In a recent interview, James Newman has revealed that he took inspiration from the dance music scene in the British charts when writing and selecting “Embers” as his Eurovision 2021 entry. He added that he wanted the song to feel “like a celebration” for viewers both in Rotterdam and at home.
The interview comes after James revealed that there were 15 songs in contention to be selected as his entry for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. James was due to represent the United Kingdom at the contest last year with “My Last Breath”, but after the contest was cancelled, the BBC announced in February that he would return for the contest in Rotterdam this May.
“What represents the UK right now?”
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, James said that he wanted his 2021 entry to resemble the music that could be found in the UK charts at the moment. He said artists like Joel Corry gave him inspiration for “Embers”.
When I was thinking about what song I wanted to write for now I was thinking that we have been through such a rubbish time. I was listening to the British charts thinking ‘What represents the UK in the charts right now?’, and it was all dance music, like Joel Corry. It made sense to do something like that.
– James Newman, speaking to Greatest Hits Radio
In the interview, he also talked about the UK’s Live-on-Tape performance, which he said was recorded three weeks ago on the same stage as the Comic Relief charity telethon. Following the recording, he said that he was able to move forward towards the Rotterdam performance, knowing what he can improve on.
About “Embers”
James Newman is representing the United Kingdom with “Embers”, a song written by Newman himself, as well as Conor Blake, Danny Shah, Tom Hollings and Samuel Brennan. Grammy nominated songwriter Conor Blake had major international hits with Italian trio Meduza. Danny Shah has worked with David Guetta, Kylie Minogue and had four UK number-one hits as a songwriter. Samuel Brennan wrote songs to former Spice Girl Melanie C and French DJ Hugel among others.
On 11th March, BBC Radio 2 were the first to play James Newman’s Eurovision entry “Embers”. Clearly, the song was a success, because when Radio 2 released their New Music Playlist on March 19, “Embers” was on the A List. James has also recently released a “Behind the Scenes” video from the shoot of the music video for “Embers”.
Do you think that “Embers” reflects the British music charts? Are you excited to see his performance in Rotterdam?
Let us know in the comments below and on social media @ESCXTRA.
