Eurovision 2020 UK Entry confirmed as BRIT Award winner James Newman

Eurovision 2020’s UK Entry is REVEALED: BRIT Award winner James Newman will take to the stage in Rotterdam… a year after Michael Rice finished in LAST PLACE

James Newman will represent the United Kingdom at Eurovision 2020 in May.

The singer, 28, will head to Rotterdam in The Netherlands for the grand final, after being announced on BBC Radio on Thursday.

James – who is the brother of Love Me Again hitmaker John Newman – said that he hopes to win over the public vote with his ‘memorable and anthemic’ track My Last Breath, after the UK finished in last place with its entry last year.

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Superstar: BRIT Award winner James Newman will represent the United Kingdom at Eurovision 2020 in May with his haunting single My Last Breath

James’ entry single debuted on BBC Radio on Thursday morning, while the video was also released online after being shot in the Sněžka mountains between Poland and the Czech Republic.

The singer said he hopes his single will ‘connect’ with audiences, telling Newsbeat: ‘[It’s a] massive opportunity to get my song out to the world in such a big way.’ 

James added that he had a ‘little think’ before he accepted the offer to represent his home country in Eurovision, but said yes because the spectacle is a ‘celebration of music’. 

He added: ‘Since I was a little kid, I’ve always wanted to be an artist and performer myself. ‘It just feels like the right time to start putting songs out.’

Poor form: The singer will be hoping to break a run of poor results for the Brits, after last year's entry Michael Rice (pictured performing in the Eurovision final) finished in last place

Poor form: The singer will be hoping to break a run of poor results for the Brits, after last year’s entry Michael Rice (pictured performing in the Eurovision final) finished in last place

James won a BRIT Award in 2014 for Best British Single after co-writing Rudimental and Ella Eyre’s Waiting All Night.

Michael Rice represented the UK last year, and there was some voting controversy following the final.

Following the finale, which was won by the Netherlands, the results were corrected after it was revealed that the votes from the Belarusian jury was axed. 

Close: James is also the brother of singer John Newman, who recorded the hit Love Me Again

Close: James is also the brother of singer John Newman, who recorded the hit Love Me Again

It meant Netherlands champion Duncan Laurence remained top with 498 as opposed to 492, while Italy’s runner up Mahmood had six points more than their 465 total given on the night, and Russia’s entry Sergey Lazarev finished with 372 rather than 369. 

The change in results was bad news for the Michael, who had already found himself at the bottom of the rankings on the night after his song’Better Than Us earned just 16 points. 

However, the scoreboard ended up looking even worse for Michael following the revised results as he only had a score of 11 points in the end.

The Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals will take place on 12th and 14th May 2020. The final will air on Saturday 16th May on BBC One. 

Sensational: James won a BRIT Award in 2014 after he co-wrote the single Waiting All Night (pictured at the ASCAP Awards in 2016)

Sensational: James won a BRIT Award in 2014 after he co-wrote the single Waiting All Night (pictured at the ASCAP Awards in 2016)

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