embraces the whirlwind chaos that is the Eurovision Song Contest.
After Mae was announced as the UK's representative, her career skyrocketed: touring all across Europe, landing in the Top 40 Charts, gaining thousands of fans all over the world, and becoming a massive contender to keep the contest on British soil.
There are just a few days to go before she hits the stage with I Wrote A Song but she told the Liverpool ECHO she's more excited than nervous. She said: "There are definitely nerves.
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"I think if you didn't it'd be strange. I think I'm more excited about it. I think all the things that could cause me to sort of panic, like all the pressures about it being in the UK and the fact that I'm going last and I know I want to do everyone proud - I think all those things are actually really amazing, exciting things. So I'm focusing on it in a sort of positive way again and thinking how actually really amazing it is that I get to do that."
Liverpool has gone above and beyond to highlight Ukrainian art, music and culture, with the Euroclub just one of the many stand-out venues for fans to enjoy. The 25-year-old stopped by the club herself where she told us about a spontaneous night out with the Eurovision commentator, Rylan.
Mae said: "I did have a night in Euroclub on Sunday night with Rylan. So I feel like I'm, you know, part of the Eurovision family more than ever now. That was like my rite of passage on that. It was so fun to kind of get a little night out in the town and see a bit more of Liverpool.
"I'm here for a little bit on Sunday [after the Grand Final] and I'm pretty sure I'm doing a CD signing which is fun. Then I've got two days off and then I'm rehearsing for festivals!"
In preparation for her Saturday night performance, Mae spoke about the advice last year's entry, Sam Ryder, gave after she was initially announced. She said: "Sam reached out to me to congratulate me and he was just really positive. He sent me a voice note giving me some advice and his main thing was to enjoy it but that everything is so busy.
"He told me it's a whirlwind and I'll be getting pulled in quite a few different directions so it's quite easy to let it pass you by but just take each day as it comes and enjoy it because it really is amazing. I'm really trying to consciously do that each day and enjoy every step of the way."
Mae acts as one of the Eurovision big five with an immediate pass in the final due to the UK's considerable contribution to the European Broadcasting Union. The singer admitted it was a privilege to do so and that she's still determined to do her best.
She said: "I don't want to take it for granted. I am performing at the second from the finals but at least I'm not being judged for that specific performance. So I get that experience and I get to perform it with the crowd so for me I feel like it's sort of worked out in the best way."
Mae is by no means a new artist but her career has catapulted to a new level because of Eurovision. Due to this, an influx of horrible comments comes with the good, but Mae's determined to look at the positives of the experience. She said: "I've been doing this for six years now and I know for a lot of people this is the first time they meet me and it's really exciting.
"But sometimes it can be a bit tricky. It's so easy for people to be mean now but all I want to do is connect with the fans and anytime there have been moments where people are being a bit mean, I found a way to kind of make light of it through social media and that has really really helped me and I think for me, I've really enjoyed being able to use those platforms on this journey.
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