Eurovision 2023, Mae Muller: From Kentish Town to UK entrant

Rising pop star Mae Muller is preparing to represent the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest.

The 25-year-old from Kentish Town will perform I Wrote a Song at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on Saturday May 13.

The UK is hosting the event for the first time in 25 years, on behalf of last year’s winner, Ukraine.

As Eurovision 2023 draws closer, here’s everything you need to know about Mae Muller.

Who is Mae Muller?

The singer-songwriter, whose real name is Holly Mae Muller, was born in Kentish Town, north-west London, in 1997.

She was raised in a Jewish family. Her grandfather Robert Muller is a Holocaust survivor who escaped to Britain from Germany at age 12, and moved to Wales.

Muller first began writing her own music at the age of eight and attended Fine Arts College in Belsize Park, north London. In 2007, as a child, she appeared in the music video for "Grace Kelly" by Mika.

She was 19 when she wrote her first track, Close, which was produced by a family friend and "paid" for with wine in lieu of money. The musician uploaded her early demos to Instagram and Soundcloud, and signed her first publishing deal when she was working in a pub in Kentish Town.

She has since worked with chart-topping acts including girl group Little Mix, rapper Aitch and music producer and DJ Sigala. Her breakout hit was 2021’s Better Days, a collaboration with Swedish group Neiked and US rapper Polo G which went viral on TikTok, which peaked at 32 on the UK charts and at 23 in the US.

What’s her Eurovision song about?

Muller co-wrote her Eurovision entry I Wrote A Song with Brit Award nominated songwriter Lewis Thompson and Karen Poole, who has written for the likes of Kylie Minogue, Lily Allen and David Guetta, as well as being a founding member of Alisha’s Attic.

I Wrote a Song is an upbeat break-up track which features tongue-in-cheek lyrics about a cheating ex-boyfriend. The song was written when she was "going through a hard time" and "wanted to feel empowered about relationships".

Her entry became the first UK Eurovision in over a decade to debut on the UK Singles Chart’s top 40.

More than 160 million people around the world are expected to watch the 2023 final.

In the UK, Eurovision will be broadcast live on BBC One.

The BBC’s coverage will be hosted by Graham Norton, Hannah Waddingham, Alesha Dixon and Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina.

It will be the ninth time the UK has hosted the competition, and the fifth time it has done so on behalf of another country.