Children of the Universe

Album: Eurovision Song Contest 2014 Copenhagen (2014)
Charted: 23
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Songfacts®:

  • Molly Smitten-Downes is an English singer-songwriter from Leicestershire who first achieved chart success in 2008 when as a member of Stunt - she provided vocals on "Raindrops (Encore Une Fois)." That song was a mash up of Sash!'s 1997 single "Encore Une Fois" and Stunt's 2006 club hit "Raindrops." The following year, Smitten-Downes sang on Basshunter's "I Will Learn To Love Again," a track from his Top 20 UK album Bass Generation.

    Smitten-Downes then embarked on a career with her own material, releasing an acoustic EP Fly Away with Me in December 2011. She started gaining support from BBC local radio in the East Midlands before being spotted by the corporation's Eurovision producers. They chose her to write and perform the UK's 2014 entry after a change in the way the BBC approached the competition. It was the first UK Eurovision entry to be self-written by the performing artist since Katrina and the Waves triumphed in 1997 with "Love Shine A Light."
  • Molly wrote the song with the Swedish Producer Anders Hansson. Her lyrics were inspired by Max Ehrmann's 1927 prose poem Desiderata, which is about the search for happiness in life. San Francisco TV talk show host Les Crane had a spoken word hit with his 1971 recording of the work.
  • Molly explained the song's meaning to The Daily Telegraph: "It's about how, deep down, we're all connected," she said. "Nowadays so many people are guilty of abusing drugs and drinking to forget, and this is about waking up from that and realizing how fascinating life is."
  • Molly came 17th in the Eurovision final, with 40 points.

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