It’s been 29 years since the UK won the Eurovision in 1997 with Katrina and the Waves.
But the United Kingdom’s 2026 entry, LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER, hopes to change that.
35 countries are set to take part in the 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, which is being held in Vienna after Austria won last year’s show.
While tensions are high due to the controversy surrounding Israel’s participation in the competition, the UK could finally see a win with their act, who claims they have ‘gone for a different tactic’.
Eurovision presenter Graham Norton even gushed: ‘I think LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER is a really great choice for the UK. If he connects with the crowd, there will be no stopping him.’
But who is he? Here, the Daily Mail takes a look at everything you need to know about the artist, Look Mum No Computer.
LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER hopes to take home the crown for the UK at the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest
The musician, whose real name is Sam Battle, is a solo artist, songwriter and YouTuber, who has ‘gone for a different tatic this time’
The musician, whose real name is Sam Battle, is a solo artist, songwriter and YouTuber.
Born in Lincolnshire, the 31-year-old first burst onto the music scene in 2014 as the frontman of indie rock band ZIBRA.
The group performed at Glastonbury in 2015 for BBC Introducing.
He then launched his YouTube career in 2016 and has since amassed over 91 million views and over 1.4 million subscribers across his social media pages.
Sam became well known for building his own synthesisers, circuit-bent instruments, and performing quirky, experimental tracks.
‘I’m a musician and about two and a half years ago, I decided to try a different venture, and I started putting up videos with machines that I built, whilst I was in band, for tour, and I didn’t really expect anybody to really give a cr*p about it, because it was just weird stuff that I built in my house,’ he told TNT Magazine.
‘And yeah, that kind of flourished into some more interesting machines, because people liked the machines that I built and figured I’d just keep on pushing, building things, and whilst I was writing music and still being a musician.
‘I just couldn’t help myself, but build silly machines, really.’
He released his first single, called Groundhog Day, in 2019, and later that year, he toured Germany, Switzerland and the UK.
In May 2022, he joined with Cuckoo and Hainbach to form a musical supergroup called Uncompressed.
They performed together for the first time at Barcelona’s Sónar festival in June 2019.
Sam has also co-produced several compositions for the screens, including Satellite M Moment for the film adaptation of Street Cat Named Bob, as well as Glitter and Gold for the Netflix series, Safe.
Sam has described his work as blending ‘music, technology, and absurdity.’
Away from music, he has delivered a TEDx TALK, released a video game, and received a Guinness World Record for building the world’s largest drone synthesiser.
In February 2026, it was announced that Sam would represent the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest.
At the time, he said: ‘I find it completely bonkers to be jumping on this wonderful and wild journey.
‘I have always been a massive Eurovision fan, and I love the magical joy it brings to millions of people every year, so getting to join that legacy and fly the flag for the UK is an absolute honour that I am taking very seriously.
‘I’ve been working a long time creating, writing, and producing my own visions from scratch, and documenting my process. I will be bringing every ounce of my creativity to my performances, and I can’t wait for everyone to hear and see what we’ve created.
‘I hope Eurovision is ready to get synthesised!’
Sam will perform Eins, Zwei, Drei during the second Semi-final
Kalpna Patel-Knight, head of entertainment at the BBC, said: ‘We are absolutely thrilled to have Look Mum No Computer representing the UK at Eurovision in Vienna in 2026.
‘His bold vision, unique sound and electric performance style make him a truly unforgettable artist.
‘LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER embodies everything the UK wants to celebrate on the Eurovision stage – creativity, ambition, and a distinctly British wit.
‘I am sure he will make us all proud on the international stage in May.’
Sam will perform Eins, Zwei, Drei during the second Semi-final.
The song was co-written and produced with Lasse Midtsian Nymann, Julie ‘Kill J’ Aagaard and Thomas Stengaard.
It’s about ‘escaping the soul-crushing boredom of the nine-to-five, into a world of dreams and endless possibilities’.
The chorus is partially sung in German, making it the first UK entry for a Eurovision song not to be exclusively sung in English in 68 years.
‘I was like, ‘This is not going to be taken seriously because the BBC love the conventional stuff, and this is not conventional,’ he said. ‘So they’re taking a bit of a risk – but who knows?’
The UK has been represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 67 times.
The country first took part in the second contest in 1957 and has entered every year since 1959.
The UK has also achieved a record sixteen second-place finishes, the most recent being in 2022 with Sam Ryder and Spaceman.
In January, it was reported that an unnamed music act was axed from representing the UK after bosses discovered unacceptable online comments.
The unnamed performer was said to have been dragged into a meeting where they were told they would no longer represent the UK in Austria.
Last year, the UK was represented by Remember Monday, who performed their original song What The Hell Just Happened? and finished in 19th place out of 26 countries in the final.
A source told The Sun: ‘The BBC can’t take any chances with Eurovision being such a pressure cooker this year. Routine checks brought up past behaviour that just didn’t line up.
‘It was brutal but they were dragged into a meeting and told they could no longer represent the UK. Naturally, the person was mortified and devastated.
‘It’s been a mess ever since the start of the year trying to find a new act.’
In December, the Daily Mail revealed the contest is facing its most serious crisis in Eurovision history, as more countries considered joining Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia in boycotting the event.
Last year the UK was represented by Remember Monday, who performed their original song What The Hell Just Happened? and finished in 19th place out of 26 countries in the final
It comes after several public broadcasters pulled out of this year’s competition after organisers decided to allow Israel to compete, putting political discord on centre stage over a usually joyful celebration of music.
It was previously reported on December 5 that Belgium’s broadcaster said it would ‘take a position in the coming days’, while Iceland’s RÚV said it would not make a final decision on its participation until the following week.
Belgium is set to compete in the Song Contest, while Iceland has since withdrawn.
The walkouts came after the general assembly of the European Broadcasting Union – a group of public broadcasters from 56 countries that runs the glitzy annual event – met to discuss concerns about Israel’s participation, which some countries oppose over its conduct of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
At the meeting, EBU members voted to adopt tougher contest voting rules in response to allegations that Israel had manipulated the vote in favour of their contestants, but took no action to exclude any broadcaster from the competition.
The feel-good pop music gala that draws more than 100 million viewers every year has been roiled by the war in Gaza for the past two years, stirring protests outside the venues and forcing organisers to clamp down on political flag-waving.
‘It’s a historic moment for the European Broadcasting Union. This is certainly one of the most serious crises that the organisation has ever faced,’ said Eurovision expert Dean Vuletic.
‘Next year, we’re going to see the biggest political boycott of Eurovision ever.’
