The United Kingdom’s sweet talker: Olly Alexander is dizzy from Eurovision

When the United Kingdom’s broadcaster, the BBC, announced Olly Alexander as their Eurovision 2024 entry, he didn’t need much introduction. He’s headlined arenas and festivals globally, and even has a waxwork figure at Madame Tussauds in London. It’s always nice to have a spare, in case the dizziness gets too much.

Olly has taken global pop charts by storm as the frontman of Years & Years, including three successful albums (two of which hit number 1 in the UK album chart), 10 UK top 40 singles, and now the BRIT Billion Awards, celebrating 6.5 billion streams globally. King has had over 623 million streams on Spotify, while some of his other big hits have included Sweet Talker and Starstruck. But at Eurovision 2024, Olly is circling back to himself, bringing the world a song under his own name for the first time.

He co-wrote his Eurovision entry Dizzy with Danny L Harle, who also co-wrote and produced Dua Lipa’s Houdini, and has worked with artists including Charli XCX and Caroline Polacheck.

Olly has also had his moment on screen, starring in Russell T Davies’ It’s A Sin, a brilliant and devastating drama about a group of friends living under the shadow of the AIDS crisis, which won a National Television Award. Following the show, he (as Years & Years) performed a rendition of the Pet Shop Boys’ It’s A Sin with Elton John (what a flex) at the BRIT Awards in 2021. He says lying on top of Elton John’s piano was his most memorable moment as a musician. We can see that being pretty memorable.

Cheering Olly on from home will be his 2 cats, Fanta (who is orange) and Sprite (who is black and white). He says: “They’re my children and I love them.”

A lot of the Eurovision class of 2024 say their most-used app is Instagram, TikTok or YouTube. But for Olly, it’s all about the New York Times puzzle app. If Olly is late to the stage, it’s because he’s stuck on Wordle. Try ‘dizzy’, Olly.

Olly says that his earliest memory of Eurovision is seeing the iconic Gina G perform Ooh…Aah…Just A Little Bit for the United Kingdom in 1996, finishing in 8th place, and he says: “She’s fab.”

This popstar’s playlist of favourite tunes is packed with vintage pop hits. Think Kylie Minogue’s In Your Eyes, Madonna’s Don’t Tell Me, and Jennifer Paige’s Crush. He’s also playing Destiny’s Child, George Michael, and Girls Aloud on loop. And if you want to see Olly thrive at karaoke, ask him to perform TLC’s No Scrubs.

As he gets ready to head to Malmö, Olly says that he associates Sweden with ABBA, beautiful people, and cinnamon buns. We're sure all those things will be celebrated at Eurovision 2024, particularly the cinnamon buns.

Olly says he can’t wait to perform his song on the Eurovision stage — let’s just hope he gets a chance for a lie down after all that spinning.

Look out for Olly on upcoming episodes of the Official Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

You can learn more about Olly Alexander from the United Kingdom right here.

You can listen to all 37 songs of Eurovision 2024 via your favourite streaming service or watch the music videos on our YouTube channel.

The Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden on Tuesday 7 May (First Semi-Final), Thursday 9 May (Second Semi-Final) and Saturday 11 May (Grand Final) 2024.

Don't forget to download our app (for iOS / Android), sign up to the official Eurovision Song Contest newsletter, and subscribe to the official podcast!