Mae Muller: UK Eurovision hopeful on nerves, the warm Liverpool welcome and her European competition
Mae Muller says she can’t wait to get on the Eurovision stage on Saturday night, where she will perform against 25 other countries in a bid to take home the coveted glass microphone.
The UK’s Eurovision hopeful was born in 1997 – the same year the UK last won the competition.
Speaking ahead of the grand final, she told Sky News: “Honestly, I thought I was excited before, but now I’m here, I’m even more excited and I feel like I’m just ready to go now. It’s been so much build-up and now I’m like, ‘It’s basically here’!”
Pic: AP
Jointly hosted by two countries – the UK and Ukraine – for the first time, the show, which is the most watched non-sporting event in the world, is being held in Liverpool, Merseyside.
Muller says: “The support has just been overwhelming. I feel like before I was announced, before the song was released, you can never quite guess how it’s going to go. So, just seeing people enjoying the song and just enjoying Eurovision – I couldn’t have asked for a better welcome.”
As for her Eurovision competitors, she admits it’s easy to forget it’s a competition with the plethora of pre-parties: “I’ve been fan-girling for the past few weeks, that’s all I’ve been doing.
“It’s a very supportive vibe, the energy is really, really positive and everyone’s just like, ‘Oh my God, I love your song!’ It’s just really nice, and I feel like that is what makes the whole experience that much more enjoyable, because everyone else is really supportive of each other.”
A Eurovision fan before being selected to represent her country, Muller admits: “It feels completely new to me – enjoying it from the outside perspective and then being actually in it – it’s like a completely different thing.”
She adds with a smile: “It’s been a journey for sure”.
I Wrote A Song Eurovision dress rehearsal. Pic: Sarah Louise Bennett
Discovered on Instagram, she signed to a manager in 2017. Since then, it’s been a whirlwind, releasing two EPs, a debut album and touring with Little Mix.
But despite her rise to fame, she admits she’s still feeling the pressure of performing to hundreds of millions of viewers around the world.
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Muller explains: “Before this, before Eurovision, I actually thought, ‘Oh, I don’t think I get nervous anymore’. All my tour and all my shows – I didn’t really get that nervous feeling. I was just like, ready to go.
“But now, I’m like, ‘I’m feeling quite nervous now’, but I think it’s in a good way – it’s good nerves. I feel like it’s just because I care so much and I want to do everyone proud.
“I think if I get on that stage and just go, ‘Do you know what? That’s the best I could have ever done it’. And I had fun, then I think I’ll be good.”
Good luck Mae!
One thing she’s not worried about is performing in front of a Liverpool crowd: “The Scousers know how to party – 100%! I’ve actually performed here a couple of times before and the crowd have always been some of the best I’ve ever performed to.”
Her catchy dance track – I Wrote A Song – about a cheating ex-boyfriend and inspired by personal experience, stands a good chance of making it into the top 10.
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But nevertheless, dealing with the stress of Eurovision’s long-winded scoring process (votes from each country are delivered remotely by a spokesperson, who awards 12 points to their favourite act, 10 for second, 8 for third, then down to one for the others), can be trying, even for seasoned performers.
Muller says the answer is a simple one: “Tequila,” adding, “after that, I’m just going to try and enjoy the process – and just see those points roll on in hopefully.”
The Eurovision Grand Final is on Saturday at Liverpool Arena from 8pm
Sky News will be in Liverpool with updates, a live blog, and all the biggest news from the contest as it happens
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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