Daði Freyr on Eurovision: “It’s not as cool anymore to be a hater”

Sophie Ellis-Bextor is on the shortlist to become the UK’s entry to Eurovision 2024, according to a source.The country was represented by Mae Muller at this month’s home competition in Liverpool, scoring just a few points.As Mail Online report, a source believes that only one name is currently being touted for next year’s entry.The source said: A source shared: “At the moment there is only one artist on the BBC’s list for Eurovision 2024, and they don’t intend to add to it.“Sophie Ellis-Bextor is seen as the ideal fit for the contest – she’s a great singer and performer, and she is already known to audiences, both straight and gay, across Europe.”Speaking to NME backstage after her performance at Liverpool’s Eurovision Village on ‘EuroEve’, the night before the Song Contest’s Grand Final in the city (Friday, May 12), Ellis-Bextor discussed her chances of appearing as the UK’s entry in 2024.“I think doing it is an amazing opportunity, and that Mae Muller will smash it, but it was never the right thing at the right time – and I’m a big believer in serendipity like that,” she said.She continued: “Recent times have seen Eurovision artists release amazing songs outside of it and these amazing careers being launched. Sam Ryder’s approach to it last year where we always just so positive and upbeat just saw him really seize the opportunity a bit.

ABBA have responded to rumours that they are planning to reunite for next year’s edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in their native Sweden.After previous victor Loreen won the competition with her song ‘Tattoo’ earlier this month, rumour spread online that it was all part of a plan to have ABBA reform to mark 50 years of their own Eurovision win as the contest returns to their home country as the 2024 host nation. Now, they have shot down the chances of it happening – even just for one evening.“I don’t want to,” Benny Andersson told the BBC, “and if I don’t want to, the others won’t.

ABBA have denied rumours that they will reunite for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in their native Sweden, on what would be the 50th anniversary of them winning the contest with Waterloo.

Sweden’s win at this year’s Eurovision means that the country will be hosting the event next year as the 50th anniversary of Abba’s victory at the big old song contest passes. How will Abba themselves mark this occasion? Surely by getting together on the Eurovision stage, right? Think again, says the band’s Benny Andersson.Speaking to BBC Newsnight about another anniversary – the first year of their Abba Voyage show in London – Andersson says in an interview set to air tonight that there is “no way” that the band would reunite for next year’s Eurovision.“I don’t want to”, he says bluntly.

The Cure debuted a new song called ‘Another Happy Birthday’ during their first show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles yesterday (May 23).The band are performing three nights at the venue as part of their North American tour, which kicked off earlier this month, with the next two shows scheduled for today (May 24) and tomorrow (May 25).The plaintive new track opens with an extended instrumental section and mournful piano before frontman Robert Smith sings: “It’s harder to hold on / With every passing year / As the memories fade / You slowly disappear.”“And your birthday is the worst day / I’m singing to a ghost / Happy birthday / I forget how it goes,” he goes on. Watch the performance below.It’s possible the new song dates all the way back to 1997, with Smith having mentioned the track name in an interview with MTV at the time, which he described as “unlike anything the Cure have done before.

BBC sign language translator has gone viral after translating the Finnish entry ‘Cha Cha Cha’ into British sign language at the Eurovision final.The upbeat dance track by Käärijä was an early favourite to win the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest 2023. One viewer described the performance as “fucking bonkers and brilliant”, with another adding: “The Eurovision village went wild for Finland…biggest reaction of the night so far.”However, ‘Cha Cha Cha’ ultimately came in at second place to Swedish singer Loreen and her song ‘Tattoo’.BBC sign language translator Adrian Bailey was praised for his enthusiastic performance of the tune.

Eurovision 2023 star Käärijä has spoken to NME about crashing the Top 10 singles chart with his entry ‘Cha Cha Cha’ – as well as the response to the competition, future plans and finding fans in the likes of Rammstein.The singer’s track, fusing rap, metal, electronic and schlager music, proved a favourite among Eurovision viewers at the final of the Song Contest last Saturday (May 13) – winning the audience vote and racking up millions of streams online, but ultimately coming second to Sweden’s entry Loreen.Now, ‘Cha Cha Cha’ has landed at Number Six in the UK singles charts – making it the first Finnish language song to ever land in the Top 10.“It feels great – I wasn’t expecting that,” Käärijä told NME. “I’m just a stupid Finnish guy who did something crazy and then it went viral. I have to take the time to think about what has happened to me because it’s so huge.”He continued: “I don’t know how this happened.

Eurovision 2023 winner Loreen has been announced for The Mighty Hoopla in London next month.The Swedish singer won last weekend’s contest in Liverpool with her song ‘Tattoo’, describing the historic win as “surreal”.She will now join the line-up at the Brockwell Park event, which runs from June 3-4, and her Sunday slot will mark the singer’s first festival performance since winning Eurovision.

After her incredible performance during Saturday’s Eurovision Grand Final, Swedish singer Loreen swept the score board, taking home the highly-coveted trophy. She snatched the top spot with her song Tattoo, making her the first woman to have won the competition twice. But viewers on the night were as much fans of her stage costume, as they were her music.

Loose Women star Janet Street-Porter has made a savage dig at the UK's Eurovision Song Contest entrant Mae Muller, who sadly came second to last after a nail-biting vote on Saturday 13 May. The 76 year old panellist and former journalist weighed in on the UK's low position in the song contest, following Sam Ryder's rare second place in 2022, and she didn't hold back.The competition, which was held in the UK for the first time in 25 years, ended up giving the trophy to Loreen of Sweden and her powerhouse ballad Tattoo, who had won once before. Finland came second, Noa Kirel of Israel then came in third, and Italy was fourth.

Last year’s Ukrainian Eurovision winners have invited the Princess of Wales to tour with them after she played the piano in a surprise appearance during the opening performance of this year’s contest. Kate Middleton played a pre-recorded instrumental piece, created by Joe Price and Kojo Samuel, during the performance by Kalush Orchestra.The hip-hop folk band congratulated the princess on her “impressive” piano skills and thanked her for joining them, saying it highlighted the “depth of support” the UK had for the war-torn country.The band said in a statement: “We want to thank HRH Princess of Wales for joining us for our performance.

Following an admittedly disappointing result at last night’s Eurovision Song Contest, the UK has got behind our entry, with Mae Muller’s I Wrote A Song heading for the Top 10 for the first time.

Eurovision winner Loreen has responded to her “surreal” historic win at the competition last night (May 13).Sweden were the bookies favourite to win ahead of the final in Liverpool, with Loreen’s song ‘Tattoo’ having odds of 4/9 on bet365 to win on the day of the grand final. The song has proved a hit, climbing to the top of the charts across Europe and reaching number three on the UK charts – the highest chart position for a non-UK Eurovision entry since 1987.The win made Eurovision history, with Loreen becoming the first woman to win the competition twice, following her victory in 2012 with the track ‘Euphoria’.

Eurovision Song Contest final was the most watched grand final in the competition’s history, the BBC has said.The final of the competition, which was held in Liverpool, attracted an average of 9.9 million viewers, with a peak of 11 million. This represented a 63 per cent share of the audience overall.The last ratings peak occurred in 2011 when an average of 9.5 million watched.

Eurovision contestant Daði Freyr appeared at Eurovision 2023 last night (May 13), and fans loved his “epic version” of Atomic Kitten during the final.During one segment of the show, previous Eurovision contestants paid tribute to Liverpool’s music history during a song medley and Freyr, who represented Iceland at the competition in 2021, appeared in this part to cover Atomic Kitten’s 2000 hit ‘Whole Again’.Fans on social media felt it was one of the best of the night, with one writing that the cover was “incredible” and another saying it was an “epic version”.Check out the cover and more fan reaction below:I made a cover of the Atomic Kitten song Whole Again!It’s out in a few hours!Also tune in to @Eurovision tonight because I’m gonna be performing live in front of a Eurovision audience for the first time!@bbceurovision pic.twitter.com/pBr9f9sp0m— Daði Freyr

Eurovision entrant Mae Muller has issued a statement in response to a disappointing result in last night’s (May 13) finale, which saw the UK finish second from last.Sweden’s Loreen was crowned the overall winner in the final, after earning a score of 583 points. Sweden were the bookies favourite to win ahead of the final in Liverpool, with Loreen’s song ‘Tattoo’ having odds of 4/9 on bet365 to win on the day of the grand finale.The win made Eurovision history, with Loreen becoming the first woman to win the competition twice, following her victory in 2012 with the track ‘Euphoria’.After the jury votes, Sweden stood in first place at 340 points.

Mae Muller has said she is “proud of everyone” as she admitted her second-from-bottom Eurovision finish was “not the result we hoped for”.The London-born singer took to the stage in Liverpool for the Eurovision Song Contest final but finished 25th with I Wrote A Song, claiming 24 points. Germany was the only nation to finish below the UK, on 18 points.

TVORCHI took to the stage at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.The electronic music duo – comprised of producer Andrii Hutsuliak and vocalist Jimoh Kehinde – performed their song ‘Heart Of Steel’ at this year’s contest, placing sixth in the final tally with 243 votes. Just 10 minutes before their performance went down, reports of Ternopil being bombed started to emerge.

Eurovision has officially ended for another year, and of course, fans on social media had no shortage of hot takes, conspiracy theories and memes.The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest was hosted last night (May 13) at Liverpool Arena; Sweden came in first place with 583 points, followed by Finland and Israel. Viewers seemed to be divided on the final ranking, with some opining that Finnish artist Käärijä should have won for his campy and unusual ‘Cha Cha Cha’, while others found Loreen‘s ‘Tattoo’ to be a fitting winner. “Massive congrats to [Loreen], who lit up the [Eurovision 2023] stage for [Sweden] (for the second time!) with her current stunning song ‘Tattoo’!” wrote Erik Ramanathan, the US’ official Ambassador to the kingdom of Sweden.

Loreen won the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden, ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus addressed viewers at home with a special message on the annual show’s impact.“The lives of some of the acts that you’ve seen tonight could be about to change forever,” Ulvaeus said in a video filmed remotely, aired while votes for this year’s grand finalists were being counted. “When ABBA walked onto that stage, we couldn’t even have imagined, 50 years later, we would have a museum about us, and that we would perform as avatars in ABBA Voyage.“Our international success all began with Eurovision.