Bigger than Us (Michael Rice song)

Last updated

Eurovision: You Decide

The song was chosen at Eurovision: You Decide by the British public and three judges selected by the BBC. After receiving confirmation from the three judges, Michael won the final, beating Jordan Clarke with the song "Freaks" and Kerrie-Anne with the song "Sweet Lies".

The song was originally chosen for Melodifestivalen 2019 to be performed by Swedish singer-songwriter John Lundvik, however Lundvik decided on another song and entered "Bigger than Us" to Eurovision: You Decide as a songwriter. [2]

Lundvik won Melodifestivalen 2019 with his song "Too Late for Love", and competed against "Bigger than Us" in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. [3] Lundvik finished 5th.

In Tel Aviv

As the United Kingdom is a member of the "Big Five", the song automatically advanced to the grand final, which was held on 18 May 2019 at the Expo Tel Aviv in pavilion 2.

Grand Final

The song finished 26th with a total of 11 points in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 grand final in Tel Aviv, becoming the 4th act from the United Kingdom to finish last in the grand final.

Critical reception

Charlotte Runcie of The Daily Telegraph approved of the choice of song for the United Kingdom's Eurovision entry, praising Michael Rice's vocals and calling the track "a perfectly respectable Eurovision-friendly power ballad with a key change. Nothing special but, crucially, nothing embarrassing." [4]

Charts

"Bigger than Us"
Bigger Than Us-Michael Rice.jpg
Single by Michael Rice
Released8 March 2019
Recorded2018
Length2:58
Label Spinnup
Songwriter(s)
Michael Rice singles chronology
"Bruised"
(2018)
"Bigger than Us"
(2019)
"Somebody"
(2019)
Music video
"Bigger than Us" on YouTube
Chart (2019)Peak
position
Scotland (OCC) [5] 35
Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan) [6] 8
UK Singles Downloads (OCC) [7] 27

Related Research Articles

Melodifestivalen 2005 was the 45th edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen, which was organised by Sveriges Television (SVT) and took place over a five-week period between 12 February and 6 March 2005. The winner of the competition was Martin Stenmarck with the song "Las Vegas", who represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, where he came nineteenth with 30 points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UK national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest</span> BBC TV show

Eurovision: You Decide is the most recent name of a BBC television programme that was broadcast annually to select the United Kingdom's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The show had previously gone under several other names, including Festival of British Popular Songs (1957), Eurovision Song Contest British Final (1959–1960), The Great British Song Contest (1996–1999), Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up (2004–2007), Eurovision: Your Decision (2008), and Eurovision: Your Country Needs You (2009–2010), but was known, for most of its history, as A Song for Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest</span>

Sweden has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 62 times since making its debut in 1958, missing only three contests since then. Since 1959, the Swedish entry has been chosen through an annual televised competition, known since 1967 as Melodifestivalen. At the 1997 contest, Sweden was one of the first five countries to adopt televoting. Sweden has hosted the contest six times: three times in Stockholm, twice in Malmö and once in Gothenburg (1985); and is set to host for a seventh time in 2024 in Malmö.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Måns Zelmerlöw</span> Swedish singer and television presenter

Måns Petter Albert Sahlén Zelmerlöw is a Swedish pop singer and television presenter. He took part in Idol 2005, eventually finishing fifth, won the first season of Let's Dance, and scored a hit with his 2007 song "Cara Mia", which was his entry in that year's Melodifestivalen. Zelmerlöw was the host of Allsång på Skansen from 2011 to 2013. He participated in Melodifestivalen in 2007, 2009 and won in 2015. Zelmerlöw represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Heroes", winning the contest with 365 points. Zelmerlöw and Petra Mede co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 held in Stockholm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loulou Lamotte</span> Swedish singer

Louise "Loulou" Lamotte is a Swedish singer. Since 2019 she has been a member of the vocal group The Mamas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvaro Estrella</span> Swedish singer

Álvaro Raúl Estrella Zapata is a Swedish singer and dancer with Chilean origin who has participated four times in Melodifestivalen, the selection process for picking the Swedish entry to the Eurovision Song Contest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Ajax</span> Swedish singer, and winner of Idol 2014

Lisa Kristina Ajax is a Swedish singer. Ajax began her career after winning Idol 2014, and is also known for her five Melodifestivalen participations, having qualified to the final on four occasions.

The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "You're Not Alone" written by Matt Schwartz, Justin J. Benson and S. Kanes. The song was performed by Joe and Jake. The British entry for the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden was selected via the national final Eurovision: You Decide, organised by the British broadcaster BBC. Six acts competed in the national final and the winner was selected entirely through a public vote.

Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "I Can't Go On" written by David Kreuger, Hamed "K-One" Pirouzpanah and Robin Stjernberg. The song was performed by Robin Bengtsson. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organised the national final Melodifestivalen 2017 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. After a six-week-long competition consisting of four heats, a Second Chance round and a final, "I Can't Go On" performed by Robin Bengtsson emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from eleven international jury groups and a public vote.

Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organised the national final Melodifestivalen 2018 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. After a six-week-long competition consisting of four heats, a Second Chance round and a final, "Dance You Off" performed by Benjamin Ingrosso emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from eleven international jury groups and a public vote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Lundvik</span> Swedish singer

John Lundvik is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and former sprinter. He was part of the athletic team for IFK Växjö. Lundvik also has a singing and songwriter career having composed songs for films and the Wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling in 2010.

Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organised the national final Melodifestivalen 2019 in order to select the Swedish entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel. After a six-week-long competition consisting of four heats, a Second Chance round and a final, "Too Late for Love" performed by John Lundvik emerged as the winner after achieving the highest score following the combination of votes from eight international juries and a public vote.

The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Bigger than Us" written by Laurell Barker, Anna-Klara Folin, John Lundvik and Jonas Thander. The song was performed by Michael Rice. Songwriter John Lundvik represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest the same year with the song "Too Late for Love". The British entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel was selected via the national final Eurovision: You Decide, organised by the British broadcaster BBC. Six acts competed in the national final and the winner was selected through two rounds of voting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melodifestivalen 2019</span> Swedish music competition

Melodifestivalen 2019 was the 59th edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen and was held between 2 February 2019 and 9 March 2019. Presenters were Sarah Dawn Finer, Kodjo Akolor, Marika Carlsson and Eric Saade. Edward af Sillén returned as a consultant and adviser, producing various interval acts for the hosts. The winner of the contest is John Lundvik with the song "Too Late for Love". He represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel, finishing in 5th place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Rice (singer)</span> British singer

Michael Rice is a British pop singer. He represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel with the song "Bigger than Us", placing in last place at 26th. Prior to this, he won the first series of BBC One's singing competition All Together Now in 2018, and also appeared in the eleventh series of The X Factor in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Too Late for Love (John Lundvik song)</span> 2019 song by John Lundvik

"Too Late for Love" is a song by Swedish singer John Lundvik. The song was performed for the first time in Melodifestivalen 2019, where it made it to the final. It is Lundvik's first single since "My Turn", and reached number one on the Sverigetopplistan singles chart in March 2019. It eventually won Melodifestivalen 2019, and represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel. It was performed during the second semi-final on 16 May 2019, and qualified for the final. It finished in fifth place with 334 points.

<i>My Turn</i> (EP) 2019 EP by John Lundvik

My Turn is the debut EP by Swedish singer and songwriter John Lundvik. It was released on 10 May 2019 by Warner Music Sweden. The EP includes the singles "My Turn" and "Too Late for Love". The EP peaked at number 39 on the Swedish Albums Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Mamas</span> Swedish soul and gospel group

The Mamas are a Swedish-American soul and gospel group. They won Melodifestivalen 2020 with their single "Move", which reached number one in Sweden in March 2020.

Sweden participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with "Hold Me Closer" performed by Cornelia Jakobs. The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) organised Melodifestivalen 2022 in order to select its entry for the contest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hold Me Closer (Cornelia Jakobs song)</span> 2022 song by Cornelia Jakobs

"Hold Me Closer" is a song by Swedish singer and songwriter Cornelia Jakobs, released as a single on 26 February 2022. It represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, after winning the Melodifestivalen 2022 final with 146 points. At Eurovision, Jakobs performed 17th of the 18 acts in the second semi-final, where she qualified for the grand final. In the grand final, she performed 20th of 25th acts and finished in fourth place in the Eurovision grand final with 438 points.

References

  1. "Eurovision 2019: Why Michael Rice believes he can break the UK's losing streak". BBC News. 2019-02-08. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  2. "SVT tvingade John Lundvik att byta låt". Aftonbladet. 22 February 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  3. Nyheter, S. V. T.; Eriksson, Hedvig (2019-03-09). "John Lundvik vann Melodifestivalen". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  4. Runcie, Charlotte (8 February 2019). "Eurovision: You Decide, review - A fun, slightly shambolic show that finally picked the right song". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  5. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  6. "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 21". Sverigetopplistan . Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  7. "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 May 2019.