Eurovision Song Contest fans are trading opinions on who should represent the United Kingdom this, as an announcement is expected from the BBC at some point this week.
It's now been 26 years since the UK won Eurovision, with the last act to achieve the feat being Katrina and the Waves, who triumphed with their track Love Shine A Light back in 1997. Since then the nation has more often that not finished on the wrong side of the leaderboard, with two nil points, firstly for Jemini in 2003 and then James Newman in 2021.
Sam Ryder turned fortunes around no end last year, when he finished second overall and topped the jury scores, thanks to his performance of Space Man. He was pipped to the post by Ukraine, with the UK taking over hosting duties due to the ongoing conflict there.
READ MORE: Alesha Dixon accused of giving 'deliberate' clue on UK act
Liverpool is the city who that will do the honours for the UK and, with tickets going on sale on Tuesday, the missing piece of the Eurovision jigsaw is the identity of the UK's Eurovision act.
Bookies are tipping Skinny Love singer Birdy to get the nod, with her new single Raincatcher; but she's not the only star in the frame. Judging by all the buzz on social media, there are five possible contenders: Birdy, Rina Sawayama, Mimi Webb, Freya Ridings and Mae Muller.
Frankenstein star Rina seems to be the big fan favourite, with speculation that she will fly the flag for the UK, heightened by Alesha Dixon, after the confirmed Eurovision host appeared on BBC's Saturday Kitchen wearing the same jump suit worn by Rina's dancers on a recent appearance on The Graham Norton Show.
A Eurovision account on Twitter claimed that a second video for Mimi's hit song Red Flags has been filmed and will soon be released onto the Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel as others suggest that Freezing, a track from her newly released debut album is more likely to be the entry, should she be the chosen artist.
Freya's track Weekends fits the bill of being the 'electro pop vibe' some Eurovision insiders claim to be aware of for this year's entry, with another saying that they had heard the song and 'others may have too', hinting it's a track that's already had radio play. However, on Monday Freya ruled herself out during a Zoom interview, when she said: "I'm not! I promise you I'm really not!
Mae has crept into contention in recent days, with a snippet of her track I Wrote A Song doing the rounds on Twitter as some mooted it as a potential entry, with the fact that she's also been at the Radio 1 studios leading people to think she's this year's act.
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