The BBC recently announced news of the UK’s national selection show, “Eurovision: You Decide” for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. It’s pretty similar to last year’s show, with some subtle changes which will certainly be interesting to watch, although it may not score a victory for the UK.
One major thing they kept from last year is the hosts; yes, that’s right, Mel Giedroyc and Måns Zelmerlöw will be returning to the stage to present the competition, however, the official location of the show has moved to BBC’s MediaCity Hub in Salford.
The biggest change this year is that there will be two rounds and only three songs. There will still be six acts, however in the first round each song will be paired up with two of the acts, and they will each sing it in their own styles, the winners from each song will go through to the final to determine which act will represent the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. So, to clarify, the first round will determine which of two acts will sing each song, and the final round will determine the UK representative.
It sounds complex but it’s not too far of a stretch from Unser Song 2017, which Germany used to choose their representative, although it didn’t work out the way they had hoped as Levina won both the song rounds, leading to the final being herself vs herself; furthermore, she came 25th – second to last – in the Grand Final. However, Germany previously used the format in 2010 and won with Lena’s “Satellite”, and in 2012 where they came eighth with Roman Lob’s “Standing Still”.
The Creative Director for Entertainment BBC Studios and Executive Producer of Eurovision: You Decide, Mel Balac, said of the changes: “This year the three songs presented to the United Kingdom have been selected with the help of an international jury. Our exciting ‘euro-version’ format will give fans the chance to compare and contrast these fantastic songs in a fresh, new way and deliver the United Kingdom the artist it deserves to fly the flag out in Tel Aviv in May.”
There is also a new head of delegation for the UK, who is Andrew Cartmell, whose previous credits as producer are Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two, Let It Shine, and All Together Now.
The UK’s national selection show, Eurovision: You Decide, will be shown sometime in February 2019. Last year, the UK sent SuRie with “Storm” which earned 48 points placing her 24th. Can the UK do better this year? We’ll have to wait to find out.