Mae Muller will represent the UK at Eurovision in May, the BBC has revealed.
The 25-year-old will step on stage in Liverpool, hoping to replicate the success of Sam Ryder, who finished in second place last year and topped the jury votes leaderboard.
She’ll be singing her track I Wrote A Song – a catchy dance track about a cheating ex-boyfriend.
After keeping the news secret for two months, she called representing her country in the contest “honestly a dream”.
Other acts who had been rumoured to be in the running had included Mimi Webb, Rina Sawayama and Birdy.
Who chooses the act?
The BBC uses internal selection to choose its Eurovision performance, after a string of disappointing results in recent years (including two last place finishes in a row) prompted a rethink.
It works with record label TaP Music to find the artist and song.
Tap Music bosses Ben Mawson and Ed Millett said in a statement that they “have always been fans of Mae for her voice, songs and star charisma” and said they knew from the moment they met her “she would be an incredible ambassador for the UK at Eurovision”.
Earlier this week, tickets to the grand final sold out in just 36 minutes, with all nine shows selling out in just an hour-and-a-half.
While the 11,000-capacity Liverpool Arena may be packed out, people can still head to the fan zone in Liverpool, or watch the whole week unfold on the BBC.
Kalush Orchestra, a Ukrainian rap group, won the contest last year, but it was deemed unsafe to hold 2023’s event in the country due to the ongoing conflict.
Ryder performed for the UK last year in Turin, Italy, finishing in second place, with the BBC offering to step in and host on Ukraine’s behalf.
Who is Mae Muller?
Mae Muller started writing her own music aged 8, and signed with her manager in 2017 after being discovered singing on Instagram. At the time she was working in a pub.
The north London-born singer will be the first female entrant for the UK since SuRie competed in 2018 with Storm, coming 24th.
Coincidentally she was born in 1997 – the same year the UK last won Eurovision with Katrina And The Waves’ Love Shine A Light.
Read more:
Eurovision final tickets sell out in 36 minutes
Mae Muller: How do you become a breakout music star in lockdown?
She has 126,000 followers on Instagram and more than 6.1 million monthly listeners on Spotify, credits Prince and Sade as her early musical influences, and says Gwen Stefani, Florence Welch and Lily Allen have all inspired her in more recent years.
She has worked with chart-topping acts including girl group Little Mix, rapper Aitch and music producer and DJ Sigala.
In 2019, Muller supported Little Mix on their LM5 tour, an experience she described to Sky News as “surreal” and “amazing”.
She explained: “It was such a confidence boost for me… I was actually quite surprised at how quickly I got into it. The first show I was like, I can’t do this, I’m so scared, but by the third show I was just walking out there like, bring it on”.
“It kind of made me believe even more that this is what I’m supposed to do. And it was so amazing to be on a tour of that scale and the girls were so welcoming and nice. I think it made me more eager to achieve that on my own… [it was] an irreplaceable experience.”
Click to subscribe to Backstage wherever you get your podcasts
Who is hosting the show?
The hosting team will include the Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina, alongside TV star and singer Alesha Dixon, and Ted Lasso actress Hannah Waddingham.
Graham Norton, who has commentated on Eurovision since 2009, will join the three hosts for the final. He will share commentating duties with actress and comedian Mel Giedroyc.
The Eurovision grand final will take place at the Liverpool Arena Saturday 13 May and air live on the BBC from 8pm.
