On Friday of next week, the UK will hold their national final Eurovision: You Decide 2019. The selection includes three different songs, each performed in two ways by a total of six singers.
We want to know what you think — but we’re taking a cue from the voting format of Eurovision: You Decide.
Last week, we held our version of the BBC’s “song-off” — duels between the two versions of each song. Now in the second stage, the most popular version of each song will face a another poll, where you will get to vote for your favourite.
First, let’s take a look at the winners from the first round.
“Bigger than Us” – Michael Rice vs Holly Tandy
- Michael Rice 56.36% (1,386 votes)
- Holly Tandy 43.64% (1,073 votes)
Winner: Michael Rice
“Freaks” – Jordan Clarke vs MAID
- Jordan Clarke 71.41% (1,481 votes)
- MAID 28.59% (593 votes)
Winner: Jordan Clarke
“Sweet Lies” – Kerrie-Anne vs Anisa
- Kerrie-Anne 85.83% (1,896 votes)
- Anisa 14.17% (313 votes)
Winner: Kerrie-Anne
Which act should win the UK’s Eurovision You Decide 2019?
Now it’s time to vote for your favourite out of the three winners of each duel. You can vote for as many songs as you like, but you can only vote once — so make it count!
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Eurovision: You Decide 2019 will screen on Friday 8 February at 19:30 GMT. The show will be broadcast live from Dock10 in Media City UK in Salford, Greater Manchester. This takes the national final to the North West of England for the very first time.
You Decide will again be hosted by former Great British Bake Off star Mel Giedroyc and Eurovision winner Måns Zelmerlöw. The 90-minute-long show will be broadcast live on BBC Two.
The the first round of performances will be judged by a celebrity panel, with the public televote deciding who SuRie’s successor will be.
What do you think? Who is your favourite to win the UK national final? Do you like the way the voting is structured? Share your thoughts below!
What is this Spanish advert featuring Mike’s song which people are talking about on twitter?
@ItsEurofan claimed to have recorded it on an advert on the Spanish TV Channel Cuatro.
So far no such recording has been released though. Best to wait for the proof.
Freaks is honestly such an amazing song. With the right staging, this could do so well. Rather this at Eurovision than some other poppy tune that will be forgotten between all the others, right? At least it could stand out.
None of these three, they all are awful. I wanted Holly or at least Anisa.
Michael Jordan for eurovision!
In the end it won’t matter which song wins, cause I doubt many people will vote for the post-Brexit UK…
They won’t get voted because they offer nothing worth voting for. The first part of your sentence is mainly true though. One would think that after Israel won, people would realize anyone can win regardless of their politics.
I think the problem bigger than Brexit for the UK in Eurovision is that its very evident that the vast majority of the country treats it as a joke and everyone in Europe knows. The UK has been very unpopular in the voting for many years before Brexit. No one wants to vote for a country they know doesn’t want to win. Also, the UK has a huge music industry, but most (but not all) of their entries the past several years show that they’re not even trying.
Big problem with the way the UK chooses it’s song recently is that their main goal isn’t to win, but to avoid being in bottom ten. They often play it safe, which, ironically, is the least safe thing to do in the Grand final. When you look at the songs that finished high (La forza, Fuego, Lie to me, You let me walk alone, ect.), they are all chosen with a goal to win. Od course not all of them could, but they all tried and it paid off. Lucie Jones’ and Molly’ songs are the recent exceptions. Those were… Read more »
agreed
I don’t know for the other countries, but I can guarantee you than in France, nobody will vote about the post-Brexit. For many people in France the contest is just a show like The Voice or X Factor… And they really don’t think to the Brexit, they’re not interesting by European politics.
I really don’t feel that Kerry Anne with ‘Sweet Lies’ would be that great of a choice, it sounds like a by the numbers club banger that Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa chucked away for being too generic. It has that similar stereotype club vibe that Spain entered in 2016, with Barei’s ‘Say Yay Yay’. It isn’t bad on its own but put it amongst the other songs and it becomes bland imitation that flies right over your head. Michael Rice would stand out more because his voice and style has that Sam Smith vibe, and although the song is… Read more »
Jup. I’m surprised Kerry Anne leads the poll right now. But well.. people have different taste in music and maybe I’m just tone deaf with this one. Who knows
I mean unless Kerrie-Anne strips back the choreography and her voice is strong, she could stand a chance, plus her voice will probably be more mature and controlled, unlike Asanda so she could do well.
Fair play to all those taking part. The BBC will forget you, the country will forget you and your agent will stop returning your calls.
Career suicide to all those poor lost souls. Josh who…..Mollie who and not forgetting Jake and his mate……and Electrocotton of course.
Considering Kerry Ann is the favorite. That means she wont win lol
I feel like people are grasping at straws here. None of the entries will get the UK a good result, as they are all dated. All of them. Yes, even for Eurovision. There seems to be lots of love for one particular entry. Cool if you genuinely enjoy it. But the Eurovision result won’t reflect that. And it’s not Eurovision’s fault. Or Brexit’s. It’s the simple fact that it is just not good enough.
I understand your point, but if we go back 2 years ago to Lucie Jones, I remember most of the people on this comment section after she won were saying, no I don’t like this song, no the Uk will come bottom, the Uk will need a huge revamp if they want to do well , etc, etc and once her song got revamped and people heard the finished version, on YouTube the comments were, this song is incredible, finally we got a good song, oh we could win etc, and we got 111 points and came 15th our best… Read more »
And you don’t speak for everyone. Quite a number of people has said that this Kerrie-Anne’s version will go far at Eurovision (yes, it won’t win, but I don’t think it will do badly). I saw a tweet the other day where Kerrie’s version of “Sweet lies” was played elsewhere in Europe, so it can’t be that bad if it’s being played somewhere other than the UK.
As long as it’s Michael, Holly or Kerrie-Anne, I’ll be far from disappointment
where exactly was it getting played in Europe, even though winning would be a big stretch, I honestly don’t see Kerrie-Anne doing as bad as Surie did Last year, as long as there’s no more stage invasions. because its definitely the most different song we’ve ever sent, it will stand out from other countries, so whose to say we cant get near the top 10 with Kerrie. and even Michael could be another great choice for us, cause as long as his song is revamped correctly and his vocals are strong, he could definitely go Germanys root last year and… Read more »
https://twitter.com/Venus_Fan4Ever/status/1088814067064729601 – Here’s the tweet. I was talking to the Vanilla thing btw
wow so safe to say if Kerrie Anne wins, we should, maybe not, but hopefully get points from Sweden, which I don’t think we’ve had points from them in about 6 years so that could hopefully be guaranteed. and oh my bad I had no clue aha
Aww, well, I am not talking to an idiot who calls people a thing, so tel it to someone who cares. 😉
Well how do I know what you are? I will call you a man then
Well, the “Mr.” in front of my nickname might have been a good clue.
Don’t be a smart-ass, it really doesn’t suit you.
My vote goes to Kerry Anne. I don’t know whether she would do great in Tel Aviv but this the Song and the version I can relate to the most. Is it original? Is it ground breaking or special? Not at all but it is the most suitable version here because she doesn’t want the Song to be anything more than it is, a good song with fun vibes. To me it seems like the other versions try too hard to make their songs seem much better than they actually are. Of course this is not a fault of the… Read more »
UNPOPULAR OPINION, I actually really like Jordan’s version of Freaks… pls no hate! lol
Same tbh
Agreed!!!
It’s an amazing song!!
It’s a grower! skeptical of how Jordan will sound live though
Thank you Robyn for bringing us so many news (love love peace peace) x
The studio version of Kerrie-Anne’s Sweet Lies is an absolute bop and if she pulls it off live she should go to Tel Aviv! However, we all know how badly the UK public and jury vote (I wouldn’t be surprised if the jury choose Anisa over Kerrie) so I can totally see the UK making the wrong choice and ending up with Jordan Clarke, Maid or Anisa.
Also, just out of curiosity to those who say Sweet Lies is ‘dated’… by ‘dated’ do you mean 2013?!?!?
2013 is definitely dated (I’d argue the song is more 2010) . It’s not just that the ,whole song just sounds wrong and is very much replicating that generic dated pop formula with meaningless lyrics.
I guess ”dated” means different things to different people. That’s why it’s been thrown around so often. For me, when someone says ”so 2015” they sound like they are 14 (Nothing wrong with being 14, though). I am older than that, so it has to be a 10 year gap for me to call something dated. And even then, I would refer to it as such only if the time has done it’s thing and it doesn’t sound interesting anymore. None of this applies to Karrie-Anne’s song.
Kerrie-Ann would be a horrible choose for UK. It will be Lindsay Dracass all over again… Massively dated song for its time and probably horribly staged.
Sweet Lies would be the third song in a row that’s about Brexit.
Jordan’s Freaks is by far the best and most accessible song. The lyrics actually have meaning!!! With a revamp and some solid staging like in Ukraine it could be a contender for top 10. I really don’t understand the hype around Sweet Lies it sounds extremely dated, especially to a younger audience. Also I really can’t envisage any potential for good staging either.
You generally think Freaks would be top 10? At best it will place 21st. Kerrie-Anne and Michael are the only acts I can see do well in Tel Aviv
I find them extremely generic, unexciting and not memorable at all. All my non Eurovision friends I have forced to listen to the songs agree. Especially if Freaks has a solid revamp that improves the build of the song.
I don’t like people using classic music sample in an Eurovision song. It’s a big no for me!
Why? Should Eurovision not be accessible to more people ? Should Eurovision not represent the very best a country can offer? By sticking to this ‘Eurovision song’ myth it only propagates the hate the contest receives.
Kerrie-Anne or Michael for Tel Aviv! If we bloody dare send MAID, I think I might join the campaign for the UK to boycott due to great embarrassment!
Tbh I’d be happy with any of those three songs as they are. For me it really comes down to who has the best live performance.
Well Sweet lies from Kerrie-Anne gets my vote to represent us, and quite frankly I hope she does, we’ve sent ballads, and the only one who did remotely well was Lucie 2 years ago, but switching it up to a up tempo house banger, not only will people remember the song cause the lyrics are so memorable and catchy, but I’m sure Jury votes may vote highly of Kerrie and get us hopefully in the top 10, Tele votes could do better than last year, so that’s our best chance. but Michael also is great and if his song is… Read more »
Agree. The three would have more or less the same outcome, but they all would be a very decent contestant. The UK can do better than this, though. Michael Rice – “Bigger Than Us”. He kinda looks like James Arthur. The song reminds me of “Never Give Up On You” in style and structure, but his voice is weaker than Lucie’s and the lyrics are so simple and cheesy… I can’t see it placing higher. I like it now, but it’s nothing special. Jordan Clarke – “Freaks”. Probably the most worked lyrics in this selection, they have a real message.… Read more »
Jordan’s Freaks gets my vote every time
I like it as well. Don’t get the hate on for it, but ah well.
These are my favourites. Honestly I would like Jordan to win (I know, unpopular opinion), but I wouldn’t mind seeing Kerrie-Anne singing in Tel Aviv either.
Ok, so, concerning this selection, my opinion is very clear:
1) Kerri-Anne. Powerful vocal technique, showgirl, catchy music with a chorus that kills: it will make us dance until the end of the night.
2) Jordan Clarke. I love his song that reminds me of what Maroon 5 was doing in their debut, the chorus is very touching, you feel carried away by the music.
3) Michael Rice. Nice but not extraordinary, it seems to have already heard this song a thousand times and the interpretation is not very convincing either.
I’m sticking with Michael Rice. provided they can submit a slightly revamped version. It needs a better bridge and a far bigger ending. The lad can sing too. I’m guessing the majority of entries into Eurovision 2019 will try and replicate the success of last year (Netta & Eleni) by sending a female dancey number, so if this is the case then all these entries will single each other out. If we want to stand out, then we need to send something completely different. This is our best shot at being on the left hand side of the score board.… Read more »
I guess I’m the only one that both likes the Sweet Lies songs.
I prefer the ballad version. It;s almost as if Leona Lewis was singing a Alicia Keys song.
The bop version is okay too. Just not a competitive song IMO
British people will eventually choose the act that is not the fan favorite. Mark my words.
They didn’t choose Asanda last year because she wasn’t all that great live. In each year the fan faves have let down in some way while another stood out. They chose what arguably looked the best and sounded the best on the night.
I think live ,vocals are less relevant tbh. Obviously they need to be able to sing but their could be any number of reasons in why someone may not sing to expectations on the night. Vocals can always be improved but are revamp can only go so far.
In 2017 and 2018, there was a jury. The closest we got to picking the favourite was in 2016, where there was 100% televoting (which will happen for EYD 2019 too). So, we might expect a song closer to the fan favourite or the fan favourite itself!
Lucie Jones was the only favorite that ended up winning, if the fan fav trend takes in turns of winning or not in UK then it’s good for Kerrie-Anne.
Let it be Holly please, it’s the most decent, and not seems to be fan favourite.
Kerrie-Anne is the best option (and a great one!)
No one on stage and silence would give a better result and be more enjoyable
Or literally take any rejected song from Destination Eurovision that wasn’t Bilal?
Or you can just change the channel to spare yourself of anything Eurovision-related.
The only one of the six I’d choose if pushed would have been Holly. But let’s face it, good luck to them all but it’ll be extremely surprising if any of them climb out of the bottom reaches of the table. All 6 are well beyond the boundaries of stylistic pastiche and/or are complete throwbacks in a contest that tries to trend ever more current, and I doubt that will do.
Note: Two-part polls never really work. A good proportion of the voters won’t understand the concept of re-voting for half the acts. I know this is the BBC’s fault, not Wiwibloggs, so I’m just going to demonstrate how I think Holly might win, except she can’t because she’s not in this poll. 🙂
Seriously though, it has to be Kerrie-Anne!
Fortunately, if I read it right, the public will have the final say on the three acts chosen by the in-house panel.
Michael’s song is quite nice, yet feels like such a safe choice. Kerrie-Anne and Jordan would maybe bring something different to the contest. I really like Freaks in Jordan’s version because it has such a catchy chorus and a great vibe, yet some lyrics would need to be polished. Sweet Lies is such a bop in Kerrie-Anne’s version. I hope she can deliver the energy live. While Michael would totally be a respectable choice for the UK, I am more between Kerrie-Anne and Jordan.
PS. Does anyone know when the duels will take place and will it be televised?
8th of Feb
So, duels and final round are happening on the same day?
Kerrie-Anne!! We need that BOP to save 2019
a bop may not be the best option as countries like Spain and presumably Finland are already doing it and Spain’s is already catchier . Kerrie-Anne’s song is good and sounds a bit like Sweet Lovin but it also sounds dated and that could really make it do badly.
Benjamin Ingrosso had an 80s element to “Dance You Off” and still managed to come 7th overall. As long as it’s not horrible dated like Iceland 2018
Difference is, he was supported by the juries who seldom turn their back on Sweden – public relatively snubbed it. I doubt the juries would elevate Sweet Lies that much, but who knows.