ABBA wouldn’t rule out writing the UK’s ‘Eurovision Song Contest’ entry – but they’d want Dua Lipa to sing it.
The Swedish pop icons shot to fame after winning the televised singing competition in 1974 with mega-hit ‘Waterloo’.
And band members Bjorn Ulvaeus, 76, and Benny Andersson, 74, have said it’s “promising” that the ‘Physical’ hitmaker’s management, TaP Music, is to scout a pop star to compete at next year’s show, which will be held at the PalaOlimpico in Turin, Italy after Rome’s Maneskin won the 2021 competition with ‘Zitti E Buoni’.
What’s more, they’ve even said they’d like to see the 26-year-old star herself sing the country’s entry and insisted they would be up for penning the track for the right act.
Appearing on ‘BBC Breakfast’, the pair were asked what they thought of the UK’s “new tactic”, to which Benny replied: “Good.”
And Bjorn said: “Promising.”
Benny continued: “Picking an act is one thing, writing a song is different. So you need both a great song and a good act.”
And when asked if they would consider writing the UK entry, he said: “Oh, a UK entry? I don’t know.”
Benny then turned to his bandmate, who outright said: “No.”
However, the former insisted: “But what’s the risk? You can’t be worse than last.”
Bjorn said: “No, but it needs to be a really good act to write for, yeah.”
Benny then suggested: “Dua Lipa.”
To which, his bandmate agreed: “Yes.”
The 2022 entry song is set to be released on a major record label to further boost the nation’s chances of victory.
‘Levitating’ hitmaker Dua said: “I’m a proud Brit whilst also being a proud Kosovan … I’m happy to lend my manager to the cause… I’ll be cheering them on.”
The UK once again suffered a major blow after James Newman – the brother of ‘Love Me Again’ hitmaker John Newman – scored nil points in May with his performance of ‘Embers’ in Rotterdam.
Co-founder of TaP Music Ben Mawson said: “We’re really excited to be teaming up with the BBC for this event and will use ‘Eurovision’ to authentically reflect and celebrate the rich, diverse and world-class musical talent the UK is globally renowned for.
“For many years, we’ve witnessed the United Kingdom not doing as well as we would’ve liked, when pop music is something we usually excel at. The simple fact is it’s time to show what we can do and the wonderful musical talent we have – ultimately we can’t blame politics.”
Kate Phillips, controller of entertainment commissioning for the BBC, said: “In the UK our love for ‘Eurovision’ is as big as ever and we have grand ambitions for the 2022 Contest, so we’re really excited to announce this collaboration that will enable us to tap into some great music talent.”
The managing director for BBC Studios, Suzy Lamb, added: “BBC Studios are proud to once again be producing the coverage of the biggest music competition in world.
“We’re excited to be collaborating with TaP Music. Their expertise in managing world class artists and finding huge international hit records speaks for itself and we look forward to working with them on the UK act and song for the 2022 contest.”