Why did UK's Mae Muller do so badly?

Mae Muller came into Eurovision riding a question of positivity.

Sam Ryder ended the UK's losing streak successful Turin past twelvemonth by doing the unthinkable - entering a decent opus - and the reasoning went: Why not bash that again?

Mae obliged with a slick, sassy popular opus that echoed caller illustration trends. I Wrote A Song had the disco undercurrents of Dua Lipa, the lyrics were memorable, and it was eminently shareable connected TikTok.

The nationalist seemed to agree. Mae's opus picked up tons of airplay, and much than 8 cardinal streams connected Spotify. Bookmakers predicted she'd decorativeness successful the apical 10. Everyone from Ringo Starr to Lana Del Rey offered their support.

In the run-up to Eurovision, determination was antagonistic chatter astir Mae's rehearsals. Her vocals were flat, insiders said, and the choreography was wooden.

But connected the night, she brought retired the large guns. Mae sang amended than she'd done each week. Her creation moves were snappy and confident. The assemblage astatine the Liverpool Arena were ecstatic...

And past it each went wrong.

Eurovision juries gave the opus 15 points. The nationalist awarded her nine. She ended the nighttime successful 25th place, retired of 26.

"Undeserved. Very undeserved," said Eurovision instrumentality Craig Andrew, who watched the fearfulness unfold astatine Liverpool's Euroclub.

"I thought her vocal was flawless. She was truthful bully connected the night, but what tin you do?"

"I deliberation it was overmuch amended than that, genuinely," agreed chap instrumentality Gaja Gazdic. "In this crowd, it was precise good received."

The archetypal happening to retrieve is that no-one votes against you astatine Eurovision, they ballot for the songs they like. And if your vibe is hyper-catchy, female-fronted pop, you were spoiled for choice.

Sweden's Loreen won the contention with the supersonic nine anthem Tattoo - adjacent though Norway's Alessandra bushed her successful the nationalist ballot with Queen Of Kings, a thunderous popular anthem that was adjacent parts Lady Gaga and Nordic folklore.

Both of them were stronger singers, with stronger songs, than Mae, and they soaked up a batch of her imaginable votes.

In retrospect, there's besides a peculiar Britishness to I Wrote A Song that mightiness not person translated extracurricular the UK.

It's a pithy, sarcastic way astir taking revenge connected an ex-boyfriend - not by trashing their car oregon burning their location down, but by penning an excoriating opus astir however rubbish they are.

In a contention wherever the apical songs each featured sincere, straightforward messages astir overcoming adversity and lasting up for love, Mae's post-modern, meta-textual lyrics failed to find an audience.

Austria's hotly tipped Who The Hell Is Edgar? took a akin attack and met a akin fate, coming 15th.

Complexity simply isn't your person erstwhile you've lone got 3 minutes to marque an impression.

In the property room, questions were besides raised astir the conception underlying Mae's performance. In particular, the wide usage of wide shots and Pop Art video installations meant TV audiences couldn't ever admit the singer's cheeky charisma.

"I deliberation it's an fantabulous song, but the staging wasn't great," said Ken Olausson of Sweden's QX magazine.

"The full feeling of pistillate powerfulness that's successful the opus erstwhile you perceive it connected the radio, it wasn't connected stage.

"I don't cognize if they mislaid her successful a batch of props, but the powerfulness didn't travel through."

On societal media, TV viewers complained that Mae's vocals had been excessively debased successful the mix.

"You could hardly perceive her implicit her music," wrote one. "Something sounded disconnected with the dependable accumulation for Mae Muller," agreed another.

"She tin evidently sing, but it each sounded quiet."

"The question you person to inquire yourself is this: Was the UK show successful your apical 10 contiguous retired of the 26 that took part?" asks Eurovisioncast's Daniel Rosney.

"If it was, past large due to the fact that you would person fixed Mae Muller immoderate points. But if it lone just made your apical 10, that's not however you triumph Eurovision."

After the results were announced, Mae took to Twitter to stock her thoughts.

"I cognize I gag a lot, but we truly enactment our each into the past fewer months," she said, "Not the effect we hoped for but truthful arrogant of everyone and what we achieved.

"Congrats to each the countries, I'll ne'er hide this travel and I emotion you all."

You could consciousness her pain. She's been a large ambassador for Eurovision; and she kept up the UK's momentum of sending non-terrible songs to the contest. Some of the acts that placed up of her were objectively worse.

So what's adjacent for the UK? Earlier this week, Radio 2's Eurovision commentators Scott Mills and Rylan Clark offered immoderate position connected the UK's Eurovision journey.

"It's intolerable to repetition what happened past year, due to the fact that it conscionable doesn't happen," said Mills.

"But what we request to bash is amusement Europe that we attraction and that we're taking it seriously. Mae is is great, and portion Europe utilized to say, 'Hang connected a minute, wherefore aren't the UK immoderate bully astatine this?' they're not saying that now."

"For reasons I've ne'er been wide on, the big state tends to conflict with points aft it's occurrence the erstwhile year," observes Daniel Rosney.

That's particularly existent for Portugal: In 2017, successful their 49th quality astatine the contest, the state won for the archetypal time, with Salvador Sobral's Amar Pelos Dois. The pursuing year, they finished last.

"Things similar that person ever been a spot of an enigma," says Ricardo Duarte, who's been covering Eurovision for Portuguese queer website Dezanove.

"But we persevered. We continued. We did not suffice the twelvemonth aft - but we got 12th spot successful 2021 and ninth spot successful 2022.

"We've had our ups and downs, and truthful volition each different country."

And that's the connection Mae and the squad down the BBC's Eurovision bid volition request to carnivore successful caput today. Outside the bubble of the contest, Mae's opus has been a hit. She's a ready-made popular star, who conscionable performed to a planetary TV assemblage of much than 160 cardinal people.

This won't beryllium the past we've heard of her.