We’re still waiting to hear the six songs that will compete in “Eurovision: You Decide” — the UK’s national selection for Eurovision 2016. But today the BBC gave us some exciting news to chew on as we wait, revealing that Eurovision 2015 winner Måns Zelmerlöw and Eurovision 1997 queen Katrina Leskanich will reprise their winning entries during the show!
#Eurovision Heroes @manszelmerlow and @KatrinasWeb will be perfoming on #Eurovision You Decide! 26th Feb @BBCFour pic.twitter.com/62YaZ2FTfc
— BBC Eurovision (@bbceurovision) January 22, 2016
Måns is currently turning heads Down Under as a special guest at the Australian Open.
During his last visit to the U.K., he performed at London’s Heaven, drawing a huge crowd and winning over countless new fans. Those tight pants didn’t hurt at all…
“Back in Sweden we have a show called Melodifestivalen, and the winner of that goes on to perform at Eurovision,” he said in the statement published by the Beeb. “I qualified via that process last year so I have a good idea of how everyone will be feeling on that stage. It’s certainly nerve-racking but very exciting too knowing that you could be heading to Eurovision! I am going to be wishing them all the very best of luck.”
Katrina, who won Eurovision with her emotional ballad “Love Shine a Light,” is over the moon to share the stage with Måns — and keen to inspire this year’s hopefuls.
“I can’t believe it has been nearly 20 years since we won the contest back in 1997,” Katrina said. “It’s definitely time for another UK win in the competition! Eurovision is a very special event and is something that stays with you forever — it’s always an honour to perform to such passionate crowds and it is a thrill to be doing it again at the UK National Final.”
Whether she thinks the UK can win is another matter. Speaking to wiwibloggs at London Pride in 2014, she said that the outcome is rarely just about the music.
Eurovision: You Decide will take place on February 26 inside The O2 Forum Kentish Town.
The six competing acts will be revealed on February 22 on The Ken Bruce Show on BBC Radio 2.
@lily: Just quoting you here: “Do you really believe Måns Zelmerlöw only reached 27th place (an all time low in his career)”. And I never said I didn’t like Mans. Not my favorite singer of course, but he’s ok and looks like a nice guy.
@racal What? I’m saying this is a low in his career? How did you get that? And yes I’m implying the second single AFTER Eurovision enjoyed some success (@dutchie should have gone home/je ne suis qu’un homme is in the top 20 of most played song on Virgin radio france so maybe they can share some spotlight?). Anyway this discussion is pointless. You don’t like him and I do. And like you said – time will tell.
@lily: Ok I’ll learn to read the charts properly, while you’ll simply learn to read: you said that “his SECOND SINGLE stayed on the world top 200 for at least 10 weeks” (implying that it enjoyed some success somehow), to which I replied “his SECOND SINGLE did not chart anywhere except Sweden, and even there it only got up to the 27th place”. One more time: SECOND SINGLE (after Eurovision), not Mans’ career as a whole. And if according to your own terms this is a low in his career even though it directly followed Eurovision, that only confirms what… Read more »
Sure, Måns is the winner and as such he has garnered some attention, but if you look at the longer term, interestingly Loic Nottet is already approaching him in terms of Facebook and Twitter followers… he’s on his way to becoming a major star in the French speaking world, and maybe outside of that as well. I don’t see that happening with Måns, I’m sorry.
Actually if you want an accurate representation of Swedish chart you should look at the Digilistan, it’s a list of the most streamed records here in Sweden. That looks at Spotify, ITunes and all services combined. Even our radio is using that list as a countdown. Who ever gets number 1 there is the official number 1, streaming is really big here. The “regular” chart is not used as much, since that only counts actual CD-records bought and no one is buying records here any-more. “Should’ve gone home” was a big hit here. Digitally, on Spotify, ITunes and other services… Read more »
@mad-professor Well don’t forget to count “Svensktoppen”, our own “typical chart”, and don’t forget the album chart, where the single was included… and don’t forget all the “modern radiostations” (that usually don’t count in the old fashion world stastistics) like Mix Megapol and NRJ. Hm, well… In total his latest single SHGH is in fact within the top 6 played songs (of ALL worldwide songs) in Sweden 2015 (and within the top 200 of the world). Yes.
@lily
The charts say differently…
http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=M%E5ns+Zelmerl%F6w&titel=Should%27ve+Gone+Home&cat=s
@racal Nothing much to say but..Learn to read the charts properly! Do you really believe Måns Zelmerlöw only reached 27th place (an all time low in his career) in the Swedish charts after winning Eurovision? You could put 2 and 2 together and you’ll foud out which song is really the most played in Sweden. But nevermind.
My point is just that everybody’s always complaining that the Brits are not interested in Eurovision anymore, and who do they invite to their national final? Someone that probably nobody in the UK knows… That’s not my definition of “big guns”.
@lily: Sure, Mans is the new Michael Jackson. 😉 (And btw, I just wiki-checked: his second single did not chart anywhere except Sweden, and even there it only got up to the… 27th place). I’ll copy-paste what I said: the guy is not bad, but he’s just another Eurovision “forgotten in 24 hours” winner.
What’s wrong here?!! This post is just about how Måns Zelmerlöw is gonna appear on the UK’s national finals, but ends up about how he’s failed everything?? @Racal So you don’t really remember him? Well, luckily enough there seems to be a lot of other people who did; like AUSopen, Gay Times, BBC and SVT (he’s gonna be the host you know..) among others. @dutchie His musical career is “dead in the water” yet somehow his second single stayed on the world top 200 for at least 10 weeks..? And @MTD – you actually memorised a (fitting) line from an… Read more »
To be fair, almost all of the winners won’t have a career outside of their home land and various ESC-related projects. The days of ESC being a gateway to greater things is long gone. The last time a winner really made an impact beyond ESC was back in 1988, when Celine Dion won. Even Loreen failed to make a lasting career abroad. I’m not sure Il Volo would fair better than Måns. They would most likely have achieved Conchita success, meaning lower top 20 in most charts only to disappear soon after. Like indeed any other winner would. It’s great… Read more »
Finally something I can get behind. Katrina has been very outspoken in the past about past UK efforts, having her so positive, sounds promising.
But again it is all to do with the six songs. We’ll have to wait and see.
As nearly everyone already stated, or to put it simply – “Indeed, Mans isn’t really a big name, his musical career outside of Sweden is already dead in the water. ” Oh, Il Volo, what would have happened if you really took the crown? Anyhow, having the last year winner as a guest is not something “special” nor having your last winner as something special, but that is for us, the fans. It seem OK PR wise for the masses to join BBC’s party on screen and vote after it. For that, it is OK. 🙂 And yeah, I’ll stand… Read more »
“No returning performance for Electro Velvet then.” Even as one of the world’s leading Electro Velvet bashers, I don’t consider this a good thing. One of the zillions of problems the UK has is the almost certain career-death that comes with Eurovision participation. The BBC should be doing everything it can to promote the careers of past contestants. That includes the ones that didn’t do so good. It should be an assumed perk of getting the gig. Of course it’s very possible that EV were offered the slot and said “hell no” (especially Bianca). But I wouldn’t mind seeing the… Read more »
It’s gonna be a great national final. Obviously the BBC wants to draw as much attention as possible to it.
Måns is indeed a “big gun”. Think about the context. He is the reigning champion.
If you can’t see that, then maybe this forum isn’t the place for you.
Indeed, Mans isn’t really a big name, his musical career outside of Sweden is already dead in the water. I love Katrina though, ‘Love Shine a Light’ is my first Eurovision memory and it’s still a brilliant song.
@williamleeadams So if this turned out to be true than maybe it’s also so that Måns Zelmerlöw in fact will be on Strictly come dancing.. Is Daily Star (and Star magazine) reliable sources? A bit curious since even Aftonbladet reports it.
Oh please, Mans is no “big guns”. Everybody already forgot who he is… The only reason I know he issued another song is because I’ve seen his name in a Wiwibloggs survey (“Who had the best ESC follow up single?”, or something like that). I’ve never even heard another song of his, except Heroes.
The guy is not bad, but he’s just another Eurovision “forgotten in 24 hours” winner.
No returning performance for Electro Velvet then. (Yay, Everybody Dance!)
It’s another positive move from the BBC. A song to remind the country of it’s illustrious past and another to demonstrate where Eurovision is at in the modern day. Kudos to them.
Now all we need are some names. Tell us who the six are BBC!
Indeed… Lovers On The Sun was number one in August 2014 then Mans wins Eurovision with part two (sorry, “Heroes”) in May 2015. Robyn is right… There needs to be serious chart-worthy music involved, not the stereotypical ‘Europe will love this rubbish’ attitude the UK had in past. I suppose we will wait and see… Surely there must be one song Eurovision worthy…
The UK National Final is shaping up well. Of course it all depends now on how the acts competing will fare on the stage.
I agree with Robyn, seeing Katrina there and hearing a performance of Love Shine a Light will remind them that they do have what it takes to win when the effort gets put in.
With Mans there they can see what kind of songs win the contest these days, look to the charts because the winning eurovision songs tend to follow the trend of whats topping the charts
I really don’t like it when people say Eurovision is all politics and that it’s not about the music. Then please explain to me why Latvia didn’t qualify 6 times in a row, only to qualify and finish 6th in 2015. Smh