No one was as surprised as Welsh singer Lucie Jones back in January when TV presenter Mel Giedroyc announced live on the TV show Eurovision: You Decide, that Lucie would be representing the United Kingdom in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with the song Never Give Up On You.
“I honestly did not expect to win,” Lucie recently told Andy Howells, “When she said my name about five things went through my head at the same time. First one, “She’s made a mistake!”. Second one, “Oh God! That’s me!” Third one, “You need to move! You need to react in some way!” Fourth one, “Someone pick me up! because Danyl Johnson, who is a friend of mine was stood next to me and was also competing, picked me up and fifth, “I’m going to sing at the Eurovision Song Contest! It all happened so quickly and I was so shocked and then they asked me to sing again!”
Cardiff born Lucie will be performing Never Give Up On You at the competition which takes place in the Ukraine this weekend. The song, which was written by 2013 Eurovision winner Emmelie de Forest and songwriter Lawrie Martin. “I really love the song, “says Lucie, “we’ve slightly revamped it for the final which you can hear on the video and on Spotify.”
Lucie who recently appeared in the stage musical Rent at Wales Millennium Centre, has been a fan of Eurovision since childhood, “I’ve always loved the programme and remember having sleepovers with my friends and watching on a tiny little television I had in my bedroom,” she says, “then as I got older, my brother and his Uni friends used to have Eurovision parties, we used to dress up it was great fun. I never thought I’d actually be doing it!”
- The Eurovision Song Contest will be broadcast live from the Ukraine on BBC One at 8pm on Saturday evening. Check out Eurovision.tv for the latest news on the competition and to see video footage of Lucie performing Never Give Up On You. Fans can also pledge their support for Lucie via Twitter @luciejones1