Children of the Universe

"Children of the Universe"
Single by Molly
from the album Eurovision Song Contest: Copenhagen 2014
Released 15 April 2014 (digital release)
28 April 2014 (physical release)
Format CD, digital download
Recorded 2014
Genre Indie pop, alternative rock
Length 3:00
Label East West Records
Songwriter(s) Molly Smitten-Downes, Anders Hansson
Producer(s) Anders Hansson
Molly singles chronology
"Never Forget You"
(2013)		 "Children of the Universe"
(2014)		 "Lock Up Your Daughter"
(2014)

"Never Forget You"
(2013)		 "Children of the Universe"
(2014)		 "Lock Up Your Daughter"
(2014)
United Kingdom "Children of the Universe"
Video of Molly presenting her song
Eurovision Song Contest 2014 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Finals performance
Final result
17th
Final points
40
Appearance chronology
◄ "Believe in Me" (2013)   
"Still in Love with You" (2015) ►
Music video
"Children of the Universe" on YouTube

"Children of the Universe" is a song by British singer Molly. It was chosen internally by the BBC to represent the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Denmark. The song was co-written by Molly Smitten-Downes and Anders Hansson. Despite being one of the favourites to win the contest, it finished in 17th of 26 places with 40 points, however achieved the best placing for the UK since the 11th place of Blue in the 2011.

It also reached No.23 in the UK Charts featuring a decent amount of radio airplay including on BBC Radio 2. The highest charting UK Eurovision song since 2011's "I Can" by Blue.

Background and release

Smitten-Downes was discovered for her work on BBC Introducing and was invited to compose a song especially for the 59th Eurovision Song Contest. The song has been described as a powerful, contemporary, anthemic and uplifting track specifically written with live performance in mind.[1] Talking to the BBC she said, "I'm so excited for everyone to hear 'Children of The Universe'. I'm so happy with it. To represent the United Kingdom in such a huge competition, not only as a singer and performer but as a songwriter is an unbelievable honour. I hope I can do us proud".[2] The song was inspired by Max Ehrmann's poem, Desiderata.[3]

It received airplay from the UK national radio station BBC Radio 2 on their 'A' list during April and May 2014. The song was released on 28 April 2014 through East West Records, a division of Warner Music Group and was made available for digital download on iTunes from 15 April.[4] The digital release of the single will come packaged with an extended version and remix from Secaina Hudson.[5] A remixed version by Scott Mills was uploaded via the BBC Eurovision website on 10 April.[6]

The music video for the song was released via Molly's YouTube channel on 23 April 2014 and has a run time of three minutes exactly.[7][8]

Composition

"Children of the Universe" was written by Molly, as opposed to using a pre-written song, this was the first such song from the United Kingdom since their 1997 victory with Katrina and the Waves in an attempt to perform well: the tactic was described as a "cunning plan".[9] She stated that she was not short of ideas, she said that she "came up with six or seven ideas in the space of 48 hours and this one just stood out".[10] Although Molly wrote the lyrics and the "top line", her Swede producer Anders Hansson wrote music for strings (on the musical release there was a 26-piece big string orchestra),[10] after agreeing with her choice of song from the drafts.[11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Daily Mirror
Digital Spy

The song has received generally positive reviews from critics.

The Daily Mirror said: "Molly's voice has such a powerful tone to it – combined with the thumping beat, it makes you want to sing along – even if you don't know the lyrics. Overall it's the best thing we've produced since Gina G's 'Ooh Ahh... Just a Little Bit' [sic] which is a very good thing."[12]

Whilst website Digital Spy said: "Gone are seasoned balladeers and cheesy irrelevant pop, and in comes a timely anthem flanked by marching beats and rousing strings. "And this is a madness / I'm not giving in," Molly asserts, before she launches into a swaying chorus fit for a stadium. There's no denying that the earworm chant of "power to the people" will strike a chord with certain troubled parts of the continent, but the track can stand on its own merit of being one of the best entries we've put forward in years. Will it get Britain interested in Eurovision again? That's a big ask. But at least we're finally sending a song that stands a real chance of winning."[13]

Performances and promotion

She performed the song live on 2 March 2014 for the first time at a secret location for the artist and song presentation for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. The performance was first broadcast via the BBC Red Button on 3 March 2014.[14]

Molly performed her entry at the Eurovision in Concert event on 5 April in Amsterdam alongside 24 other participating acts[15] and headlined the London Eurovision Party preview show on 13 April at London's Café de Paris.[16] Molly was later interviewed on television and radio shows in Malta as part of her promotional tour.[3] She participated in a game of Innuendo Bingo on 23 April 2014 on the Scott Mills show on BBC Radio 1,[17] followed by an appearance on The One Show on 28 April 2014.[18] On 2 May 2014, she performed the song on The Graham Norton Show. The performance was pre-recorded on 1 April.[19]

Appearing as the last of 26 acts, Molly performed "Children of the Universe" live on 10 May 2014 during the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 at the B&W Hallerne, in Copenhagen, Denmark. The song was voted 17th and gained 40 points.

Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Molly was selected by the BBC to represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. The first rehearsal took place on 4 May,[20] the second on 6 May[21] and the performance in front of the jury on 9 May 2014.[22] On stage, Molly was joined by drummer Joe Yoshida and four backing vocalists: Lincoln Jean-Marie, Katie Holmes, Victoria Beaumont, and Sharleen Linton. The British performance featured Molly performing in front of a stage set-up that included the drummer in the centre with two backing vocalists on each side. The LED screens projected floral patterns and Chinese lanterns.[20] The song finished in 17th place with a total of 40 points.

Track listings

Digital download
  1. "Children of the Universe" – 3:00
Remixes – Single
  1. "Children of the Universe" (Scott Mills Club Mix) – 6:07
  2. "Children of the Universe" (Scott Mills Radio Mix) – 3:28
  3. "Children of the Universe" (Secaina Hudson Remix) – 3:13

Release history

Region Date Format Label
United Kingdom 15 April 2014[4] Digital download East West Records
28 April 2014 CD single

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[23] 63
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[24] 97
Denmark (Tracklisten)[25] 37
Germany (Official German Charts)[26] 94
Ireland (IRMA)[27] 36
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[28] 15
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[29] 31
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[30] 63
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[31] 23

Awards

Eurovision Song Contest Radio Awards 2014

Eurovision Song Contest Radio is a website that host an international voting poll each year for various awards. Molly was nominated for Best Song (received 4.7% of the vote) and Best Female Artist (9.9% of the vote) coming 8th and 5th respectively.

Year Nominated work Award Result
2014 "Children of the Universe" Best Song Nominated[32]
2014 Herself Best Female Artist Nominated[32]

References

  1. ↑ "About Molly". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  2. ↑ "BBC - Blogs - Eurovision - Introducing Molly!". BBC. 3 March 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Welcome to Malta Molly Smitten Downes". TVM. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Children of the Universe - Single by Molly". Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  5. ↑ "Molly's Eurovision Song 'Children of the Universe' gets studio version". Digital Spy. 4 April 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  6. ↑ "UK: Listen to the Children of the universe remix". esctoday. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  7. ↑ "United Kingdom: Children of the universe clip released". esctoday.com. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  8. ↑ "Molly - Children of the Universe (Official Music Video)". Youtube. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Royston, Benny (3 March 2014). "Eurovision 2014: Can the United Kingdom's song Children of the Universe sung by Molly Smitten-Downes win Eurovision?". Metro. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  10. 1 2 Youngs, Ian (4 March 2014). "Molly Smitten-Downes: Eurovision will be a challenge". BBC. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  11. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest UK Contestant Molly Debuts 'Children of the Universe' Video". Huffington Post. 24 April 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  12. ↑ "Eurovision 2014 preview: Will UK entry Children of the Universe see Molly Smitten-Downes join song contest winners?". Daily Mirror. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  13. ↑ "Molly: 'Children Of The Universe' review - A Eurovision winner?". Digital Spy. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  14. ↑ "Molly Smitten-Downes to represent the UK". eurovision.tv. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  15. ↑ "EUROVISION IN CONCERT 2014: THE LINE-UP!". Eurovision in Concert. 3 April 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  16. ↑ "UK's own Molly to headline the 2014 London Eurovision Party on 13 April!". London Eurovision Party. 26 March 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  17. ↑ Molly Smitten-Downes [@mollysd] (24 April 2014). "#innuendobingo at BBC Radio 1 with @scott_mills at 1.45pm....I'm scared haha x" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 April 2014 – via Twitter.
  18. ↑ Jones, Alex; Baker, Matt (April 2014). "The One Show, 28 April 2014". The One Show. BBC.
  19. ↑ "MOLLY WILL PERFORM ON GRAHAM NORTON ON 2ND MAY!". 1 April 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  20. 1 2 Roxburgh, Gordon (4 May 2014). "A powerful universal beat for Molly". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  21. ↑ "United Kingdom: Molly's powerful message to the people". Eurovision.tv. 6 May 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  22. ↑ "Time now for the all important Jury Final". Eurovision.tv. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  23. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Molly – Children of the Universe" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  24. ↑ ""`UNIQ--nowiki-00000000-QINU`"'%7FUK%7F'"`UNIQ--nowiki-00000001-QINU`"'%7F&titel=Children+of+the+Universe&cat=s Ultratop.be – Molly [UK] – Children of the Universe" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  25. ↑ "Molly – Children of the Universe Hitlisten.nu" (in Danish). Tracklisten.
  26. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Molly – Children of the Universe". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  27. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 20, 2014". Irish Singles Chart.
  28. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2014-05-24". Scottish Singles Top 40.
  29. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Molly – Children of The Universe". Singles Top 100.
  30. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Molly – Children of The Universe". Swiss Singles Chart.
  31. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2014-05-24" UK Singles Chart.
  32. 1 2 "ESC Radio Awards 2014 – The Winners!". Eurovision Song Contest Radio. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
Preceded by
"Believe in Me"
by Bonnie Tyler		 United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
2014 		Succeeded by
"Still in Love with You"
by Electro Velvet
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