The three panelists for the United Kingdom’s Eurovision national final have been revealed this morning by the BBC.
Appearing on the panel will be Rylan Clark-Neal, Rochelle Humes and Tom Fletcher.
Rylan first gained fame after finishing in 5th place on The X Factor in 2012. He has subsequently gone on to find success as a television presenter on shows such as This Morning. He is well-known on Twitter as being a Eurovision fan.
Rochelle Humes is also a singer and TV presenter. She has had success in two pop groups: S Club 8 and The Saturdays. She has presented shows on UK television including Ninja Warrior UK.
Tom Fletcher is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who is best-known for being part of the pop-rock band McFly who have had several hits in the UK including 7 number one singles.
This year’s “You Decide” will be the 3rd edition of the show, and will be hosted by Måns Zelmerlöw and the UK’s semi-final commentator Mel Giedroyc.
The pair will host the show live from the Brighton Dome, a new host venue and one with a rich Eurovision history, being the spot where ABBA won the contest for Sweden in 1974.
The six acts who will be vying to represent the UK in Lisbon are:
- Goldstone – “I Feel the Love”
- Asanda – “Legends”
- RAYA – “Crazy”
- Liam Tamne – “Astronaut”
- Jaz Ellington – “You”
- SuRie – “Storm“
The panel will be on hand to provide their critique about the songs and the artists, and how they could translate the performance to the Eurovision stage in Portugal for the Grand Final in May. The winner will be revealed in the show after a live public vote.
Eurovision You Decide will be broadcast live tomorrow, Wednesday 7 February on BBC2 from 19:30 GMT.
Source: BBC Eurovision
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
The United Kingdom debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1957 and holds the record for the most consecutive appearances in the contest. To date the UK has won the contest a total of five times, with their first victory coming in 1967 and their latest in 1997. The UK holds the record for the most second place finishes in the contest, having been runner-up a total of 15 times. Since 2000 the UK has finished within the top 10 only twice, this being in 2002 with Jessica Garlick and in 2009 with Jade Ewen. Last year the country found relative success in Kyiv, when Lucie Jones finished in 15th place with “Never Give Up On You”.
