"Bigger than Us" is a song written by Laurell Barker, Anna-Klara Folin, Jonas Thander, and John Lundvik and performed by Michael Rice. He performed the song at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, and came in 26th place. The song was chosen on 8 February 2019 at BBC's national selection show Eurovision: You Decide.[1] The song was used as the theme music for the Pride of Britain Awards 2019 and 2020.
| "Bigger than Us" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Michael Rice | ||||
| Released | 8 March 2019 | |||
| Recorded | 2018 | |||
| Length | 2:58 | |||
| Label | Spinnup | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Michael Rice singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Bigger than Us" on YouTube | ||||
| Eurovision Song Contest 2019 entry | ||||
| Country | ||||
| Artist(s) | ||||
| Language | English | |||
| Composer(s) |
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| Lyricist(s) |
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| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 26th | |||
| Final points | 11 | |||
| Entry chronology | ||||
| ◄ "Storm" (2018) | ||||
| "My Last Breath" (2020) ► | ||||
At Eurovision
editEurovision: You Decide
editThe song was chosen at Eurovision: You Decide by the British public and three judges selected by the BBC. After receiving confirmation from the three judges, Michael won the final, beating Jordan Clarke with the song "Freaks" and Kerrie-Anne with the song "Sweet Lies".
The song was originally chosen for Melodifestivalen 2019 to be performed by Swedish singer-songwriter John Lundvik, however Lundvik decided on another song and entered "Bigger than Us" to Eurovision: You Decide as a songwriter.[2]
Lundvik won Melodifestivalen 2019 with his song "Too Late for Love", and competed against "Bigger than Us" in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.[3] Lundvik finished 5th.
In Tel Aviv
editAs the United Kingdom is a member of the "Big Five", the song automatically advanced to the grand final, which was held on 18 May 2019 at the Expo Tel Aviv in pavilion 2.
Grand Final
editThe song finished 26th with a total of 11 points in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 grand final in Tel Aviv, becoming the 4th act from the United Kingdom to finish last in the grand final.
Critical reception
editCharlotte Runcie of The Daily Telegraph approved of the choice of song for the United Kingdom's Eurovision entry, praising Michael Rice's vocals and calling the track "a perfectly respectable Eurovision-friendly power ballad with a key change. Nothing special but, crucially, nothing embarrassing."[4]
Charts
edit| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Scotland (OCC)[5] | 35 |
| Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[6] | 8 |
| UK Singles Downloads (OCC)[7] | 27 |
References
edit- ^ "Eurovision 2019: Why Michael Rice believes he can break the UK's losing streak". BBC News. 2019-02-08. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
- ^ "SVT tvingade John Lundvik att byta låt". Aftonbladet. 22 February 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- ^ Eriksson, Hedvig (2019-03-09). "John Lundvik vann Melodifestivalen". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2019-03-10.
- ^ Runcie, Charlotte (8 February 2019). "Eurovision: You Decide, review - A fun, slightly shambolic show that finally picked the right song". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
- ^ "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 21". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
- ^ "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 May 2019.