Eurovision fans say UK has chance to do well with first girl group since 1999

Yahoo

16-05-2025

Eurovision Song Contest fans believe the UK is in with a chance to succeed with Remember Monday, the first girl group act from the country since 1999's Precious.
The first performance from the trio, made up of friends Lauren Byrne, Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele who met at school in Hampshire, was well received, with some in Basel, Switzerland, praising their smooth harmonisation while singing What The Hell Just Happened?
They will compete in Saturday's grand final with Regency-themed staging against touted favourites such as Sweden's KAJ, who if they triumph will break the Eurovision win record, and Israeli singer Yuval Raphael.
During Thursday's semi-final, Ireland's act, Norwegian singer Emmy Kristiansen, failed to get the required votes to progress, unlike last year's Bambie Thug.
Bambie was the first Irish entrant to make the final since Ryan O'Shaughnessy in 2018. The country is the joint leader, alongside Sweden, with seven wins, but has not had a victory in decades.
Outside the Eurovision village in Basel on Friday, 31-year-old Ukrainian Olga told the PA news agency that they are mainly 'fans of Ukraine', but 'I think this year, actually, we have so many nice countries, and we want to support a lot of them'.
The Mariupol native, who lives in Kyiv amid the war, added that she believes the UK does not make 'much effort' at Eurovision, but this year the 'girls are performing really good, and I really like that, they've been real on the stage'.
Agreeing was Angel Garcia from Barcelona, Spain, who said he was 'going to vote for Spain, as I'm here, but if I had to vote again, I would normally vote for the UK, because I think it's a great song, and I like great artists'.
'People say it's (the voting is) about politics,' the 50-year-old also said. 'People say it's about many things, but what I see is that if you have a good song, you have many chances of winning.'
The UK are 'one of the big five', along with France's Louane, German duo Abor & Tynna, Italian singer Lucio Corsi and Spain's Melody, who did not have to compete in the earlier bouts along with reigning champion Switzerland with Basel-born Zoe Me.
Crossing their fingers for the UK and Germany were Rafael Rechel and Tanja Kania, who first met at Turin 2022, before becoming Eurovision friends.
Mr Rechel, 49, was cautious in hoping Germany was 'somewhere in the middle', and not last place, with his favourite being the Netherlands' Claude Kiambe with the emotional C'est La Vie, while Ms Kania, 56, wants Sweden 'because of the happiness'.
'I'm always looking for the UK entry, because the UK is (more than) any other country famous for the music,' Mr Rechel, from Frankfurt, said.
'And then the songs are not that good, to be honest, but the three women are very nice, very kind, and their voices are perfect.'
Others in the final are Finland's black leather-wearing Erika Vikman, Malta's high-energy diva Miriana Conte and Ukraine's Ziferblat.
On Friday, Eurovision director Martin Green, from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), said that the organisers 'tightened up security', at the St Jakobshalle arena after Raphael's rehearsal on Thursday was disrupted by protesters, appearing to hold up large Palestinian flags.
Mr Green added 'most of the people when asked to leave, because they were disrupting the production' did so, and he is 'pleased' to say that the live broadcast show was full of 'respectful' audiences, while speaking at a press briefing.
'We are on the verge of proving to the world that this is an event where people can come together, (and) agree to disagree,' he also said.
The Saturday event will also see 2024 Swiss winner Nemo return to the Eurovision stage, amid speculation that Canadian singer Celine Dion, who triumphed in 1988 with Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi, will perform.
Switzerland, who hosted the first contest in 1956 in Lugano, had not won for more than three decades until Nemo.
It was announced, on Thursday night, that the UK's Eurovision spokesperson, Doctor Who actor Ncuti Gatwa, would be replaced by singer and BBC Radio 2 presenter Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
The BBC said Gatwa was unable to reveal the points, given by the UK national jury to other contestants during the competition's grand final, due to 'unforeseen circumstances'.