Eurovision 2024: UK's 2018 entrant SuRie regards the contest “a phenomenal opportunity” for musicians and fans

I’ve interviewed some musicians in my lifetime as a music journalist, from Henry Rollins to the late Paul Grey from Slipknot. Humbragging aside though, I’ve never had the chance to talk to someone in the music industry that has competed in the Eurovision Song Contest. 

What some regard as one of the biggest, most fun moments on the music calendar, while for others derided as something with as much artistic merit as “pantomime,” has long been something I have found fascinating, having visited the UK on holiday from Aotearoa for what seemed specifically around the Eurovision event. 

Maybe it’s something I should ask my mum next time I talk to her.

But thanks to Buzz Bingo, I managed to tick off an item from my “music journalist” bucket list when they provided me with the opportunity to speak to SuRie: the UK’s entry at the 2018 song contest with her song “Storm.”

“So much excitement was going through my head. It's such an honour to be selected,” SuRie (real name Susanna Marie Cork) recalls after she discovered she would be competing at the 2018 event. “It's like a musical Olympics being chosen to represent your country,” she remarked, given the opening ceremony that the event holds shortly before the performances at the grand final. 

“To be part of such a huge and international event, performance and production, the excitement is just off the scale in the build-up.” 

SuRie: “Snobbery exists everywhere in music.”

Having released her debut album, “Something Beginning With…” in 2016, SuRie had already established herself as a name within the UK music industry, having performed in front of the former Prince of Wales as a child soloist and appeared in different British venues such as The Royal Albert Hall and St. Paul's Cathedral and at venues all around the world, including St. Mark's Basilica in Venice. The Eurovision Song Contest wasn’t so much the platform that “broke her” into the industry, but she does think for some artists performing at the event can provide important exposure to a much wider audience - even if for some that is a “Eurovision” crowd.

“That international audience might be introduced to you for the first time, she explains. “Equally, the audience at home might be introduced to you for the first time, too.”

But her advice for those who are allowed to represent the United Kingdom is to enjoy the experience of being at Eurovision more than a promotional opportunity. “There's nothing like it as an event, nothing compares. Different acts treat it differently, depending on what they might want to do after Eurovision.” 

“It's a phenomenal opportunity, whether you're thinking beyond it, or whether you're involved in the moment and just soaking everything up on the night.” 

But what of the snobbery that still surrounds the song contest? For some, the idea of representing the United Kingdom at Eurovision almost equals the nadir of their career, according to Claire Richards from Steps at least. A sage SuRie simply replied: “There can be some snobbery towards Eurovision, but then again that same snobbery exists everywhere in music.”

“Whether it's Eurovision, the theatre, which is another field of work I love, and it's the same with pantomimes. Some people love to have a bit of a snobby feel towards such things, but they're missing out. 

“For the performers, for the punters at home, it's such a joyous theatrical experience, and I hope the tide is changing a bit now with successes like Sam Ryder's. We're always going to find a bit of snobbery, unfortunately, and you just have to take it on the chin.” 

Having taken part in the event, of course, our inquisitive natures want an idea of who is on the inside track to winning this year from a former Eurovision participant. How could you not, if you’re a betting person? But when asked who she considered the favourite to win this year, SuRie was notably diplomatic with her answer: “This is the first year in six or more years where I haven't listened to any of the songs!” 

“I wanted to experience it all for the first time like the people at home, hearing them during Eurovision week. I'll watch the semi-finals and the final, but I want first impressions for a change, and I'm so looking forward to it.

Pressed for an answer, SuRie kept firm with her response: “I always find it a hard competition to call. Even if you hear them on the run-up, it's about on-the-night with the spectacle of the stage performance and the live vocals.”

When is the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 Grand Final?

This year’s Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final takes place on May 11 2024 from Malmo Arena, Malmo, Sweden and will be screened on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 8pm the very same evening.