Embers (James Newman song)

Last updated

Newman was selected to represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "My Last Breath", before the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. On 19 February 2021, the British broadcaster BBC announced that Newman was again internally selected for the 2021 contest, that will be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands. [7]

As a member of the Big Five, the United Kingdom automatically qualified for the final on 22 May 2021. The United Kingdom was the ninth country to perform, following Serbia and preceding Greece.

The song scored zero points ("nul points") from both the jury vote and the audience televote, becoming the first entry to do so since the jury vote and televotes were split in 2016. It is also the second UK entry to receive no points in the country's history at the competition.

Reviews

The song received mixed reviews. Roisin O'Connor of The Independent gave the song three out of five stars. O'Connor stated that "Newman delivers these lyrics in charismatic whoops – he actually sounds like a children's entertainer – so you can forgive the clichés. And anyway, as he's probably noticed, Eurovision judges are fans of a few clichés. So nice one, James. It probably won't get the coveted douze points, but it will raise more smiles than our usual efforts." [8]

Jochan Embley of the Evening Standard also rated the song three out of five stars overall, feeling that "This feel-good dance-pop bop should be more than enough to avoid any nil points catastrophe". Embley also stated that "It is a pretty by-the-numbers dance-pop track – with some faint steel dreams in the intro, plucky pianos and hand claps in the chorus, and fairly ambiguous lyrics about how 'you and I are gonna light up the room' – but it's most certainly the most fun this nation has had with its entry since the ever so slightly unhinged electro swing of 'Still in Love with You' from 2015." [9]

Charts

"Embers"
James Newman - Embers.jpg
Single by James Newman
Released11 March 2021
Genre Dance-pop
Length2:55
Label BMG [1]
Songwriter(s)
James Newman singles chronology
"Alone"
(2020)
"Embers"
(2021)
Music video
"Embers" on YouTube
Chart performance for "Embers"
Chart (2021)Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders) [10] 47
Lithuania (AGATA) [11] 45
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [12] 80
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [13] 97
UK Singles (OCC) [14] 47
UK Indie (OCC) [15] 7

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [16] Platinum90,000Double-dagger-14-plain.png

Double-dagger-14-plain.png Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest</span> Overview of the United Kingdom in Eurovision

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Can (Blue song)</span> 2011 song by Blue

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">You're Not Alone (Joe and Jake song)</span>

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James Richard Newman is a British singer and songwriter. During the 2014 Brit Awards, he won the Brit Award for British Single of the Year as a co-writer of "Waiting All Night", a song by English band Rudimental. Newman was selected to represent the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song, "My Last Breath" before its cancellation. He instead represented the country in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Embers”, which came in last place with nul points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">My Last Breath</span> Song by James Newman

"My Last Breath" is a song by James Newman that would have represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam. It serves as the lead single from Newman's debut EP The Things We Do. The song was released as a digital download on 27 February 2020. The song was written by Newman, Ed Drewett, Adam Argyle and Iain James.

The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Embers" written by James Newman, Conor Blake, Danny Shah, Tom Hollings and Samuel Brennan. The song was performed by James Newman, who was internally selected by the British broadcaster BBC to represent the United Kingdom at the 2021 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands after he was due to compete in the 2020 contest with "My Last Breath" before the event's cancellation. Newman was announced as the British entrant on 19 February 2021, while the song "Embers" was presented to the public on 11 March 2021.

The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy. British singer and songwriter Sam Ryder represented the country with his song "Space Man", co-written with Max Wolfgang and Amy Wadge. He was selected as the 2022 UK entrant by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in collaboration with TaP Music record label and their management company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space Man</span> 2022 single by Sam Ryder

"Space Man" is a 2022 single released by British singer and songwriter Sam Ryder, through Parlophone Records. It represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, after being internally selected through TaP Music and the BBC, the British broadcaster for the Eurovision Song Contest. It was co-written by Ryder alongside Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Amy Wadge and Max Wolfgang in London, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a year before it was chosen as the UK entry for Eurovision. The song is featured on Ryder's debut album There's Nothing but Space, Man!, set to be released on 18 November 2022.

References

  1. Luukela, Sami (10 March 2021). "James Newman to sing "Embers" at Eurovision 2021". ESC Extra. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021.
  2. "James Newman will sing 'Embers' for the UK at Eurovision 2021!". BBC. Archived from the original on 11 March 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  3. Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (11 March 2021). "UK's 2021 Eurovision entry revealed: Embers by James Newman". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 11 March 2021. The UK's entry to the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest has been revealed: a high-energy dance-pop track by James Newman, entitled Embers.
  4. Washak, James (10 March 2021). "United Kingdom: James Newman's Eurovision Entry Is Titled "Embers"". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021.
  5. "Italy wins Eurovision Song Contest, UK comes last". BBC News. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  6. Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (11 March 2021). "UK's 2021 Eurovision entry revealed: Embers by James Newman". MSN. Archived from the original on 11 March 2021.
  7. 1 2 Holden, Steve (19 February 2021). "Eurovision Song Contest 2021: James Newman reselected as UK's entry". BBC News. Archived from the original on 19 February 2021.
  8. "James Newman's Eurovision song is the most bonkers UK entry in a while – review". The Independent. 11 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  9. Embley, Jochan (11 March 2021). "James Newman's Eurovision song is the most fun we've had in years". Evening Standard. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  10. "James Newman – Embers" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  11. "2021 21-os SAVAITĖS (gegužės 21-27 d.) SINGLŲ TOP100" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 28 May 2021. Archived from the original on 28 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  12. "James Newman – Embers" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  13. "James Newman – Embers". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  14. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  15. "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  16. "Danish single certifications – James Newman – Embers". IFPI Danmark . Retrieved 7 March 2022. Scroll through the page-list below until year 2021 to obtain certification.