United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Prior to the 2021 contest, the United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty-one times. Thus far, the United Kingdom has won the contest five times: in 1967 with the song "Puppet on a String" performed by Sandie Shaw, in 1969 with the song "Boom Bang-a-Bang" performed by Lulu, in 1976 with the song "Save Your Kisses for Me" performed by Brotherhood of Man, in 1981 with the song "Making Your Mind Up" performed by Bucks Fizz and in 1997 with the song "Love Shine a Light" performed by Katrina and the Waves. To this point, the nation is noted for having finished as the runner-up in a record fifteen contests. Up to and including 1998, the UK had only twice finished outside the top 10, in 1978 and 1987. Since 1999, the year in which the rule was abandoned that songs must be performed in one of the official languages of the country participating, the UK has had less success, thus far only finishing within the top ten twice: in 2002 with the song "Come Back" performed by Jessica Garlick and in 2009 with the song "It's My Time" performed by Jade Ewen. In 2018, the United Kingdom finished in 24th place with the song "Storm" performed by SuRie, amassing a total of 48 points. In 2019, Michael Rice with the song "Bigger Than Us" finished in 26th place (last) with 11 points, the fourth time in the nation's history that it has finished in last place.

The British national broadcaster, the BBC, broadcasts the event within the United Kingdom and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. The BBC announced that the United Kingdom would participate in the 2019 contest on 19 September 2018.[1] Between 2011 and 2015, the BBC opted to internally select the British entry. For their 2016 entry, the broadcaster announced that a national final would be organised featuring a competition among several artists and songs to choose the British entry for the contest. The same process was used in 2017 and 2018, and changes were brought in for 2019. For 2020, the BBC opted to return to an internal selection, in collaboration with record label BMG.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 is scheduled to take place at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and will consist of two semi-finals held on 18 and 20 May, and the grand final on 22 May 2021.[2] As the United Kingdom is a member of the Big 5, their entry for 2021 will directly qualify to the final, along with France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and host country the Netherlands.[3] The top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the grand final.

• BBC's official Eurovision website