Today the rehearsals for Eurovision 2023 continue in Liverpool. Countries rehearsing on Day 5 include Germany, France, Italy, Ukraine, Spain and the UK, who are having their first rehearsal on the Liverpool stage. Up next is Mae Muller, representing the UK.
Mae Muller’s first rehearsal
The sixth and final act to take to the Eurovision 2023 stage at M&S Bank Arena today for their first rehearsal in Liverpool was the UK’s Mae Muller. Mae Muller will be competing in this year’s competition with her entry “I Wrote A Song”, following on from her internal selection.
Following Mae Muller’s first rehearsal, a clip of what went on was posted on the official Eurovision Song Contest TikTok account. The clip showed Muller before and after she took to the Eurovision stage for the first time, as well as giving us some insight into how her first rehearsal went.
What did we learn about the UK’s staging?
Photo credit: Corinne Cumming/EBU
It’s pop all round for Mae Muller as she takes to the Eurovision stage in front of a home crowd. She is dressed in a black sheer corseted jacket and black trousers, flanked by four dancers in black and red. She performs on a raised plinth, that allows her to create clever effects with the LEDs – there’s a section at the beginning where her face is shown on the back wall but splits in two, giving the impression that she is literally inside her own head! The graphics are pop-art style, with big block colours in pink, yellow and lilac. The spoken word section remains, and it builds to a “pop banger finish”, with smoke jets seen on the rehearsal images.
What we thought of Mae Muller’s first rehearsal
After Mae Muller’s first rehearsal, Tim gave his initial thoughts on the snippet that we saw.
Who is Mae Muller?
Holly Mae Muller is a 25-year-old singer and songwriter from the area of Kentish Town in London. Her career in music began early, writing songs from as young as just 8 years old. Around this time, Mae also received attention as the little girl in the green dress in MIKA’s video for “Grace Kelly”.
Whilst working in a pub, Mae began to sporadically release music on Soundcloud, where she was recognised and signed. Her first EP – After Hours – was released in 2018. The EP caught the attention of Capitol Records, and signed her to the label.
Under her new contract, Mae released her first album, Chapter 1, in 2019. To promote the album, Mae supported Little Mix on tour around the UK and Ireland. Her success continued to boom in 2021 with the song “Better Days”, a collaboration with Swedish music collective Neiked and American rapper Polo G. This success was seen as the song reached #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
More recently, she has released a collaboration with Sigala, Caity Baser and Stefflon Don, “Feels This Good”. Her song for Eurovision – “I Wrote A Song” – was written by Mae herself, alongside Lewis Thompson and Karen Poole. Speaking about her participation, Mae said:
I’m SO excited to participate in Eurovision this year and represent the UK! I’ve loved watching Eurovision all my life, so to compete in such a massive music competition is simply brilliant. I’m a huge fan of so many of the artists that have found success at Eurovision, from ABBA to Måneskin! Sam Ryder was so amazing last year and proved the UK can be back on the left-hand side of the leader board! I wrote the song I Wrote A Song a few months ago when I was going through a hard time and wanted to feel empowered about relationships, so for it to be chosen for this year’s UK Eurovision song is honestly a dream!
Mae Muller
The United Kingdom’s Eurovision journey
Despite a recent slump in results, the UK is one of the most successful countries at the Eurovision Song Contest. Debuting at the second edition ever of the Contest in 1957, the United Kingdom has won the competition on five separate occasions. The most recent win for the UK was in 1997 with Katrina and the Waves, singing “Love Shine A Light”. The UK also holds the record for the number of second place finishes – currently at 16.
In 2022, the UK was represented by Sam Ryder with his song “SPACE MAN”. The performance managed to impress juries and televoters, and the UK finished in second place with 466 points, their best placing since 1998.
What do you think of I Wrote A Song? Can Mae Muller keep Eurovision in the United Kingdom? Let us know your thoughts! Also, be sure to follow “That Eurovision Site” on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok as we prepare for Eurovision 2023!
News Source: That Eurovision Site
Photo Credit: Sarah Louise Bennett/EBU
