We all know now that the UK are hosting Eurovision 2023 in the city of Liverpool in May and that Mae Muller will this year be representing the UK with her song ” I wrote a Song”. However, what has become of the acts who proudly flew the UK flag at past contests? We at Eurovision Ireland,during the build up to the 2023 contest and in honour of the host country, have decided to bring you special editions of our Here Today, Gone tomorrow series , looking at how this year’s host country’s past acts have fared since their time at Eurovision. Today we are going all the way back to the year 2000, the start of the new Millenium ( was this really 23 years ago now? ) and take a look at how Nicki French , who represented the UK in Stockholm is faring after life at Eurovision.

At Eurovision

Nicki won the UK National Final , which in those days was a minimal affair in a Sunday afternoon slot on BBC1 , with her song , which had the unfortunate title “Don’t play that Song again”.Nicki came to Eurovision , having had a hit with a cover version of Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” ( Ironically, Bonnie herself was to represent the UK 13 years later, again in Sweden, with her song “Believe in me”).Unfortunately on the night, despite an enthusiastic performance from Nicki .Europe didn’t want to play the song again and the UK came 16th place with 28 points, which in the light of some of the results in future post Millenium contests for the UK ,now may seem respectable . It will not have gone unnoticed by fans that Mae Muller’s entry this year is also about a song, let’s hope Europe holds it in higher regard than they did Nicki’s song !

Where is she now ?

Nicki is still very much part of the Eurovision scene , making appearances at Eurovision themed events, sometimes singing “Don’t play that song again” and Eurovision Ireland were honoured to have her as a panel guest in our yearly Pre -Eurovision song Contest panel reviews in 2021.She is still writing and recording music. During the Covid -19 lockdowns of 2020, Nicki and her backing singers from Stockholm 2000 performed a 20th anniversary of the song , which you can see below. What do you think? Would you like to see Nicki at Eurovision again? Let us know your thoughts about that in our comments section below .

Author: Sarah Rudman

Source: BBC,You Tube