The original plan would have had him in Rotterdam preparing for the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. But instead James Newman is at home preparing for a family gathering on Zoom.
“It’s a bit of a different setting to what I thought I was going to be doing,” he said on BBC Breakfast — the flagship morning show in the UK. “I thought I’d be polishing my dancing shoes for the biggest night of my life. Instead I’m sitting in my kitchen.”
It’s not all bad. He’s diving into the festive spirit as he gears up for Eurovision: Come Together — the UK’s special ESC 2020 programme which will pick the country’s favourite Eurovision song of all-time.
“Unfortunately for my wife, I’ve got us some ABBA outfits, but there’s just two of us, so we’re just AB.”
“She’s got a poncho. I’ve put up some bunting and British flags and we’re going to have a Zoom party with my family.”
James is clearly diving head first into tonight’s programming, which includes the official EBU offering Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light. So is he keen to represent the UK at Eurovision 2021?
“[The song] is being honoured tonight and we’re going to enter again next year if I’m asked to go.”
James also revealed a bit of his staging plans for Rotterdam. Apparently it would mirror the cold climate of his music video, which was filmed in the snow in Poland.
“I was trying to get a custom made suit made for me in Soho from a suitmaker. But now he’s not doing it. It was going to be a vintage-y looking suit. Because the staging was going to look like I was somewhere cold, I would have looked the part.”
When it came to shooting James’ music video, he got to work with an icon, Wim Hof. The ‘ice-man’ extreme athlete has a big fan in James, who spent time attending a session with Wim prior to his selection for Eurovision, partaking in many activities we see in the video. The clip featured Wim ice-bathing and walking through scenic Polish forests laced with snow, in just shorts. No word on whether Wim would have been on stage with him in The Netherlands.
Are you excited for James’ return to Eurovision? Shout out your thoughts below!
A great genuine guy who co wrote a very decent song. I hope he does get the opportunity to enter next year because I’m sure he will come up with something just as good. The fear I have is that we usually send a poor effort the very next year. That’s with a different artist of course. With the BBC scrapping the selection process there’s no reason not to send him.
Wishing all the best for him. It was the best song for the UK in years. I think people would appreciate it, even with Brexit… Hope we’ll definitely see more of James. Have fun tonight and stay safe, everyone!
I wish we could see every entry’s concept
It sounds like we might also get a preview of the staging during Eurovision: Come Together which will be interesting to see.