Eurovision: You Decide BBC2, 7.30pm
Stars make their pitch for Lisbon
Last year’s UK Eurovision entry (Lucie Jones with Never Give Up On You, if your memory needs jogging) finished a fairly respectable 15th. But while that’s a marked improvement on the previous two years, it still means it’s been 21 years since we last won — and nine since we even finished in the top five.
Luckily for the acts battling it out tonight to represent the UK in Lisbon, the BBC have brought in a co-presenter who knows a thing or two about Eurovision glory — Måns Zelmerlöw. Not only did he win for Sweden in 2015, he also hosted the ceremony the following year.
Zelmerlöw is joined at the Brighton Dome (which, in another bit of Swedish musical history, was the site of Abba’s victory in 1974) by Eurovision superfan Mel Giedroyc to introduce this year’s hopefuls; Asanda, Goldstone, Jaz Ellington, Liam Tamne, RAYA and SuRie.
Girl group Goldstone have the song with the most stereotypically Eurovision-esque inspirational title, I Feel the Love — everyone else is keeping it simple with a one-word title — while SuRie has the most experience of the contest, having performed as a backing singer at the 2015 and 2017 ceremonies.
But will any of that matter to the viewers at home, whose votes will be combined with the verdict from a panel of experts to decide who is heading to Portugal? And, most importantly, could one of the six acts singing their hearts out tonight go on to overcome two decades of disappointment and bring the competition back to Britain?