Is Rina Sawayama the UK’s Eurovision 2023 entry? This is why internet sleuths think so
Fans are convinced Rina Sawayama will be the UK’s 2023 Eurovision entry. (Getty/Burak Cingi)
Eurovision 2023 announcements keep on coming. We know when and where it’s happening. We know that Hannah Waddingham, Graham Norton and more are presenting. What we still don’t know? Which act will be representing the UK.
Internet sleuths are on the case, and there’s one name that is at the top of every investigative thread: Rina Sawayama.
Eurovision fans are utterly convinced that the Hold The Girl singer, who is bisexual and pansexual, will be taking to the stage at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena on 13 May. This is why.
A big gap in Rina Sawayama’s touring schedule for Eurovision 2023
Rumours began circulating last month when TikToker eurovanya posted a video pointing out that Rina Sawayama has a pretty huge gap in her Hold The Girl tour schedule in the lead up to Eurovision.
According to her website, Sawayama’s last tour date is in Norway on 27 February, and she doesn’t resume touring again until June, when she heads to New York for the Governors Ball festival.
“There’s a severe gap between February and June in her schedule. March to May is very important for Eurovision because that’s when promotion, media coverage, and rehearsals go to for Eurovision,” eurovanya said in his post.
Last year, Sam Ryder was announced as the UK Eurovision entry on 10 March, before engaging in numerous media appearances to promote his single “Spaceman”. Therefore, the gap in Sawayama’s schedule checks out – she’d even have a few weeks post-Eurovision to do a bit more media and promotion.
Rina Sawayama reposted and reacted to the Eurovision 2023 investigation
Sawayama has yet to rule herself as the 2023 Eurovision representative. What she has done, though, is respond (sort of) to the rumours.
At the beginning of the month, the “XS” singer reposted and reacted to eurovanya’s TikTok sleuthing video. While she doesn’t say anything in the clip, she smirks, raises her eyebrows and looks suggestively at the camera as the TikToker reads out his evidence.
It’s not confirmation, but it’s not not confirmation, right?
Rina Sawayama posted a suspiciously-timed TikTok dancing to Loreen
The day after reposting the TikTok theory, Sawayama teased fans even further, posting a seven-second clip of her dancing around in a dressing room in a puffy green dress, whipping her hair, with Loreen’s “Euphoria” playing over the top.
“Euphoria” – one of the best songs to come out Eurovision by a long shot – won the song contest back in 2012.
Of course, the comment section was swiftly filled with Sawayama’s fans begging her to confirm the rumours.
“Rina… if you’re doing Eurovision, I will die,” one fan wrote.
Rina Sawayama very nearly, almost, made the announcement on TikTok
Last weekend (18 February), Sawayama uploaded a TikTok captioned: “Huge announcement !!!!! a dream come true !!! so excited to finally let u all know.”
In the video, smiling, the John Wick: Chapter 4 actress says: “Hey guys… wow, I’m so excited. I just want to announce that I… am officially… banning the word mother.”
The video then ends abruptly, to the sound of thousands of pop gays’ hearts shattering.
“SHE’S PLAYING WITH US, I THOUGHT IT WAS EUROVISION,” screamed one fan via keyboard.
A photo of Rina Sawayama is sitting in the BBC Broadcasting House atrium
Earlier this week (20 February), BBC journalist William Lee Adams posted a photo of the BBC Broadcasting House atrium in London and, alongside images of other BBC icons Clara Amfo and Huw Edwards, sits an image of Sawayama performing.
“Spotted in the BBC atrium: A massive photo of @rinasawayama. The Rina #Eurovision fantasy just won’t quit,” Adams wrote.
Once again, the rumour mill is well and truly churning.
“I don’t want to live in a universe where Rina isn’t our entry this year,” wrote one fan.
Fans even think they know which Sawayama song will be this year’s entry: the fittingly dance-pop “Frankenstein”, which, at around three-minutes in length and released in September 2022, fits the Eurovision criteria perfectly.
If Sawayama’s Eurovision tenure does turn out to be a simple rumour, there is fear that the UK Eurofandom may simply self-combust.
We wait with bated breath.
The Eurovision semi-finals take place on 9 and 11 May, and the final will air on 13 May.
