Mae Muller will represent the UK at Eurovision in May, the BBC has revealed.
The 25-year-old will step on stage in Liverpool, hoping to replicate the success of Sam Ryder, who finished in second place last year and topped the jury votes leaderboard.
She’ll be singing her track I Wrote A Song.
Other acts who had been rumoured to be in the running had included Mimi Webb, Rina Sawayama and Birdy.
Who chooses the act?
The BBC uses internal selection to choose its Eurovision performance, after a string of disappointing results in recent years (including two last place finishes in a row) prompted a rethink.
It works with record label TaP Music to find the artist and song.
While the 11,000-capacity Liverpool Arena may be packed out, people can still head to the fan zone in Liverpool, or watch the whole week unfold on the BBC.
Advertisement
Kalush Orchestra, a Ukrainian rap group, won the contest last year, but it was deemed unsafe to hold 2023’s event in the country due to the ongoing conflict.
Ryder performed for the UK last year in Turin, Italy, finishing in second place, with the BBC offering to step in and host on Ukraine’s behalf.
Image: Sam Ryder finished in second place last year
Who is Mae Muller?
The north London-born singer will be the first female entrant for the UK since SuRie competed in 2018 with Storm, coming 24th.
Coincidentally she was born in 1997 – the same year the UK last won Eurovision with Katrina And The Waves’ Love Shine A Light.
She has 126,000 followers on Instagram and more than 6.1 million monthly listeners on Spotify, credits Prince and Sade as her early musical influences, and says Gwen Stefani, Florence Welch and Lily Allen have all inspired her in more recent years.
She has worked with chart-topping acts including girl group Little Mix, rapper Aitch and music producer and DJ Sigala.
In 2019, Muller supported Little Mix on their LM5 tour.
Who is hosting the show?
The hosting team will include the Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina, alongside TV star and singer Alesha Dixon, and Ted Lasso actress Hannah Waddingham.
Graham Norton, who has commentated on Eurovision since 2009, will join the three hosts for the final. He will share commentating duties with actress and comedian Mel Giedroyc.
The Eurovision grand final will take place at the Liverpool Arena Saturday 13 May and air live on the BBC from 8pm.
Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Image: Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
More on London Marathon 2025
Related Topics:
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
Kemi Badenoch has not ruled out forming coalitions at a local level with Reform after the council elections next week.
Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, the Conservative leader did however categorically rule out a pact with Nigel Farage’s party on a national level.
“I am not going into any coalition with Nigel Farage… read my lips,” she said.
However, she did not deny that deals could be struck with Reform at a local level, arguing that some councils might be under no overall control and in that case, “you have to do what is right for your local area”.
“You look at the moment, we are in coalition with Liberal Democrats, with independents,” she said. “We’ve been in coalition with Labour before at local government level.
“They [councillors] have to look at who the people are that they’re going into coalition with and see how they can deliver for local people.”
She added: “What I don’t want to hear is talks of stitch-ups or people planning things before the results are out. They have to do what is right for their communities.”
More on Electoral Dysfunction
Related Topics:
A total of 23 councils are up for grabs when voters go to the polls on Thursday 1 May – mostly in places that were once deemed Tory shires, until last year’s general election.
It includes 14 county councils, all but two of which have been Conservative-controlled, as well as eight unitary authorities, all but one of which are Tory.
Ms Badenoch has set expectations low for the Tories, suggesting they could lose all the councils they are contesting.
The last time this set of councils were up for election was in 2021, when the Conservative Party was led by Boris Johnson who was riding high from the COVID vaccine bounce.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Image: Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Image: Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.