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United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025
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The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 with the song "What the Hell Just Happened?", written by Charlotte Steele, Holly-Anne Hull, Julie Aagaard, Kes Kamara, Lauren Byrne, Sam Brennan, Thomas Stengaard, and Tom Hollings, and performed by Steele, Hull, and Byrne as Remember Monday. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), internally selected its entry for the contest.
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As a member of the "Big Five", the United Kingdom automatically qualifies to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 8, the United Kingdom placed nineteenth out of the 26 performing countries with 88 points.
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Background
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Prior to the 2025 contest, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing the United Kingdom sixty-six times since its first entry in 1957.[1] Thus far, it has won the contest five times: in 1967 with the song "Puppet on a String" performed by Sandie Shaw, in 1969 with the song "Boom Bang-a-Bang" performed by Lulu, in 1976 with "Save Your Kisses for Me" performed by Brotherhood of Man, in 1981 with the song "Making Your Mind Up" performed by Bucks Fizz and in 1997 with the song "Love Shine a Light" performed by Katrina and the Waves.[2] After its last win, it has failed to be consistently successful, only reaching the top ten four times: in 1998, 2002, 2009, and 2022; and ending last five times: in 2003 (the first time in the country's history in the contest), 2008, 2010, 2019, and 2021.[3] In 2024, it was represented by "Dizzy" performed by Olly Alexander, which finished in 18th place.[1] The United Kingdom is the country that has hosted the contest the most times, with nine in total (in 1960, 1963, 1968, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1982, 1998, and 2023).
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, the BBC organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster has used various methods to select its entry: From 1957 to 2010, it organised a national final which featured a competition among several artists and songs to choose its entry for the contest. Between 2011 and 2015, the BBC opted to internally select its entry.[4] For its 2016 entry, the broadcaster announced that a national final would be organised again.[5] The same process was used in 2017 and 2018, and changes were brought in for 2019. From 2020, the BBC opted to return to an internal selection.[6]
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Before Eurovision
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Internal selection
The BBC internally selected its entry for the 2025 contest. On 16 October 2024, in a press release, the broadcaster announced that its internal selection would be lead by Andrew Cartmell, who was appointed as the head of delegation for the country, and David May, who previously served as manager for Sam Ryder, who finished in second place for the United Kingdom in 2022. The BBC confirmed that its search for the British entry had been underway for several months with a multitude of British record labels, publisher, songwriters, and the broadcaster's music production labels BBC Music and BBC Introducing. It was also revealed that the British entry would released to the public in March 2025.[7][8]
On 29 January 2025, during The Scott Mills Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2, Mills confirmed that the British entry had already been selected and that work was underway in its final presentation.[9] On 4 February 2025, BBC Radio 1 hosts Natalie O'Leary and Vicky Hawkesworth stated that the group Remember Monday had been selected to represent the United Kingdom in Basel, leading to a multitude of British media outlets confirming the group to be the selected entrants;[10][11] the BBC did not respond to the speculation. On 7 March 2025, during The Scott Mills Breakfast Show, Remember Monday were officially confirmed as the British representatives with the song "What the Hell Just Happened?".[12][13] The song was written by group members Charlotte Steele, Holly-Anne Hull, and Lauren Byrne, alongside Julie Aagaard, Kes Kamara, Sam Brennan, Thomas Stengaard, and Tom Hollings.[14]
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At Eurovision
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 took place at St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 13 and 15 May and the final on 17 May 2025. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete in the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progresses to the final. As a member of the "Big Five", the United Kingdom automatically qualified to compete in the final on 17 May 2025, but is also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. This was decided via a draw held during the semi-final allocation draw on 28 January 2025, when it was announced that the United Kingdom would be voting in the second semi-final. Despite being an automatic qualifier for the final, the British entry performed during the semi-final.[15]
The Doctor Who episode "The Interstellar Song Contest" aired on BBC One on the same day as the final, featuring appearances from UK Eurovision commentators Graham Norton and Rylan Clark. Related to this, the current lead star of Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa, was set to appear as the spokesperson for the United Kingdom, announcing its jury votes in the contest.[16] However, it was announced on 15 May that Sophie Ellis-Bextor would replace Gatwa as spokesperson, citing "unforeseen circumstances".[17]
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