The next rehearsal continues with the first automatic qualifier of the day, Olly Alexander from the United Kingdom, with “Dizzy”.
Olly and his four male backing dancers take to the stage dressed head to toe in red boxing gear. The stage has been turned into a big gym locker room complete with dirty tiles as a nod to the “post-apocalyptic” feel that the UK delegation have aimed for:
Olly Alexander’s Eurovision performance transports viewers into a post- apocalyptic dystopian boxing gym locker room, aboard a spaceship hurtling toward Earth through a black hole in 1985!
The performance features fireworks and a new arrangement in the middle eight.
Who Is Olly Alexander?
Oliver Alexander Thornton, known professionally as Olly Alexander, was born on July 15 1990 in Harrogate, England. As a child, he starred in two school productions and went on to further his education in Performing Arts at the Hereford College of Arts. He later dropped out of college to pursue his acting career through his agent at the age of sixteen.
He rose to fame as the lead singer of the British pop band Years & Years, who have released several popular singles including “King“, which reached the top spot in the UK charts and entered the top 10 in thirteen other countries. The award-winning band also had two number-one albums on the UK Albums Chart.
Olly Alexander was internally selected by the BBC to represent the United Kingdom at the 2024 contest in Malmö with his song “Dizzy”. As a member of the Big Five, the United Kingdom automatically qualifies for the Grand Final.
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United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
The United Kingdom debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1957 and holds the record for the most consecutive appearances in the contest. To date, the UK has won the contest a total of five times, with their first victory coming in 1967 and their latest in 1997. The UK holds the record for the most second-place finishes in the contest, having been runner-up a total of 16 times. Since 2000 the UK has finished within the top 10 only three times, this being in 2002 with Jessica Garlick, 2009 with Jade Ewen and 2022 with Sam Ryder who finished 2nd in Turin.
