Sheffield man cheering on Germany in Eurovision 2023 after co-writing the lyrics for the country's chosen song

Anthony J. Brown has worked with a number of bands and music artists during his career, including a number of German acts, and co-wrote the lyrics for Germany’s Eurovision 2023 entry – ‘Blood & Glitter’ by Lord of the Lost.

Anthony, who lives in Heeley, has worked with The Lord of the Lost for a few years and had a hand in a number of the songs that featured on their recent album, also titled ‘Blood & Glitter’, which reached No.1 on the Official German Charts. The band, from Hamburg, Germany, was chosen to represent their country in Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool after a televised selection process.

Anthony said: “I was at a comedy gig in Doncaster and I was trying to refresh and find out how they did throughout the entire thing.”

After the ‘experts’ in the judging panel in the televised selection process had their say, The Lord of the Lost were not placed particularly high and Anthony was starting to lower his expectations.

He said: “A friend called from Berlin when I was getting lift home and he sent me a picture of [the band] celebrating on his TV.

“They had gotten 40-odd per cent of the public vote and now they are through to the final as one of the big five.

"I have been collaborating with them for lyrics since 2016 and worked on six released albums, the most recent of which made it to number one in Germany. Their previous albums have all had specific concepts, like futuristic ones or the gospel of Judas, but this time there was a different approach because there was the possibility of applying for Eurovision.”

Anthony is hoping he will be able to support the band from the crowd in Liverpool and understands the band would like him there too. He said: “They very much want me to be there, but they haven’t got any details on their allowances for the event.”

The UK’s entry was recently unveiled as singer Mae Muller, with ‘I wrote a song’, which Anthony, who has contributed to more than 60 songs with Lord of the Lost, was clearly very impressed with.

He said: “In terms of who I'd prefer to win out of UK and Germany, if forced with a cattle prod, I think they both have very good songs and I certainly like the lyrics of the Mae Muller tune. It has an endearingly positive message and I doff my cap to them, but a Germany-UK one-two would inevitably be a delightful outcome for me.

"Of course nobody in the UK can vote for our entry, so when people know there is a UK link to another splendid competing act they may well put their figurative X in that box. That'd be sublime. Lord Of The Lost are all wonderful, sincere and funny individuals as well as an incredibly captivating live spectacle. Their 3 minutes of 'Blood & Glitter' will be scintillating. And an avalanche of goosebumps for me.”