Who is Michael Rice? The UK's contestant for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest singing Bigger Than Us

HE'S no stranger to singing competitions, having taken part in All Together Now and The X Factor, and now he's won Eurovision: You Decide and the right to represent the UK at Eurovision.

Meet the man Michael Rice who'll be doing the honours at the upcoming song contest…

Who is Michael Rice?

Michael is an English singer who's going to be representing the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.

The 21-year-old – who was born in Hartlepool on 25th October 1997 – owns a waffle and milkshake business.

Michael competed against five other acts to win Eurovision: You Decide and represent Great Britain with the official song Bigger Than Us in Tel Aviv.

After performing three different songs, he won the public vote to represent the UK at the annual singing event in May.

He was selected during the BBC Two show after making the final three as decided by a panel of judges and then going on to win the public vote.

Rice is no stranger to TV singing shows, having won All Together Now on the BBC last year and making it onto The X Factor in 2014.

He said before You Decide: "Bigger Than Us is about love, coming together, it's a really powerful song. You just connect with it. It's all about emotion."

BBC producer Mel Balac said: "This has been such an exciting year for Eurovision: You Decide with new format changes that we hope have really made the competition and programme more geared to find the perfect song.

"We've had some incredible performances tonight by everyone and everyone's own individual take on the songs – well done to everyone!

"We are delighted for Michael and are proud to take Bigger Than Us to the Eurovision Song Contest final in May."

Rylan Clark-Neal was among the judges who put Rice, Kerrie-Anne and former Britain's Got Talent singer Jordan Clarke through to the final three.

They were picked over acts Anisa, girl group Maid, and 17-year-old singer and former X Factor hopeful Holly Tandy after each of the three specially written songs were sung in two different styles.

Why does Michael Rice have a guaranteed place in the Eurovision final?

The UK, Germany, Italy, France and Spain are the "big five" countries who get an automatic place in the Eurovision finals each year.

This is because they are the countries who make the biggest contribution to the competition's funding.

The rule first came into place in 1999 and has meant the UK has enjoyed being part of the event, despite continuously low scoring in the competition.

Meanwhile, Israel also has an automatic pass because they were crowned champions at the last contest – and are hosting the event this year.

There will be a grand total of 26 participants in the Grand Final.

What are the lyrics to Bigger Than Us?

Hear these words that I sing to you
I will make it clear, it's me and you
We can have this love that we’ll never lose
It's bigger than us, mhm
Take my hand and I'll lead you home
Can you understand?
You will never be alone
It’s bigger than us
It's bigger than you and me
It's bigger than us
It's bigger than everything we see
'Cause I can feel the universe
When I'm feeling you breathe
It's bigger than us
And it's bigger than you and me
It’s bigger
I won’t give up and I won't let go
’Cause this kind of love is gonna be our only hope

It's bigger than us
It's bigger than you and me
It's bigger than us
It’s bigger than everything we see
'Cause I can feel the universe
When I'm feeling you breathe
It's bigger than us
And it's bigger than you and me

It's bigger (Bigger)
Bigger (Bigger)
Bigger (It's bigger than, it's bigger than)
Oh, it's bigger (Bigger)
Bigger (Bigger)
Bigger (It's bigger than, it's bigger than)
It's bigger than us
It's bigger than you and me
This kind of love
It's bigger than everything we see, yeah, ooh
So much bigger
Yeah, bigger than us

(It's bigger than us)
(It's bigger than you and me)
(It's bigger than us) I can feel it
(It's bigger than everything we see) Everything we see
'Cause I can feel the universe
When I'm feeling you breathe
It's bigger than us
And it's bigger than you and me

It's bigger (Bigger)
Bigger (Bigger)
Bigger (It's bigger than, it's bigger than)
Ooh (Bigger)
Bigger (Bigger)
Bigger (It's bigger than, it's bigger than)
It's bigger

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