SuRie, real name Susanna Cork, has won a public vote to be the United Kingdom entry at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon.
The Royal Academy of Music graduate was a popular choice among the studio jury and phone-in voters and has been inserted into the betting at 33/1 with Ladbrokes.
Her song, ‘Storm’, certainly wowed the audience at the Brighton Dome and SuRie is no stranger to Eurovision. She was a backing singer to Belgium’s Loic Nottet in 2015 and the musical director for another Belgian entry – Blanche – last year. She’s also been a backing singer for the likes of Coldplay and Will Young so performing in front of a big audience will not faze the British singer, who has been performing and been writing songs since she was 12-year-old. ‘Storm’ wasn’t self-penned, however, the anthemic dance beat being a joint creation between Nicole Blair, Gil Lewis and Sean Hargreaves.
The United Kingdom has won the Eurovision Song Contest five times but not since Katrina and The Waves were successful in 1997. In fact, the UK entry usually finishes nearer last than first nowadays but last year’s 15th place, sung by Lucie Jones, was a bit of an improvement and perhaps a hint that tactical voting among neighbouring nations is becoming a thing of the past.
SuRie’s delivery and performance eclipsed her five rivals in Brighton but whether her song will be good enough to get the rest of Europe singing along in Lisbon in May is a matter of debate and her odds look about right as she looks to follow in the footprints of Sandie Shaw, Lulu, Bucks Fizz and Brotherhood Of Man.
Eurovision 2018 Early Betting
Bulgaria and Sweden 8/1, Estonia 9/1, Austria 12/1, Finland 16/1, Belgium, Czech Republic and Spain 20/1, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands and Ukraine 25/1, Austria, Belarus, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Norway, Serbia and United Kingdom 33/1
