United Kingdom UNITED KINGDOM 2023 - Mae Muller - I Wrote a Song

[ESC United Mod Team]

 

[ESC_Peggy]

Some people are now suggesting that Birdy might be our representative. She has a song out next Friday called Raincatchers and some very observant people have said she has gaps at crucial times in her touring schedule, such as when the pre parties happen and she has apparently been working with Tap on something. ESC Crystal Ball recently started following her.

Yay bottom 5 here we come.

 

[Rocket man]

If it's a solo female which is likely, then the UK already has an advantage this year.

I gotta be honest, I'm not a fan of Birdy but the preview of "Raincatchers" sounds epic, it's very Kate Bush which I LOVE.

 

[Leydan]

I'm not big on Birdy tbh, I think she'd have her fans for sure but she's not someone who appeals to me. As an artist and a choice it would be a positive one I guess, but not one i'd be excited for.

 

[ChiversLookDivine]

At this point I think the prospect of Rina Sawayama is really getting to me, as I'd have bitten my own hand off in 2021 for the UK to send Freya Ridings, Grace Carter, Birdy... and knowing what we could get, and with 2022 just behind us, now I'm kinda like ehhh, we can do better.

This is actually why I'm quietly confident it is definitely Rina now. Between the 'proof' shared in here, her TikToks, the stupid giant picture of Rina in the BBC building... either it is her and TaP have done a brilliant job of hyping her without confirming or denying it is her by making all the evidence confusing but legitimized due to who is saying it... or it isn't Rina, and TaP are somehow stupid enough not to have intervened and make an announcement that it specifically wasn't her.

TaP are aware of what's going on, we know from 2022 that they like easter eggs and playing with the audience, they would realise letting the Rina rumour mill go crazy would damage the actual act they're sending (unless it's someone bigger than Rina of course), the fact that they haven't announced anything means it is her.

And also what with Rina continuing to hint at Eurovision on her socials in the last few days, there's no way an artist that big is going to just keep making jokes about the contest. One TikTok, maybe. But it's been weeks and weeks now. There's no way an artist that a lot of people have suggested could even be 'too big' for Eurovision is just hyping herself as an entry to troll us for a few extra streams. And if she's supposedly 'too big' why would she even have mentioned it on her socials? She knows what she's doing. The alternative is that she is infact a self-confessed fan of Eurovision, who isn't too big for the contest, and is doing it. The troll is purely just mentioning Eurovision, not saying yes or no, and letting us all squirm. Just like William from Wiwibloggs, a BBC employee, sharing that picture of her at the BBC. All the 'evidence' so far has been legitimate but intentionally chaotic. And if it does turn out to be her it will be one of the best PR strategies ever.

 

[Leydan]

At this point I think the prospect of Rina Sawayama is really getting to me, as I'd have bitten my own hand off in 2021 for the UK to send Freya Ridings, Grace Carter, Birdy... and knowing what we could get, and with 2022 just behind us, now I'm kinda like ehhh, we can do better.

This is actually why I'm quietly confident it is definitely Rina now. Between the 'proof' shared in here, her TikToks, the stupid giant picture of Rina in the BBC building... either it is her and TaP have done a brilliant job of hyping her without confirming or denying it is her by making all the evidence confusing but legitimized due to who is saying it... or it isn't Rina, and TaP are somehow stupid enough not to have intervened and make an announcement that it specifically wasn't her.

TaP are aware of what's going on, we know from 2022 that they like easter eggs and playing with the audience, they would realise letting the Rina rumour mill go crazy would damage the actual act they're sending (unless it's someone bigger than Rina of course), the fact that they haven't announced anything means it is her.

And also what with Rina continuing to hint at Eurovision on her socials in the last few days, there's no way an artist that big is going to just keep making jokes about the contest. One TikTok, maybe. But it's been weeks and weeks now. There's no way an artist that a lot of people have suggested could even be 'too big' for Eurovision is just hyping herself as an entry to troll us for a few extra streams. And if she's supposedly 'too big' why would she even have mentioned it on her socials? She knows what she's doing. The alternative is that she is infact a self-confessed fan of Eurovision, who isn't too big for the contest, and is doing it. The troll is purely just mentioning Eurovision, not saying yes or no, and letting us all squirm. Just like William from Wiwibloggs, a BBC employee, sharing that picture of her at the BBC. All the 'evidence' so far has been legitimate but intentionally chaotic. And if it does turn out to be her it will be one of the best PR strategies ever.

I mean a lot of what you say makes sense, it's absolute stupidity that the BBC and TaP have allowed the hype around Rina to grow into such a massive frenzy. Especially considering PR and such is meant to be their speciality. I hate how wild and massive it's become, because if it's not her then the reaction is going to be one of disappointment given that many are acting as if it's Rina already - unless ofc it is someone who would get more hype. It will just have to be something I believe when i see it, especially with so many other names being thrown around like this.

 

[DirtyFalcon]

So it seems to be between, Rina, Freya Ridings, Mimi Webb and Birdy then. I really like stuff from all of them so any of them would be great artists to represent the UK.

If this is Rina, do you think there's still a chance that she compete with "Frankenstein" ? It's so good to a point that I literally have an eargasm everytime i hear this song. It would be my favourite UK entry ever and competing for my 1st place with Serbia (if they chose Luke Black). But if it's not her but some of the other singers rumored, this would be a good choice too for the BBC (but only if they send some similar music to what they're used to).

 

[MopManMoss]

I feel like I’m the only British euro fan who just doesn’t care who we send

 

[ChiversLookDivine]

I mean a lot of what you say makes sense, it's absolute stupidity that the BBC and TaP have allowed the hype around Rina to grow into such a massive frenzy. Especially considering PR and such is meant to be their speciality. I hate how wild and massive it's become, because if it's not her then the reaction is going to be one of disappointment given that many are acting as if it's Rina already - unless ofc it is someone who would get more hype. It will just have to be something I believe when i see it, especially with so many other names being thrown around like this.

Exactly right. You can't have BBC/TaP in 2022 lead an absolutely impeccable PR campaign for Sam in the UK and across Europe including a visit to the European Space Agency, sneakily drop Space Man on Radio 1 under the mask of just being a regular song, and even do something as preposterously clever as leave an easter egg in Sam's performance on The One Show to hint at the staging 2 months later...

...and then have BBC and TaP in 2023 act totally oblivious to the ENORMOUS Rina hype that will only ruin their plans if it isn't her. You can't move for people shouting "RINA EUROVISION", it's all over her Instagram, it's all over Twitter, and it's not just British fans, it's fans from every country demanding she goes to 'save' Eurovision or laughing that she's so good they'd make her vote for the UK. And this is the HOME broadcasters entry this year with all of Europe demanding she goes at this point. So yeah I do worry about the hate a UK entry will get if it isn't her... we all know the Rina rumour, TaP know the Rina rumour, BBC know the Rina rumour (I mean Scott Mills has mentioned her by name on the BBC Eurovision podcast, and they've got a picture of her hanging in their building ffs). The same management team that made Dua Lipa a star, a team that already know how to play our fandom like a fiddle, are not that stupid. The BBC, who are running Eurovision this year, masters of spin and PR themselves, are not that stupid.

Which is why it is Rina. Because the alternative is to admit that BBC/TaP aren't good at their job, and after 2022 I doubt that very much.

 

[Leydan]

I feel like I’m the only British euro fan who just doesn’t care who we send

I care a lot because I want to support our own entry for once. I haven't liked a British entry for years. I wasn't even into Space Man a whole lot. Not only that, I don't want Sam to be our Schulte moment. There is a whole load of more intrinsic reasons I don't mention but I think for a lot of British fans it's about making sure that the change brought last year continues onwards.

 

[MopManMoss]

I think if I enjoyed spaceman last year I’d probably care more but to me it was just a 6/10 sadly glad plenty of others found enjoyment in it though

 

[Kitakaze]

I really hope it’s Rina with every fibre of my being but I don’t think Frankenstein is the right song. It’s such a shame Hold The Girl was released a couple of months too early as I think that would have been much more impactful. I’m not sure which songs she may have performed before the September cut off but there are a couple of gems from the album that seem to have been released after, like Hurricanes, Holy or Send My Love To John even which I think would be more competitive.

 

[crashworld]

I feel like I’m the only British euro fan who just doesn’t care who we send

I'm with you too. I'm more interested in the overall package - the song, the staging and the performance. An established artist could likely give us that but it's not always the case.

So I'm just seeing what TaP and BBC are able to follow up with the brilliant work they did last year in terms of the marketing and promotion aspect. I'm also one of the few that didn't like "Spaceman" and Sam as a performer but I will give credit when it's due that for once in a long while, the UK delegation did something right in getting the hype up and support for their entry.

 

[Loindici]

I really hope it’s Rina with every fibre of my being but I don’t think Frankenstein is the right song. It’s such a shame Hold The Girl was released a couple of months too early as I think that would have been much more impactful. I’m not sure which songs she may have performed before the September cut off but there are a couple of gems from the album that seem to have been released after, like Hurricanes, Holy or Send My Love To John even which I think would be more competitive.

Remembering the album SAWAYAMA, there were some great materials that weren't in the original album but released in the deluxe version of it, months after the original. I'm sure there are also other awesome materials in Rina's archive that didn't match the Hold the Girl album's concept, which is ideal for this occasion.

 

[ESC_Peggy]

I think if I enjoyed spaceman last year I’d probably care more but to me it was just a 6/10 sadly glad plenty of others found enjoyment in it though

Objectively the UK had a great package and so did Spain. The BBC and TaP have to deliver to prove their attitude has changed and it wasn’t a one-off. I know some Irish fans who are annoyed they will probably NQ again. I’m not bothered if it isn’t Rina as long it’s good but it would be nice if it was a bit more high tempo for once.

 

[MopManMoss]

Agree to disagree on Spain slo mo is not a good song it’s just an excellent dance

 

[ESC_Peggy]

The latest Birdy rumour might be more believable but I agree with others that said it’s silly the BBC/TaP have let the Rina rumour spread beyond the fandom and wiwibloggs and The Euro Trip podcast continue to hype it up.

 

[HarryUK]

I think TaP/BBC should take a different approach next year and actually quash rumours before they get out of hand because if/when it’s not announced that Rina is our act, a lot of people are gonna be mad - it’s their own doing, granted, but it could easily have just been stopped weeks if not months ago

 

[ESC_Peggy]

Agree to disagree on Spain slo mo is not a good song it’s just an excellent dance

I understand but Eurovision is about the the whole package not the song on its own. It's a bonus to like the song but staging can make it memorable and encourage people to vote for it which is what matters.

People rememeber Chanel as the Spanish woman who brought the best singing and dancing combination to the Eurovision stage rather than her singing about sugar daddies and wanting nice things. Similarly people remember the UK for the trumpets and that wasn’t for good reason.

 

[ChiversLookDivine]

The latest Birdy rumour might be more believable but I agree with others that said it’s silly the BBC/TaP have let the Rina rumour spread beyond the fandom and wiwibloggs and The Euro Trip podcast continue to hype it up.

I think TaP/BBC should take a different approach next year and actually quash rumours before they get out of hand because if/when it’s not announced that Rina is our act, a lot of people are gonna be mad - it’s their own doing, granted, but it could easily have just been stopped weeks if not months ago

Well as I said in my post, "BBC/TaP are silly to let the Rina rumour spread" is just one side of the coin, the other being that they are the root of the rumour being spread and are doing nothing to diffuse it because it's their doing, with all the Rina evidence being planted along the way, and everything including her TikToks being an intentional strategy. It makes sense that Rina herself wouldn't confirm or deny heckles at all her recent tour dates as this is a positive rumour you don't shut down. But TaP choosing to ignore the incoming storm only serves to tell us that it is her.

Now... if I was TaP, and I realised people were starting to cotton on to the whole "it is actually Rina because all the evidence was planted by people in the know, it's not just a vicious fan rumour" and saying stuff like "I worry about the actual UK artist" I would absolutely do the following:

come out and deny it's Rina.

The denial would calm the nerves of those of us petrified just incase it isn't Rina, and it would give everyone locked into the Rina rumour a few days to breathe and take stock of the situation... and then either you announce the actual UK artist in a much safer way OR you announce Rina to the surprise and shock of everyone, and in future years nobody will ever be able to guess what TaP are doing ever again.

That's just what I would do, I'm not the head of a PR and management company, but still.

The way I see it, the stable door can no longer be closed, the horse bolted a long time ago. There's no way you're getting the Rina rumour back under control, it's either her, or someone better/bigger than her, and the alternative is not something we should even consider because it would be very damaging for all concerned. I've never heard hype for any artist representing any country at Eurovision like this before.

 

[Cestrian18]

The latest Birdy rumour might be more believable but I agree with others that said it’s silly the BBC/TaP have let the Rina rumour spread beyond the fandom and wiwibloggs and The Euro Trip podcast continue to hype it up.

WiWi are going to absolutely throw their toys out of the pram if it's not Rina. They can be really unprofessional at times and they really only have themselves to blame for leaning into the rumours when he actual 'evidence' is very thin and open to confirmation bias.

The only thing that made me feel like they could've been enlisted by TaP to build hype was the tweet of the picture in the atrium, the rest is just Twitter hearsay and conjecture that a better fan site would just avoid or heavily caveat.

That being said, Rina is a big enough artist in her own right that leaning into the twitter rumours for 'exposure' doesn't make sense either.

Not too long to wait until we find out I guess!