James Newman will return to represent the UK at Eurovision 2021

The singer returns after last year's cancelled Eurovision due to the pandemic.

James Newman will represent the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, the BBC and his label BMG have confirmed.

James was set to represent the UK in 2020's competition before it was postponed due to the pandemic. He'll be performing a new song - replacing 2020's My Last Breath - which will be revealed in March. It's expected to be a lot more upbeat for listeners to dance to, rather than another ballad which he told BBC Newsbeat "didn't feel right" this year.

MORE: Eurovision's highest charting songs in the UK

"I’m so excited and honoured to be getting a second chance at representing my country in the Eurovision Song Contest" James Newman said in a statement, "I haven’t stopped making new music in lockdown and I can’t wait for everyone to hear the song I’m taking to Eurovision in 2021.”

The 2021 contest will be held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands this May - with semi-finals taking place on Tuesday 18 and Thursday 20 May, and the final taking place on Saturday 22 May 2021.

Other acts also slated to return after last year's cancellation include Iceland's Daði Freyr, who earned a UK Top 40 hit with their 2020 song Think About Things.

MORE: Where every UK Eurovision entry charted in the UK

Look back over every UK Eurovision entry below:

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JAMES NEWMAN

BleeUK

19th February 2021

Yeah we had some great ones over the years of UK Entry only problem we had, is we never had much frequently airplay on radio (and lots of radio station playing before show) and not many included it from the start when the track was selected, what it needs the "Euro UK Entry" need to be added on many radio stations playlist in the UK and spinned like other top hits to make a very big impact for oversea voters to get it in their mind, others entry get released and played in the charts for many weeks and months before the semi finals