From Settle To The Eurovision Song Contest - James Newman To Represent The U.K.

The chances of the UK ever winning the Eurovision Song Contest again have always been slim - post Brexit our performance in the contest can't be worse than last year when Michael Rice came last with Bigger Than Us. The glory days when Britain won are long gone, it was 1997 when Katrina and the Waves won the contest with Love Shine A Light and before that 1981 when Bucks Fizz triumphed with Making Your Mind Up. Their win secured a place in music history and put Harrogate on the map internationally when the contest was held at the town's Conference Centre in 1982.

Step forward Settle-born and raised James Newman, elder brother of John Newman. James might seem less famous than his younger brother - the Yorkshireman unlike others who have tried before him already has a successful career in the music business - he won a BRIT award for British Single of the Year in 2014 for Waiting All Night performed by Rudimental and Ella Eyre. He has also written hit singles Lay It All On Me performed by Rudimental featuring Ed Sheeran, Blame performed by Calvin Harris which featured his brother John Newman and Therapy performed by Armin Van Buuren and James himself.

The song My Last Breath was co-written with acclaimed British songwriters Ed Drewitt, Iain James and Adam Argyle who collectively have written hit sings for One Direction, Dua Lipa, Little Mix, Olly Murs, James Bay, Leona Lewis and Professor Green.

Every January James and his 3 co-writers rent a house where they can go cold water swimming. This year they rented a house in Appin in the Scottish Highlands where they all went hiking and swimming in a freezing loch. Iain James brought with him a copy of the British film Last Breath, the true story of a diver trapped beneath the North Sea after his cable broke. Fortunately he survived and the documentary film was made using footage that his rescuers took. The film became the inspiration for the song.

Think Ed Sheeran meets Tom Walker meets James Morrison and you will get an idea of the track. The chorus has a hook that even Coldplay would be proud to own. Perfect for radio, Radio 2 are already playing the song and it deserves at least douze points for at trying to raise the bar from some of the dull entries the UK has put forward over the last few years. From Sweden to Spain, Iceland to Italy the song deserves to be a big hit.

Watch the video for One Last Breath here:


The video was filmed in Snezka, a mountain on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland and features Dutch athlete Wim Hoff, famous for creating the "Wim Hoffman Method" of breathing. James met Hoff when he attended a Wim Hoff workshop and since has used his breathing techniques.

Can James succeed in the 65th Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam on 16th May? I hope so - If this big uplifting song with a positive message doesn't even finish in the top 5 of the winners we might as well throw in the towel, but for now at least let's give the contest One Last Breath.