A 21-year-old busker from Hartlepool has been selected to represent the UK at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
Michael Rice won a public vote on Friday night’s selection show, Eurovision: You Decide, with his song Bigger Than Us.
He made the final three contenders after being whittled down from the six performers on the show by a panel of judges, made up of Rylan Clark-Neal, Mollie King and Marvin Humes.
Before the competition, Michael said of the song: “Bigger Than Us is about love, coming together, it’s a really powerful song. You just connect with it. It’s all about emotion.”
He will now go on to perform it at Eurovision in May, which takes place in Tel Aviv, Israel, following Netta’s win last year with her song, Toy.
Michael is no stranger to TV singing shows, having won All Together Now on the BBC last year, and also made it onto The X Factor in 2014.
Michael, who set up a waffle and milkshake business with his All Together Now prize money, first came to the attention of the wider public through a viral video of him busking a Years And Years song seen by almost a quarter of a million people.
He had gone up against singer Kerrie-Anne and former Britain’s Got Talent auditionee Jordan Clarke in the final three.
They were picked over acts Anisa, girl group Maid, and former X Factor hopeful Holly Tandy, after each of the three specially written songs were sung in two different styles.
