The United Kingdom is back in Junior Eurovision after a hugely successful return-from-hiatus in 2022, this time around with girl-group STAND UNIQU3. The three-piece will perform the empowering dance anthem “Back To Life”. Freya Skye came fifth overall last year after gaining the most viewer votes. We can see that the BBC delegation aren’t playing around now that their return is cemented with this!
STAND UNIQU3 will be taking their harmonies and R’n’B-tinged pop to Junior Eurovision in Nice, on November 26th.
Scroll down for “Back to Life” lyrics
United Kingdom in Junior Eurovision 2023: STAND UNIQU3 with “Back To Life”
Three girls make up STAND UNIQU3: 12 year-old Hayla from Eurovision 2023 host city Liverpool, 13 year-old Maisie from the southern English county of Essex, and 12 year-old ballroom dancer Yazmin from Newcastle. The girls went through an extensive audition process to make it into the band, with producers noting the chemistry between the three as a group.
They already have a series of live performances planned to get Brits on-side. They will appear on the BBC’s long-standing signature children’s show Blue Peter to showcase their vocals. They’ll later appear on charity telethon event Children In Need, and also the spin-off show for Strictly Come Dancing. Strictly is one of the broadcaster’s biggest shows, so it’s a huge opportunity for the group.
The announcement comes days after the BBC confirmed participation in Eurovision 2024, and indicated they’ve already chosen the artist for Malmö.
What do the “Back To Life” lyrics mean?
“Back To Life” is reminiscent of songs from the early days of UK mega-icons Little Mix, with tight harmonies and dance break moments. The lyrics point towards being alone but then turning towards someone to bring them back to themselves.
We hear the group singing of discomfort in being alone: “I’m playing with fire out here on my own.” But then they reach out to someone even though it’s difficult: “If all our fears get buried tonight, That’s fine ‘cos maybe we can dance you back to life”.
This could be a reference to comforting someone as they face a mental health challenge, or a difficult family situation, which can be particularly complex for someone at a young age. They are encouraging someone to see the good things. Lyrics like “the dark is all you need, But I wanna see you in the light” are powerful and give bold meaning to the song.
The catchy whistle-y refrain in between choruses and verses give STAND UNIQU3 the chance to showcase their dancing talents, which we see in the music video. It provides a hook sure to get stuck in voters’ heads. We could see a great moment in the staging for this, we can’t wait what the BBC have cooked up.
“Back To Life” lyrics – STAND UNIQU3 (UK JESC 2023)
Music and lyrics by: Sky Adams, Jakke Erixson, Jack Hawitt
I get so fascinated
In this old ghost town
I keep on seeing faces
When no one is around
And I know
That I’m playing fire, out here alone on my own
I get so distracted
I walk right into hell
My hands just start reacting
Am I under your spell
So let’s go
I’m not scared of the dark, wanna go where the moon doesn’t glow
No, I can’t help it
I just cannot help myself
You get it
If all our fears get buried tonight
That’s fine
Cos maybe we can dance you back to life
Cos maybe we can dance you back to life
Bring you back to, bring you back to, bring you back to, back to life
Thunder and the lightning
Like you have never seen
I know it should be frightening
But I just feel so free
In this town
Yeah, I just wanna stay
No, I can’t help it
I just cannot help myself
You get it
If all our fears get buried tonight
That’s fine
Cos maybe we can dance you back to life
Cos maybe we can dance you back to life
Bring you back to, bring you back to, bring you back to, back to life
You’ve been living in the shadows
And the dark is all you need
But I wanna see you in the light (See you in the light)
Can you feel your heart beating
And the way you started breathing
‘Cos we’re gonna bring you back to li-i-i-ife
No, I can’t help it
I just cannot help myself
You get it
If all our fears get buried tonight
That’s fine
Cos maybe we can dance you back to life
What do you think of “Back To Life”? Are STAND UNIQU3 one of your favourites in this year’s contest? Let us know in the comments below.
How come people have latched onto the Macedonian song so much? What’s the hype for?
imagine thinking hell is a curse word
Think about STAND UNIQU3 as Baby MKS. Yazmin is Mutya, Maisie is Keisha, and Hayla is Siobhan. I’m never that into British girl groups but I think they’re great because MKS was part of my childhood and that’s who I’m comparing SU to because TLC and Destiny’s Child are American.
Also gotta love Yazmin’s Geordie accent. It’s delightful.
Yeah… JESC 2023 has a LOT of good songs this year and of the ones we got (14/16 as of today since Ireland and Armenia are slooooooow) I sadly have to place the UK last, but that doesn’t mean the song is awful. There’s cool ideas left and right, the girls all exude strong personalities, I like the visuals in the music video, and the build-up of the song is great… until the drop comes in and not only the song drops, but the ball is dropped as well, since wow… That’s just… terrible. I think this was the first… Read more »
I think you’re in a small minority there haha, But as for the drop and ending I kind of get what you mean, it lacks that bit of a punch, HOWEVER, I feel that the team behind this entry might pull some trick out the hat in Nice as there’s a slightly cryptic “To Be Continued” at the end, I mean, they’ve clearly put it there for a reason, they would have just faded the video out before then otherwise. But even with no changes, there is no way in heck this would end up last on the night.
It definitely will get some votes, that’s for sure. I don’t think the “trick out the hat” is gonna save that horrible whistling sound though. It makes my head ache ^^’
Funnily enough, that whistling sound (not sure what instrument it is) is one of the parts people in reviews seem to like about it, It’s not exactly to my taste either, I’m just indifferent to it, but it does work well to keep it stuck in your head. On the stage however, the reverb of the hall should make it less.. uhm… piercing?
Cool song in the verses and pre-chorus aaaaaand the drop is awful. A shame since the rest is good
I see a lot of people saying the ending of the song is underwhelming but I think they’ve missed something.
After the end, it says “To Be Continued…” which I think seems like a hint to them planning to do something with the ending when it’s performed live in Nice, something we won’t expect that’ll really be like a “WOW” moment.
Who is the favorite to win jesc this year? I usually watch the show but dont follow until a bit before the show for jesc
There is no runaway favourite, seems pretty open so far, But there are about 4 that are usually high in people’s lists –
UK
France
Netherlands
N. Macedonia
I’ve seen pretty much all of these ranked anywhere from 1st to last though, but generally they tend to be within the top half most of the time, usually top 5 or top 3.
Meanwhile our regio songfestival line up almost complete, just North Holland now to reveal their entry but so far a quality and diverse bunch of songs
We can argue about the place of this type of song in the competition, but there’s no denying that it’s terribly effective and that today’s children and teenagers love this kind of song.
I think this song has a very good chance of winning. It remains to be seen how the trio perform live.
Impactful staging is important, and that they don’t get sick of course
But we need an article about Macedonia’s song, that’s the fan favorite, this one is far from it
Don’t cry
Its Not Fan Favorite Even Close … Germany and Spain is Fan Favorite At This JESC
Wow i love it WINNER ALERT
Firstly i decided to judge this song as a new music Friday release track and on first listen i thought this stands out. Regardless of its connection to Junior Eurovision this is a good pop song. The choreo on the video is also good. Well done UK
About the song itself, it’s catchy, fresh, modern with a retro vibe, the drops remind me of the retro sound of Bim Bam Toi, I like it, and I think the UK will do very well again. Now they have 12 years old and they are presented in the MV like 18/20 years old popstars and it disturbs me personally like it disturbed me for Armenia 2021 and it didn’t prevent them to win so…
Their more kid friendly staging, more than their MV saved Armenia that year I think, so The UK you know what you have to do.
1 white, 1 asian, 1 black
BBC’s HR department picked the singers for this manufactured group, not the British public or even BBC Studios
Why did the HR department never pick a British Asian even once, in all 67 years of the adult contest?
They’re obviously not very good at their job.
Two words: Who cares?
Not you, obviously.
You are missing a very important point. They are all brilliant. And given the “whiteness” of the uk entries in recent years both at junior and senior level for such a multicultural country it’s about time we see this kind of diversity.
What you are suggesting is the BBC can’t do right for doing wrong
Why do we need to care about skin colour? Why not just send the best artist regardless of what colour they are
Yes… that’s the point.
Also, by demographics, 87% of the UK is white British, the other 13% is made up of Blacks, Asians and Mixed race people mainly, so it’s to be expected the vast majority of our entries will be white British people, and if just over 1 in 10 entries is a minority, then they are fairly represented and that’s roughly what we have since the contest’s beginning in 1956
Really great entry, great follow up to last year, even better when you consider that if one gets ill, it won’t undermine the whole act. Smart choice going for a group this time around and smart choice going for a bop when most of the other songs are serious ballads.
This is not three friends. It is a manufactured girl group… of children. Who does this?
The Netherlands does it, literally every year there’s a ”manufactured” group in their National Selection. I personally don’t see a problem with it.
yes like Unity with ”Best Friends” in 2020
staging similar to DoReDos My Lucky Day btw, with the coloured door choreo
Exactly! Who is gonna be watching this and think “Hmmm… They seem manufactured… I’m not voting for them”?
How would they even know?
They all participated in the The Voice Kids 2023 and children make friends much quicker than adults. One Direction were all between 16 and 18 years old when X Factor made them a group.
One Direction now all hate each other, right? A member of Little Mix left the group after years of bodily pressure put a strain on her mental health… right?
Every girl group in history is manufactured. Unless they’re sisters.
Not true. The Supremes, arguably the best girl group of all time, were all from the same neighbourhood. Another difference is that most “girl” groups are actually women, not literal girls.
the supremes, what have those losers ever achieved, lmao
seriously people stop complaining about the lyrics is their song deal with it
UK is sooo good for the second year in a row
The Unecessary Cursing Is What I Will Question . EBU Should Disqualify UK Because This Is A Childrens Contest
there are no curse words what are u on about
The H Word
Let me write it out for you… HELL for real? That’s now a curse word as well?
Why Are Children Speaking About Religious Consepts ? I Support God AllMighty , But I Do Not Think The JESC Is Right Place To Speak This Way .
Dawid ,, Why Must This Children Be Forced To Grow Up Too Quick And Preform To Meet Adults Standards ? Let Them Be Kids And Dont Encourage Cursing
In English “hell” is not a curse or foul word. It just means the opposite to heaven
You may have different views but this is a British song using the English language
learn the english language hell is not a curse word also the song is not about religion so
hell is not a curse word
Grow up you wet lettuce!
Ok nice entry, but it makes weeks if not months that some others countries 13 exactly have revealed their jesc acts without nothing coming from you and now that the UK has revealed their entry so let’s go… a bit oriented isn’t it?
The slogan, the design, the stage, were revealed one month ago but nothing, no article here. But an article instantly about the UK the day the UK reveal their song…ok guys…
It’s a UK site devoted to the adult contest. There is no obligation to cover the junior one in the same detail.
Ok then don’t cover it at all if it’s a site only devoted to the adult, what’s the point to make this article then?
The writer of the article, Lucy, is British. Maybe someone else can volunteer their time to write articles on other countries.
Since weeks and months no time for the others, no time to cover nothing but suddenly today yes. What a coincidence. Ok.
I highly doubt that this is some devious ploy to rig the contest. A contest for children. HIGHLY doubt.
Who said that?!
Only fairness for the others who would have loved to be promoted the day their songs were out too on the biggest Eurovision related site.
It is a children’s contest. Part of the actual rules specify that attention should NOT be drawn to the competitive element, it only brings stress. This is not something to be worrying about.
Fortunately they take care of the kids, it was largely time. I knew this rule, and I’m happy with that.
However I’ve never said it was a devious ploy to rig something, I just noticed the difference of treatment that’s all.
They’ll cover it, just wait until later.
Wiwibloggs is a British ran site with primarily British readers.
Most people will probably ignore, but just for fun, upvote THIS comment if you are British.
Upvote THIS comment if you are NOT British.
The biggest Esc blog in the world, people from everywhere read it.
look above lol
obviously people everywhere read it, but it IS a mainly British audience
Give me the stats then…
It means nothing, forcefully it’s an article about The UK, so it’s logical to have more british readers for this article. But for the blog overall it’s another story.
It’s like you all wanna pick apart every detail to just find a fault with it, why?
It’s a contest for children, so should be held to a very high standard. Also public money that could be spent on something better, something educational.
It’s a contest for children yes, but the Junior edition of the contest is more about fun and is slightly more light-hearted than the adult equivalent, the “standard” is high regardless, and if you don’t like it, nobody’s forcing you to watch it or engage with it, it’s not being shoved in your face, so why don’t you do us a favour and stop criticising every little detail about it? Either that or just be quiet
No can do, sorry. I believe the junior contest to be a shameful and arguably dangerous waste of public funding. This is an adult site for adults, I should be able to speak freely without fear of upsetting the target audience of literally children. Anyone over the age of 16 should probably not even be watching.
You’re just a troll aren’t you
No
I won’t pretend to watch this show, but I really like the song so who knows. Very catchy, I like the quirky dance break, all sounds great to me.
Not Child Friendly At All . I Think Germany Or Poland Is Winner
A bit too much obsessed by your country Bejba.
Im Not From Poland
Lol ok…
Why is it not child-friendly? I think some people forget what kids actually like. Imagine when you were younger, did you want to hear only fluffy pop songs? I know I loved catchy euro-pop that was very commercial but at the same time I enjoyed when songs dealt with complex feelings I didn’t understand yet. And this can be a ballad just like a pop banger. And feeling alone is a feeling that many kids experience in a digital world. And finding the brigth in so much darkness is a valuable attitude that many kids should be exposed to. It… Read more »
Because Of The Swearing . Kids Dont Need To Speak This Way Or Wear Such Revealing Clothes .
STAND UNIQU3 is a bad name. Why capitalized? I doubt non-English speaking children will get the message. “Stand unique” only barely jumps out with the “3” acting as a backwards “E”… and is also somewhat undermined when they are dressed in matching black and white. Heavy sigh. Please take this as constructive criticism.
O’G3NE too here
Looks modern and trendy i think
I pronounced that as Ogthrigginy for about two years.
That got a good chuckle out of me lol
If it was Armenia or Georgia it’d be a winner.
Idk whether this is a hot take or not, but Germany has the best entry so far.
Netherlands and Germany contenders
But North Macedonia, Georgia also have good entries, Estonia is special too
Contenders means nothing, last year The Netherlands were “contenders” too but…
So they are all contenders for the moment and have all the same chances, period.
The fandom favorites or your personal favorites including your country of course that’s another story.
How are filmed “emotional reveals” part of a song contest for children? This is supposed to be educational public broadcasting, not trashtainment.
Jonas do you ever stfu
Jonas do you ever stop yapping
Rarely
Catchy song but why why why do they need the girls to look so grown up – it’s a kids contest, let them be kids!
Do all 12 year olds have professional make-up artists?
Do the 12 year old boys get the same styling, or is this just what’s “expected” of girls? #DownWithGenderNorms
Bruh every 14 year old girl here in the uk looks like this or older
When I was in year 7 or 8 I didn’t want to be treated like a baby!
Kids love to look like grown ups and imitate their roles – so you should rather see the bigger picture and criticise society at large. I personally also don’t like it and I’m happy that Spain hasn’t done it yet, because the “Lolitat” look was/is supper popular.
At the same time, I’m happy many Eastern European countries are not doing it anymore and beside a few exceptions their entries are so much fun or really give young talents a platform to shine and explore the world of professional signing – Poland, Georgia, Ukraine mainly in my opinion.
Better than last year. Still, the contrast between the three giddy 12 year old girls in the “reveal” video to the three sultry young women in the music video is stark. I’m not even comfortable describing three pre-teens as “sultry”, but here we are.
Unsettling.
can’t believe junior eurovision is next year coming home to the UK
wow superb entry, also HRVY in the commentating team again, #YeahYeahFire
“I’ll walk right into hell”
Heavy stuff for a twelve year old.
Oh stop complaining
No. A lesson for the children here. If you have something to complain about, don’t be afraid to speak up!
Why u so obsessed with what the kids r doing. Let them do what makes them happy. I know no 14 year old who is happy to sing a giddy childish song like you suggest. They would obviously rather sing a song like the ones they listen to. That’s just common sense
It’s the responsibility of adults to provide care for children. Also, they are 12, not 14.