BBC line up Sophie Ellis-Bexter to be Britain’s entry for next year’s Eurovision Song Contest

BBC bosses want singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor to be the British entry in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

It follows sharp criticism of the Corporation after this year’s pick Mae Muller finished second from last in Liverpool’s final last week.

Sophie, 44, is an established artist with hits such as Murder On The Dancefloor, and during the lockdown she reached new audiences with her successful Kitchen Disco videos, which earned her an eponymous Radio 2 show.

The mother of five is to be questioned about taking part in next year’s show as BBC bosses will regain full control of the UK entry selection process.

In 2021, they handed over the role to an outside company in an attempt to reverse the poor performance of the British entrants.

A music industry source told The Mail on Sunday: “At the moment there is only one artist on the BBC’s list for Eurovision 2024, and they have no plans to add anything to it.

‘Sophie Ellis-Bextor is seen as the ideal match for the competition – she’s a great singer and artist, and she’s already known to audiences, both straight and gay, across Europe. The criticism the BBC has received for its decision to choose Mae Muller this year has been quite ferocious.’

Ms Muller was chosen to perform in last weekend’s Eurovision final by global management company TaP Music, who also chose 2022 entrant Sam Ryder, who finished second.

Doubts about Ms. Muller had grown before the finale, with her voice criticized for not being strong enough to carry the song she performed, I Wrote A Song. Her rehearsal was riddled with errors and faced sound problems.

A series of old quotes, in which she suggested she hated the UK, alienated some.

There was also controversy when she said Boris Johnson should not have had a hospital bed when he was hit by Covid.

It also emerged that she had applied for a German passport, saying she wanted to help her do less paperwork when performing in the EU.