Hello, this is bbc news with tim willcox. The headlines as the uks daily figure for coronavirus deaths drops to 170, the government pledges £81; million of funding to help accelerate the work of vaccine programmes. This new money will help mass produce the oxford vaccine so that if current trials are successful, we have dosages to start vaccinating the uk population straightaway. The government defends plans to begin reopening primary schools in england from next month it says therell be measures to ensure the safety of children and teachers. And the italian Prime Minister admits his countrys taking a calculated risk by easing a number of lockdown measures from next week. We are back at the top of the hour. Now on bbc news, newsbeat charts what happened following the cancellation of this years Eurovision Song Contest. Im james newman, and im the uk entry at the Eurovision Song Contest. Mrjames newman. Cheering and applause. Over the next three months, its going to be a whirlwind. I mean, i can see the dates in my diary, but i dont really know whats going to happen. This is to dreaming big. This is to music first, always. Thank you. Thank you and it sounds like this. Dont bring me. Dont bring me down, down, down, down. Dont bring me. Are you hearing me . Down, down, down, down. Music think about things by dadi freyr. The eurovision entry for the uk for this year. James newman, a multi Award Winning singer and songwriter. Hes written for ed sheeran, for little mix, for calvin harris. Such a compliment to be asked to represent your country in a song competition when youre a singer and a songwriter. Its like being asked to do the olympics. If we were deep sea divers. Music cuts out. All of italy has now been placed in quarantine. Never had the heart to pray. And never thought id find the way. But now i do. Who ooh ooh ooh. Is there any concern coronavirus might interfere in any way . Has anyone even talking about that . Theres no doubt im strong enough. To reach the state ive dreamed of. I suppose were all in it together, arent we . The worst Public Health crisis for a generation. Tough new measures to restrict the movement of people are being introduced by governments around the world. I know were getting closer. Life is music. I am a composer. Music cuts out. Glastonbury festival has been postponed until next year because of the pandemic. I think my heart is beating me to death. I have got an arrow through my chest. I am so in love, i must confess. Say yes, say yes belgium has become the latest european country to go into lockdown. Elsewhere, spains Prime Minister has announced a state of emergency. Chanting in latin. La cleopatra la la la la, la la la la. La la la la. La cleopatra and some breaking newsjust coming in to us. The Eurovision Song Contest, were hearing, will not take place this year in rotterdam because of the coronavirus outbreak. Werejust going to, like, run through with the song. So. Some people let go. Some people let love slip away. Im really, really excited. I cant wait for everyone to know that its me. But im gonna hold on. When no one believes, ill keep the faith. Mm, yeah. Im feeling nervous, excited. Cant wait for the song to be on the radio. Cant wait to sing tomorrow night at my first gig. And i know that were in trouble. But i swear that well survive. If we were deep sea divers. Ive written quite few pop songs, yeah. Started off with rudimental. Ive been waiting all night for you to tell me what you want. Ed sheeran. Lay it all on me. Calvin harris. So blame it on the ni i i ight. Dont blame it on me. Little mix. Last night, i lay in bed so blue. John newman, who you might know. Hes my brother. I still got a fire in me. I never wanna let it go. It looks just so fun. It looks like the most amazing place to perform, and it kind of looks a bit like the olympics. I hear you calling me at night. Whenever wind is blowing. Its hard to say what a eurovision song is. I think its about finding a song that connects to people, and thats what i hope weve done with our song and were going to, you know, try and connect to many people as possible. Its all good in the good times. But ill still be there when it all goes wrong. Yes, i will. I wrote it in scotland, with three of my friends ed drewett, iainjames and adam argyle. And we got, like, little house by a loch, jumped in the loch every day this was injanuary as well had a few whiskies and watched a documentary about these divers in the north sea and how one of them got cut off from everyone, stuck at the bottom of the sea, and how they all saved him. And then it got us think about, like, what people would do for other people, and then what you would do for someone who you loved. All if you had nothing left. That kind of lead us on to the thought of, you know, id give you my last breath. My last breath james, morning. Morning, ken. Its lovely to have you here. And that is. You know, its one of the best songs we put forward to eurovision in years, i think. Oh, wow, thank you very much. No, honestly. Its a huge compliment. First of all, how do you feel about hearing it on the radio for the first time . I cant believe it. I think you saw me smiling then. I wasjust like, i cant believe im on the radio. They laugh. The response of, like, the song was wicked. I didnt let myself down as a songwriter. Morning, james. Morning, how you doing . All right . How does it feel to. . Unfortunately, i cant stop. Im on a bit of a tight schedule. So. How does it feel to have let the secret out now . He laughs. Very, very excited. I really like it. Amazing, isnt it . What do you think . Um, well, itsjust really exciting. As a huge fan of eurovision, you know, you talk about it being a big morning this is the news Everyone Needs to be hearing about, right . When they played this on radio 1 this morning, when they premiered it on greg james breakfast show, for the first time in a long time, it didnt feel like suddenly the station had been hacked and, you know, this terrible, cheesy eurovision song had come on. It feels like a proper song that fits in the modern pop landscape. I didnt really know what to expect at all, you know . Cos, um. I hadnt told anyone really about it, so i didnt know how it was going to, you know, come across or whatever. But, yeah, the response from everyone was just amazing. Like, so positive. So i was first introduced to james as a songwriter, but the more i heard him singing in the studio, i was thinking, hold on a minute. Why arent you releasing these songs . Your voice is incredible now its up to james to come out and show people what hes all about, and hes brilliant. He really is a fantastic lad. Really proud of him. One of those people that you really connect with in the studio, like. We like the same music. The soul music of the 605 and the funk of the 705, you know . Thats all in there with his influences. He is one of the most hard working and talented people i know. Hes also a lot of fun. If you want a fun time, james newman is who you call. Yeah, hes good. Hes good at getting a song started, you know . Hes, um. Yeah, hes a wicked guy, man. Big up, james. Boom hello. Its jack white. Jack white. And do you know which list youre on . Should be on press and media. Press . Yeah. Its been a bit of a whirlwind. I did some more interviews and went. Took my mother for lunch. How im feeling about performing it in front of a room of critics . Im excited. Because every time. Im not being big headed but every time ive done a gig, people are always like, oh, my god, your voice sounds great. And thats one thing that i always feel confident about, about singing live. I love it. Its like. Its just the reason that i do music, so. Im not, um. Im not that nervous. Whos that in the paper . whos that . James chuckles. Oh, its your son. It feels kind of weird. Its like my mums reading the newspaper now with a massive picture of me in the middle, which kind of feels quite surreal. Oh, really . We need to do it as soon as possible, really. So im about to do a live interview on the phone, but then i also need to go and do my sound check before everyone gets let in in. Seven minutes. Ok, ill hand the phone over. Theyre just wrapping up the interview theyre doing before, and theyll go straight into you. 0k. 0k . So youll be listening to the end of the other one. 0k. Hi there, how you doing . Its like a baptism of fire, this, you are just thrown into it. Of the scoreboard to the left hand side of the scoreboard. Thats it. Thats the aim this year. Everything else will be a bonus. Mr james newman. Cheering and applause. But i swear that well survive. If we were deep sea divers. And no one came to find us. If you had nothing left. Id give you my last breath. Cheering and applause. Youre so wonderful cheers the awesome band thank you. You get reactions on instagram and twitter and stuff but when you get, like, a real life reaction, it was like. You know, really rewarding. Johns come for a bit of press. Havent seen me in a while, have you . Ijust wanted a couple of drinks to calm down, cos it has been. Laughter. That was pretty good, actually. It has been a mental day. You remember what it used to be like, john . Yeah. Remember, back in the day . I remember back in the day. Next week. Next week, head to head. I got you a tequila. Oh, you are a legend. A good one. A lot of people were excited that i was doing eurovision, and didnt expect it. Well, some people guessed it on twitter the night before. They thought it was either going to be me orjohn. Well, what do you want, half . Ill do half, you do half. Cheers. To the future. Cos its been a crazy day. Good morning. Its friday, 28 february. Now, i always think the test of a decent eurovision song is, can you sing the chorus the second time it comes through on the first listening . And actually, genuinely, that one, james, you can. Yeah, great. That was the idea. We wanted to do something simple that people would remember straight away. Eurovision is a bit of a madhouse, isnt it . In the best possible way. People love it, but i imagine. You see the room where people are doing their performances. Its like no other kind of venue, isnt it . Its like a fever. And ive been speaking to people that have been there, and people say once you go there, you just fall in love with it, cos its a whole. We go there for a whole week. Is there any concern, because it is a Massive International gathering, that coronavirus might interfere in any way . Has anyone even been talking about that . Ive been asked about it a few times, but i mean. Its a way off yet. Yeah, its a way off yet, and i suppose were all in it together, arent we . I think the bbc breakfast thing was the moment where it kind of turned, after that, really, for me. After i come back from doing all my kind of promo and stuff over that weekend, and then after that, it kind of started getting more and more serious. Italy is now under the most severe restrictions since the second world war. Theres now a nationwide ban on any gathering of more than a thousand people. Never could people in italy have conceived of the idea that theyd need this to be able to move within their own country. All schools and colleges are closed. No cafes, no bars and no restaurants. Its the main hospital in rome, where people who have coronavirus are treated. With commiserations to all fans of europop. Rotterdam in the netherlands was the destination. A major disappointment, of course, to all those artists that would have been taking part. We regret the situation very much. But i can promise you the Eurovision Song Contest will come back stronger than ever. I am sad, because quite a few countries this year i think could have got their first win, and obviously now they cant. So many songs that deserved to be performed this year. And its really sad that we will not be hearing them on stage. I dont know how anyone can choose just one act from this year and call that their favourite, because they were all so incredibly strong. This year was the first year that i could actually go to the contest, so on a personal level, i was, yeah, kind of disappointed. I was really, really looking forward to the contest this year because it was taking place in rotterdam, my home city. Even though im sad, i know that everyone else is, so its ok. I speak english thanks to the eurovision. I sing thanks to the eurovision. This would have been my first year i would have organised a party with my friends. Im sad at this point, but im really looking forward to 2021. I am very sad that 2020 entries wont be seen or heard live. I think that every single one of them deserves it. Even though turkey doesnt participate any more, we still love and follow eurovision. The cancellation hit me really hard. I was devastated just like the others. I had the tickets booked. I had a hotel booked. All that i was waiting to do was book the flights. The only way to describe how im feeling is heartbroken and like a piece of me has been torn away. Hi, everybody. Ijust thought id talk to you face to face. You know, here we are, face to face. Because its been a sad day for eurovision. But its really important that Peoples Health is looked after at this crazy time, so. So when i found out it was cancelled, it was. The bbcjust sent us an e mail and was like. It was like their statement you know, the reasons why. And, you know, you know its going to happen, but when you actually see its been cancelled, i was sitting in my car just on the way to the shop. Ijust had to pull over, and i was like. He sighs. I had to take a moment and just. Kind of reset and just think, you know, well, its happening for a reason. Yeah, it was pretty heartbreaking, though. Since eurovision got cancelled, ive just been here with my wife. Not leaving this area, really, getting deliveries and stuff like that. Weve got two little rabbits that roam free in the house. Weve been hanging out with them. Ive got some decks, some turntables that ive been learning to beat match, but very unsuccessfully. Weve been cooking, out in the garden, just having a laugh, really. At first, ifelt, like, alone. Because it was like, oh, its been cancelled, so im not doing it. And then i realised theres 41 other people that are in the exact same position as me. You know . So it was nice, cos then i started talking to people. Hey, man, how are you doing . Im doing very good. How are you . Im good, thanks. How did it feel, like, when your son went viral . It feels pretty good i cant really complain. Baby. I cant wait to know. Obviously you were, like, one of the favourites to win the show. What was the kind of feeling like in iceland . We get excited every year, but it was more this time. A lot of icelandic eurovision fans are more disappointed in us not going than i am. Ah. Definitely had it. I mean, its pretty scary, the whole process. Because you dont know where. You dont know whats. When you get the flu, you know youre probably going to get better in a few days, or you know the process. But with. I had moments where i felt better, and id be like, oh, i feel ok now. And then an hour later, id be like, i cant breathe again. And it would be like, up and down, for, like, two weeks, that was. One of the biggest moments in your life is cancelled because of this huge, horrible thing thats happening, and then it really affects you in a different way like, in a health way, like it has affected everyone it really solidified to me why we have to all stay at home and why we have to cancel big events like this, because it spreads so easily. Theres no way it could have happened. Theres no way you couldve done it in an arena with no one there, or. You cant even do it from a studio, could you, cos the amount of production that needs to go into things . I think we were quite far along in terms of, like, what we wanted for the stage show, the same kind of vibe as the video. I wanted it to be like the stage show version, anyway, but with more of a story to it. So, i love cold water swimming and cold water exposure, all because of the wim hof method, who is the Love Interest in my music video. The breath is the life force. If you control the life force, the force of life is with you. Cold water exposures so good for your body, so good for your mental health, because it puts you into, like, fight or flight mode when you get in the cold water. Ive slowly been converting a lot of my close friends. This is my friend jack leonard. Hello . And im going to make him get in this. Isnt it delicious . Just how i feel when i do it and how i feel when i dont is like night and day. Because i did suffer from anxiety quite a lot. You know, i had, like, panic attacks quite a lot, often driving in the car. I was thinking if we were going to do eurovision, id have to ask for an ice bath in my hotel room. I think it would really help, you know. Before you go to the dress rehearsal, you have an ice bath and do 20 minutes of breathing and just walk in, like. Youd be fine. Hi, jess. Hi,james. How are you going . I hear that you havent yet received word whether or not youll be retained to perform next year. No, not yet. Im still waiting to. Ive said that i want to do it, that ill do it if i get asked, so im just waiting for them to make the decision, so. Yeah, that sucks. I dont know. I worked hard. You worked hard. You know, your life has been, like, revolving around this big thing for at least six months so far like, six months well never get back. I am starting to feel pretty salty about potentially not getting re selected. Cos. In the end, they did and im really grateful, and im glad they made that decision, but i was like, i feel like its only fair that you get another shot at it. You know . Yeah, definitely. Ifeel like, for me, i want to finish what i started. Dont bring me. Dont bring me down, down, down, down. Dont bring me. So it has been a weird few months for everyone. But i just want to say thanks to the fans for their support of me, the song and the competition. Hopefully, ill do it again next year, but welljust have to see. But, really, i just want to say a massive thank you to everyone, and i know theres some other people who would like to do the same. One, two, one, two whats up, guys . Hey, everybody. Hi, everyone. Im sending all my love to all of my fans in europe. I love you guys, and stay safe and healthy. Just keep on celebrating our music. Keep on playing it. Keep on downloading it. Cos eurovision was always my biggest dream. To be able to make people happy through music makes me the happiest person on earth. Play the artists songs as much as you can, give them support that theyre not going to be getting. Only in such strange times and difficult situations, we realise that music is the common language that unites us. Even though it was a short fair game, it was amazing because of the fans. Eurovision this year gave us an opportunity to spread our music all around the world. My eurovisionjourney has been a really exciting one, and a beautiful one. Thank you so much for the response to the song. Its been way more than i ever anticipated, even if the competition would have actually happened. We wanted to thank everybody out there