UNITED KINGDOM

The United Kingdom entry was revealed on March 3rd in a special BBC Red Button feature hosted by Scott Mills. Earlier in February it was confirmed that their song and act was being chosen internally. It was then revealed that they were using the "BBC Unsigned" feature to bring a new young talent to the contest. Representing the UK will be Molly Smitten-Downes with herself-penned song "Children of the universe"

It was filmed the day before in a secret location and presented as a special 'red button' feature, available on all digital BBC tv channels. There was much guesswork on who the artist was but a blogpost on the BBC site regarding an artist who had progressed through the BBC introducing platform. run by the BBC Local radio. She had also written the song especially for the contest, not just a track off an existing album or website.

The staging have very basic but also effective. Milly is backed by a very prominent drummer and four backing singers. from what I would see, all of the vocals were live.The song is not one for choreography, but the act is not static but allows for energy and interaction with the audience. The venue is quite dark but uses a lot of very bright lights to emphasise parts of the song like "What if" last year. Molly moves round the stage well and it doesn't seem forced.

The song is in the same vein as Natalia Kelly's "Shine" but this has so much more power, atmosphere and lift in the chorus it. The drum beat is really prominent and driving in this song - as are the quality of the backing voices. There are many harmonies in the song as well as call of response parts which could show any faults in the song. There is a lot of repetition and lots of chances to either join in, fist pump, sway and catch earworms. Her voice is also very strong, she just about carries off the low parts in the verses but her voice really sours in the bridge and chorus.

Part of me wants to say don't change too much. As a singer-songwriter she needs to feel comfortable singing - especially in front of an area full of people. I hope that the BBC have got a range of gigs and venues lined up for her. The more experience she gets on big stages and with large audiences the more confident she will feel. On the other side, as she has written the song herself it should be nicely within her range and so could push it further.

All in all, this song and chosen act has had such a warm reception from so many corners. It is a modern contemporary song what one might hear on the radio anywhere. I think a lot of western countries will vote of this as well have its niche with the juries. Not sure that this one is a winner but the UK has been in the bottom 5 the last two years - this will very much improve on this. I just hope this is the start a new phass of choosing the UK entry.

Artist - Molly Smitten-Downes

Song - Children of the universe

Music - Molly Smitten-Downes

Lyrics - Molly Smitten-Downes