From McDonalds to Eurovision – Michael Rice has made a huge journey so far, and now he’s destined for even bigger things. The 21 year old singer won the public vote on the United Kingdom’s national selection show for ESC, and he will be heading to Tel-Aviv, Israel with the emotional ballad “Bigger Than Us”.
Six hopefuls battled for the chance to sing their song in front of millions, by name Holly Tandy, Jordan Clarke, MAID, Kerrie Anne, Anisa and the winner Michael Rice. They had three songs to perform, so they could go head-to-head to see who could do the same song the best.
The lucky winners of each songs were picked by the jury, then the audience had 100% of the decision-making power. After Michael saw off competition from Kerrie-Anne and Jordan Clarke to win the coveted spot in the finals, it was announced at the end of the show that the singer, who was given a standing ovation by the jurors, will fly the UK flag to Israel.
The judges loved him, the audience loved him and most people on Twitter loved him too. Will he now bring the expected success at the grandiose event for his country, and will he finally bring a huge win to the United Kingdom after 22 long years?
Let’s find out together in no more than 94 days! Announced acts so far are Srbuk for Armenia, Tamta for Cyprus, Jonida Maliqi for Albania, Eliot for Belgium, Miki for Spain, Serhat for San Marino, Duncan Laurence for The Netherlands, Tamara Todevska for FYR Macedonia, Michela Pace for Malta, Bilal Hassani for France, Lake Malawi for the Czech Republic, PÆNDA for Austria, and Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman for Finland. The other countries are expected to reveal their acts in the forthcoming months.
The 2019 Eurovision Song Contest will be hosted at the Expo Tel Aviv in Israel after Netta won last year with the song “Toy”. The two Semi-Finals will take place on 14 May and 16 May with the Grand Final taking place on 18 May. A total of 42 countries will compete in the contest.