Sophie Ellis-Bextor Pulls Out Of UK's Eurovision Judging Panel

Actor George Ure is announced as her replacement

Sophie Ellis-Bextor at the Bedford Park Festival

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has been replaced as chair of the UK jury for the Eurovision Song Contest.

The Chiswick local pulled out earlier this week citing 'unforeseen circumstances.'

It is not known why she took the decision not to chair although one report cited 'childcare issues'. The decision caused some panic coming so close to the contest- the final is Saturday night.

Sophie tweeted: 'I still love Eurovision! Wishing all the participants a great show and good luck to the UK entry.'

George Ure has bee selected to chair the jury in her place. He is the director of the Urdang Academy, a dance and musical theatre school in north London, and has performed in stage shows including Wicked and Sweeney Todd.

The jury members judge vocal capacity, performance, song composition and overall impression.The UK only votes in the second semi-final and the final, and the jury counts towards 50% of the UK's overall scores. The four other members on the panel are Kylie Minogue's musical director Pete Watson, radio DJ Adele Roberts, vocal coach Jai Ramage and singer AJ Bentley.

The final is in Tel Aviv in Israel on Saturday.

May 18, 2019