Michael Rice has closed his waffle shop after becoming too famous.
The UK’s ‘Eurovision Song Contest’ act will be aiming to get more than "nul points" with his song ‘Bigger Than Us’ in Tel Aviv on Saturday (18.05.19), but in the meantime he had to close the doors of his shop in County Durham, north east England, after he was inundated with autograph requests from the spectacle’s super-fans.
He told the Daily Star newspaper: "The waffle shop got a boost at first because I’d been on the TV.
"But it was getting too much doing ‘Eurovision’ and recording music while also keeping the waffle shop going.
"It got to the point where people were bringing their kids in for autographs. So it was hard."
And Michael looks set to end up in the bottom five of the final ‘Eurovision’ table if a prediction algorithm is anything to go by.
Spread betting company StarSpreads.com has forecast the 21-year-old singer will end up with just 75 points in this year’s competition, and he has a 25 per cent chance of finish bottom of the pile.
Boffins at the company have factored in variables such past performance, voting patterns and critical reception to make their prediction, and have given the UK a 0.5 per cent chance of winning the iconic glass microphone trophy.
A StarSpreads.com spokesman said: "Our calculations make for grim reading for the UK and it looks a certainty that the wait for not only victory but a respectable finish goes on.
"Unless there’s to be a huge shock on the night, a score of 75 points leaves Rice in real danger of finishing in the bottom five again, with the threat of another wooden spoon looming large.
"As far as the prediction is concerned, sadly it’s more a case of who’ll be badder than us, not bigger than us.
"Our ‘Eurovision’ forecasting algorithm factors in a range of variables and on every single one of them the UK scores amongst the most poorly in the competition, in keeping with our current relationship with Europe."
Eurovision act Michael Rice closes waffle shop as algorithm predicts bottom 5 finish
