We’re all aboard the hype train for the BBC’s new collaboration with TaP Music.
On Thursday 21 October, BBC Studios announced they will collaborate with TaP Music to help find the United Kingdom’s act for Eurovision 2022 in Turin. So now there’s one thing on our minds: Who will the BBC choose to send to Italy? The answer is anybody’s guess — but with a bit of digging, there’s plenty of valid speculation to go around.
TaP Music’s roster totals 30 artists and ten songwriters and producers, featuring international megastars Dua Lipa, Lana Del Rey and Ellie Goulding. But also under their management are a number of other acts who could be gunning for the chance to represent their country on the Eurovision stage.
We’ve compiled a list of six artists from TaP Music who we hope are under consideration.
Who could represent the United Kingdom at Eurovision 2022?
Chelcee Grimes
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British Eurovision fans will be familiar with Chelcee Grimes. She provided commentary for the BBC during the Eurovision 2021 semi-finals, so she already has ties to the contest. But she’s more than just a voice — she’s also a brilliant songwriter. She’s worked with Kylie Minogue, Jonas Blue and Dua Lipa. On her own discography, the Liverpool native fuses pop with a gritty urban edge. Elsewhere, she’s played professional football for Liverpool, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur’s women’s teams — so we know she’s no stranger to showmanship. The only question now is whether Italy is ready for some Scouse realness.
Claudia Valentina
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Claudia Valentina is a 20-year-old pop star originally from Guernsey, now based in Los Angeles. She blends pristine vocals with biting lyrics for dark-pop, a formula destined to help Claudia break into worldwide charts. Claudia’s haunting piano ballad “Seven” has racked up more than eight million streams on Spotify. Is it time to hand over the British torch to a Channel Islander?
Leigh-Anne Pinnock
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This is a big one, but hear us out. Leigh-Anne Pinnock is a household name across the country. She’s had immense global success as part of Little Mix, with five UK number one hit singles since their X Factor debut. If recent rumours are to be believed, the now-three-piece girl group will be calling it quits next month and launching their solo careers. Ms Pinnock is a superstar in her own right, and while Eurovision seems unlikely, the song contest could be the perfect opportunity for Leigh-Anne to show the world she can make it on her own.
Rat Boy
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Brit-pop is taken to new heights with the musical stylings of Rat Boy. Essex-born Jordan Cardy brings together indie summertime anthems with hip-hop elements and rap. Rat Boy won the NME award for Best New Artist in 2016 and was also nominated for the prestigious BBC Sound Of… award in 2016, of which Sam Smith, Jessie J and fellow TaP artist Ellie Goulding are all previous winners. He’s supported Oasis legend Liam Gallagher on tour, he’s collaborated with McFly, and has multiple songs on the Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack. Could brit-pop be the BBC’s saving grace?
Grace Carter
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If you’re a fan of Dua Lipa, you may have heard of Grace Carter. The 24-year-old singer rose to prominence after supporting Ms Lipa on the October leg of her 2017 tour. London-born Grace has more than 1.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify, with her soulful 2018 track “Why Her Not Me” racking up more than 40 million streams to date. She exudes British pop music excellence. Could she be the BBC’s pick to fly the Union flag in Turin?
James TW
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Warwickshire native James TW specialises in tearjerking romantic acoustic guitar music. His most successful hit came in 2016 when he performed “When You Love Someone” on popular US daytime talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, later peaking at peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Adult chart. He’s back on the scene in 2021 with “Butterflies”, which sees the 23-year-old take his music in a grittier direction. Could James rack up douze points for the United Kingdom?
Other possibilities
TaP Music’s roster features 30 artists and ten songwriters and producers, so it’s entirely possible the BBC could choose to send a different artist with a song by one of them.
Below is the full list of artists represented by TaP Music:
- Angus and Julia Stone
- Azure Ryder
- Caroline Polachek
- Chelcee Grimes
- Claudia Valentina
- DJ Shadow
- Daniel Blume
- Dermot Kennedy
- Dua Lipa
- Ellie Goulding
- Eves Karydas
- Grace Carter
- Hailee Steinfeld
- James TW
- Jenay Faith
- Joshua Speers
- Kasien
- Kita Alexander
- Lana Del Rey
- Leigh-Anne Pinnock
- Mob Rich
- Noah Cyrus
- Oklou
- Purity Ring
- Rat Boy
- Sarcastic Sounds
- Ten Ven
- Willow Kayne
- Yuno
- Zola Courtney
Songwriters and producers:
- Christoph Andersson
- Corin Roddick
- Dylan Nash
- John O’Mahoney
- Koz
- Lowell
- Mike Crossey
- Patrick Wimberly
- Tom Neville
Additional reporting by Lucy Percy
What do you think of these artists? Who would you like to see represent the United Kingdom at Eurovision 2022? Let us know in the comments below.
Why do the Brits think that just because someone has millions of social media followers that they should be the choice of artist to represent the UK at Eurovision. Spotify. Ask 99% of Europe what Spotify is and you will get a blank look! But! Eurovision is being promoted again and once again the choice of artist does not take into account the foreign cultures we are competing against. Just because Sam Ryder has 12,000,000 TikTok social media followers does not mean his music will be accepted by our European neighbours. Most of France doesn’t even know what TikTok is. … Read more »
Of all the rumours circulating on social media. I would love if this one were to come true. Sam Ryder singing Space man. Man, what a voice. Fell in love with the song on my first listen. It could be staged amazingly. Radio 1 are playing a 3 min edit of the song which whilst not unusual for radios to play short edits, my ears hear something special. The song has been produced by koz. He’s mentioned in the wiwi article above. One small snag, Sam is supposed to be playing to be playing a festival during rehearsals week and… Read more »
ooh his glasgow date following ev has been postponed…
Mine would be FABLE, new to the scene based in Brighton
Young female from Torquay now attempting to make it with her own songs.
Hate to break it to y’all but Little Mix isn’t splitting up anytime soon. They are releasing a album next month, they will go on tour in 2022 and Jade has already started working on their next album! ?
They absolutely are splitting up! They announced a ‘hiatus’ following the tour, and have released their Greatest Hits. If history has taught us anything it’s when the media’s favourite member leaves, and/or a group releases a Greatest Hits, they’re splitting up. When they say ‘we’re taking a break to focus on solo projects’ means don’t expect to see us back together for the best part of 10 years when we’ll do a TV documentary and a reunion tour when we’ve started talking to the member who quit first again.
OMG, having Dermot Kennedy on stage would be a dream. I love his music and he’s criminally underrated. However, Dermot is Irish and I think the average Eurovision fan wouldn’t appreciate him at all.
Just because someone sounds good in studio, doesn’t mean they’ll be good live. Look at Sennek and Roxen. Amazing songs, great music video and stuff. Terrible performance. As long as they pick someone who can sing and has good song. Its gonna be fine
It’s easy: send Ellie Goulding and win or be in the bottom again.
Oh, Roxen flashbacks are getting stronger after listening to the first girl’s suggested song… She literally has the same voice.
Going through the article was kinda disappointing:
> pop
> pop star
> Little Mix
> Brit-pop
> British pop music
> tearjerking acoustic guitar music??? ….wait? this one sounds more acceptable already.
I liked the sequence from “Hopeless Romantics”, however, “Butterflies” didn’t impress me. Eitherway, this candidate is the most promising out of the bunch. Not racking up my hopes tho.
all of them are talented so they need a very strong song. but the little mix would never do Eurovision.
Let’s be honest here – 99% of these artists probably don’t want to enter Eurovision simply because of the reputation it has in the UK. It’s really disappointing, but that’s just the truth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd79_mignG8
this guy should deffo be doing eurovision hes made for it
We should not send anyone next year. The last five years have proved that we are sending rubbish. The BBC make a choice. Most European countries let the public choose. Look at Sweden and Norway and Denmark….they send songs that are catchy and memorable. The UK should not risk the career of a good artiste by subjecting them to an embarrassing no points at Eurovision.
James TW is incredible live, I’ve seen him twice and honestly if he gets the right song, we may not be in the bottom ????
Angus and Julia Stone are Australian, so I would think they would represent Down Under if they wanted to go to ESC.
It is not about the artist, it is about the song.
Most of the successful ESC entries had at least 3 of the following 5 elements, and it’s their combination that usually makes a good package.
well, just imagine if none of these would end up being selected and we got someone completely unexpected instead.
Grace Carter is super promising. I’ve only heard 2 of her songs – Why Her Not Me and her latest single Blame but that’s enough for me to feel confident she would be incredible live and could carry a song as emotional and powerful as Arcade is.
best ones are definitely james and claudia. you guys agree?
Ratboy would be the closest we get to Harry Styles when it comes to boyish sex appeal. He also looks like a young Damon Albarn a bit, which is a pro.
Interesting list, I’ll be sure to check these out.
Unrelated note here, but I read that in 2013 George Ezra met some friends in Malmö, and they went to a fan park during that years contest. Allegedly, he was inspired to write ‘Budapest’, presumably he liked ByeAlex. Don’t know if this story is true, but if it is, would he maybe consider writing or even performing a so g for us one day?
It was just a tiny first step, but TaP getting some stars to comment on this partnership already shows more compromise than what we got from these last BMG years. The big question is: who will make the final call? Based on what we’ve seen recently from the UK, the final word always seems to come from someone who’s allergic to risks and has few or none knowledge about what’s doing well in the charts. May the null points be a wake up call. Or the wake up call BBB will finally answer to.
What happened to the Jessie J rumor, I mean even Wiwibloggs reported that Jessie J will be UK’s entrant 2022???
It originated in The Sun, the paper which told us that Malta wanted Russell Grant to sing for them in 2011. I think my point is made.
the greatest singer-songwriter-poet-artist of our time LDR lana del rey should represent the UK. she isn’t british but her art transcends country borders and her new album blue banisters comes out tomorrow <3
Discovered her live on a festival in 2013. Such a talent actually
The uk should send Sonia she is a fantastic singer and Ireland should send Mary Black to the eurovision song contest as they both are fantastic singers
All these songs sound super disposable to me. I’m sorry, there is little memorable or at least original about these acts.
I agree
It will be absolutely NONE of these let’s face it.
It will be someone who appeared on x-factor or someone only really known in the songwriting field, or someone who has just been signed by TAP specifically for Eurovision.
As much as AlunaGeorge, Dua Lipa etc would be awesome for Eurovision, it’s just not going to be anyone on that list.
Dermot Kennedy would be a good choice for Ireland though, but again, never going to happen.
Downvote all you want. What I’m saying is the truth.
No point building fake hype, then being disappointed when an unknown is chosen with a mid-tempo song resembling a song in the top of the charts right now, or something that “sounds Ed Sherran-y”.
Let’s be real about this.
FACTS!
Except for leigh anne these names don’t seem so high class/ out of reach at all. None of them have had a real break through yet.
Majority of them have had massive exposure though, and the others wouldn’t touch Eurovision
I want Dermot Kennedy only because his Aunt Mary presented the contest back in 1995.
Omg is Mary Kennedy his aunt??? I didn’t even know this!!!
Yes, she is – maybe she can convince him to do it as a birthday present to her or something.
I’m inclined to agree with Darren, didn’t we go through a similar list when BMG started their effort? The winner of the 2022 contest already has their song in place and is visualising singing their song in Turin. None of the above are doing that.
I think all of these are great but imagine Dua or Little Mix representing the UK lol I’m gonna scream
If they want to quit anyway – why not Little Mix on a stage for Eurovision one last time. The song Love (sweet love) is such a dance floor killer ….. something like that would be good for the ESC. I see these 3 women with 3 male dancers there and the crowd goes crazy.
Little Mix would have no incentive. They’re already known in the European market, and they’d be so much more famous than any other act that unless they get a 700 point victory they would embarrass themselves by competing and losing to another act, even if they get a podium placement.
What the UK needs to send is the sort of act who is known domestically but not internationally, who is known enough that finishing outside the top 10 is not good, but who won’t be embarrassed by a 5th place.
Not everything is a cold business decision, though – maybe their incentive is just that they want to.
Just discovered James TW today on YouTube because of the Tap Eurovision story. I would love to see him represent us, a singer songwriter with a good voice and a string of songs I really like. He has toured as a support act for Shawn Mendez so isn’t a stranger to the stage. OK some might say he would be too safe a choice to do well but if he enters a song I think it would be an entry to be proud of. Put him on stage with his guitar and a classy background animation and maybe we can… Read more »
Since I don’t really know how all of this work, I was asking myself if TapMusic or even BMG is something similar and on the same level as other “companies” we can find in other countries, I mean like Universal (France, Italy, Sweden among others…) or Warner Music ? Is there any differencies between all of this, talking about the scale or the weight they have in the middle ? I don’t really differenciate records companies, labels and stuff like that
They’re not part of the United Kingdom, but it would be nice to see somebody from the Channel Islands in the contest. I don’t know if they’ve ever had any representation before. I don’t know if any of these names are Scottish, but it’s probably about time Scotland got some attention too.
the channel islands are a part of the uk no?
No.
They are a part of Great Britain/British Isles so they do have a British citizenship, so they are more than eligible to compete for the UK. As one of the rules for competing in the contest for any country is having citizenship to that country and seeing as Channel Islanders are full British citizens. They have that distinction.
I don’t think it is a rule that you need to be a citizen of the country you represent. Flo Rida is not San Marinese.
Also, the Channel Islands are part of the British Islands, not the British Isles – there is a difference. They are off the coast of France, in the duchy of Normandy. I’m sure everyone is very interested in this. You’re welcome.
Scottish entrants are rare- could it be that most Scots don’t want to do it for the UK? Would they face a bit of stick for that back home?
I don’t know, but they voted to stay in the UK back in 2014. I’m sure they’re part of Team GB for the Olympics.
No, it’s because the BBC won’t send us. They don’t want Scotland to have any global presence- remember the BBC is a state broadcaster run by the U.K. Gov. it’s anti-independence thing.
Jade Ewen, Andy Abraham, Javine, Imaani? Of course, more diversity is more than welcome, but it’s not like the UK never gave opportunity to people of different ethnicities. They also had a share of non-white candidates in their recent national finals. Hopefully, there is more to come.
Asian? India got its independence less than a decade before the contest began. Think of Jeangu Macrooy and the Netherlands this year. The UK could reflect its colonial history a bit better.
I like Grace Carter
BE BOLD, BRITAIN.
No more safe choices. I’m worried that even the selections Oliver lists above are too safe.
Though I am not familiar with any of these names, they do intrigue me. I don’t think Dua Lipa or any other A-list TaP singer is going to be representing the UK at Eurovision but one of these profiled artists could do it.
Some of these at least seem to be within the realm of possibility!
Imagine DJ Shadow representing the UK…Endtroducing is a great album but I dunno…