| "Dizzy" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single byOlly Alexander | ||||
| from the album OdysseyandPolari | ||||
| Written | 2023 | |||
| Released | 1 March 2024 (2024-03-01) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length |
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| Label | Polydor[5] | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producers |
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| Olly Alexander singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Dizzy" onYouTube | ||||
| Eurovision Song Contest 2024 entry | ||||
| Country | ||||
| Artist | ||||
| Language | English | |||
| Composers |
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| Lyricists |
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| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 18th | |||
| Final points | 46 | |||
| Entry chronology | ||||
| ◄ "I Wrote a Song" (2023) | ||||
| "What the Hell Just Happened?" (2025) ► | ||||
| Official performance video | ||||
| "Dizzy" (First Semi-Final) onYouTube "Dizzy" (Grand Final) onYouTube | ||||
"Dizzy" is a song by British singer-songwriter and actorOlly Alexander. It was released on 1 March 2024 throughPolydor Records, and was written by Alexander andDaniel Harle. The song marked Alexander's first release under his own name after the dissolution ofYears & Years. Itrepresented the United Kingdom at theEurovision Song Contest 2024, where it placed 18th with 46 points at the grand final. It was later included on the track listing for Alexander's debut albumPolari.
"Dizzy" is a love song where Alexander wants his lover to give him kisses over and over to make him feel "dizzy". The song was met with mixed reception by both British and international media upon its release, with some praise given for Alexander's vocal abilities and its retro musical composition. However, criticism was also levied against the song for being viewed as too conventional for a chance of victory at the Eurovision Song Contest.
"Dizzy" was written by Oliver Alexander Thornton andDaniel Harle,[7] and marked the first single after Alexander's departure fromYears & Years.[8] The song was written in the summer of 2023, with Alexander stating inNME, "we started off with the word ‘Dizzy’ because it just popped into my head... I was thinking about fun things that could make you dizzy and I remember saying ‘dizzy from your kisses’ so we built the song around that."[9] Alexander later stated that Harle convinced him to apply theEurovision Song Contest, eventually sending "a few" songs to theBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for them to pick his song for theEurovision Song Contest, with the BBC picking "Dizzy".[10]
In interviews, Alexander described the setting of the song to be a "magical place where you're in love with someone, there are flowers everywhere and you're just like, you're dizzy".[11] He further added his intents that the song "should take you on a journey... the song is about the overwhelming feeling you get when you’re with someone".[12] In an analysis byWiwibloggs' Lucy Percy, they described the lyrics representing "Olly being so enamoured with his lover that their kisses literally make him dizzy". References to time are frequently made within the song, with Olly "want[ing] to stop, start over and feel that sensation again... this embrace will last forever and he never wants to be pulled away".[13] Alexander also mentioned thatGreek tragedies andmedieval poetry, some of Alexander and Harle's favourite "references", influenced the creation of the song.[10]
Along with the song's release, an accompanying music video was released on the same day, premiering on a specialBBC Eurovision broadcast titledGraham Meets Olly.[14][15] Directed by Colin Solal Cardo, it was filmed inTbilisi,Georgia.[16] Later that evening, Alexander appeared on a special broadcast on BBC One, titledGraham Meets Olly, which featured the first full televised broadcast of the music video.[17] In the video, Alexander performs inside of a house, later entering a garden.[18] Writing forMetro, Brooke Ivey Johnson stated the video "reflects the song's theme of all-consuming love".[19]Sky News' Rachel McGrath described it as "head-spinning",[20] while in a review forThe Guardian, Laura Snapes dubbed the video "nauseatingly topsy-turvy".[21]
To promote the song in the months heading into Eurovision, he made appearances on several British radio stations and television shows. Alexander made appearances onBBC Radio 1 andBBC Radio 2 on 1 March, with "Dizzy" making its radio premiere onThe Radio 2 Breakfast Show.[22][2] A week later, he made two consecutive live performances onLive from Vevo Studio and onAnt & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway on 8 and 9 March 2024.[23][24] In April, he made his first appearance in the United States, with him being honored as a guest onThe Kelly Clarkson Show.[25] On 2 May, he made a cameo on the BBCsoap opera,EastEnders.[26] Alexander also performed at various Eurovision pre-parties throughout the months of March and April 2024, includingPre-Party ES on 30 March,[27] theLondon Eurovision Party on 7 April,[28]Eurovision in Concert on 13 April,[29] and theNordic Eurovision Party on 14 April.[30]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| The Independent |   [31] |
| The Guardian | [21] |
| The Daily Telegraph | [3] |
| The Times | [4] |
| iNews | [32] |
"Dizzy" was met with mixed reviews from British music critics.[33] Roisin O'Connor fromThe Independent wrote that "'Dizzy' is adance anthem that takes its cues fromPet Shop Boys,Erasure, andBronski Beat – whisked up with the ripe diet ofNineties cheese-pop that Alexander grew up on".[31] Laura Snapes fromThe Guardian stated that the chorus echoes that of the 1987 single "It's a Sin" by Pet Shop Boys, while also making comparisons toDead or Alive single "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)". They concluded that "'Dizzy' isn't a bad song – it's perfectly fine – but beyond its very literal, nauseatingly topsy-turvy video, it's far too safe to leave anyone reeling".[21]
Writing forThe Daily Telegraph, Neil McCormick wrote "'Dizzy' is an interesting modernelectronicdance pop song, a blend ofBalearic beats and sugary sentiments delivering upbeat sentiments with a minor chord melodic tension".[3] While writing forClash, Robin Murray described "it's as a full-blownextravaganza. Olly lives and breathes every word, with the ultra-catchy dose of future-facing pop digitalism leaning on his fantastic vocals.[34]
In a review forThe Times, Will Hodgkinson described it as a "super-catchy andhi-energydisco smash that has real innovation in its burbling production”. It also has “pleasingly nostalgic shades of classicEightiessynth-pop: Erasure,Soft Cell and, yes, Pet Shop Boys". He referred to it as "the best Eurovision entry we've had in years".[4] In a review forPinkNews, Marcus Wratten said "'Dizzy' is one of the better songs the UK has sent to the contest in recent years". They further added, "it's pulsating pop that is both simple yet effective. The fizzy '80s synths of Pet Shop Boys are a clear influence, but with a touch ofSteps' playfulness, and – dare we say it – a hint ofAqua, too. That's all to say that 'Dizzy' is pop serving its primary purpose; it's catchy and the hook has sticking power".[35]
Writing forBBC News, Mark Savage dubbed the song "a sleek, streamlined slice of modern pop" with an "instantly memorable" hook, but criticised the strength of the song, adding: "If there's a criticism, it's that the song could go harder. Instead of building to a climax, that final chorus is too polite".[36]i's Ed Power described the song as "a drearily orthodoxEuro-banger" that "plays it safe", concluding that "Alexander andHarle are clearly capable of so much better" but "have gone risk-averse".[32]
In aWiwibloggs review containing several reviews from several critics, the song was rated 6.73 out of 10 points,[37] earning 16th out of 37 songs on the site's annual ranking.[38]ESC Beat's Doron Lahav ranked the song 35th overall, writing that " I think the arrangement of the song is quite problematic... Starting from a certain point, it repeats again and again and is quite repititive [sic]".[39]Vulture's Jon O'Brien ranked it ninth overall, stating that while he thought the song as "immaculately produced", he admitted that "it might just be a little too subtle to connect widely on first listen".[40] Erin Adam ofThe Scotsman rated the song six out of 10 points, stating that they thought that it was "underwhelming compared to many in the contest".[41]
The United Kingdom's broadcaster for theEurovision Song Contest, theBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), officially announced their intentions to participate in theEurovision Song Contest 2024 on 18 October 2023, when they announced that a team led byBBC Music's Lee Smithurst and Will Wilkin had begun searching for an artist to represent the country over the summer of that year.[42] Within the month,Olly Alexander was selected, with him being confirmed as the United Kingdom's representative on 16 December during the final ofStrictly Come Dancing.[43]
TheEurovision Song Contest 2024 took place at theMalmö Arena inMalmö, Sweden, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 7 and 9 May and the final on 11 May 2024. As the United Kingdom was a member of the "Big Five", Alexander automatically qualified for the grand final.[44] He was later drawn to perform in the first half of the grand final.[45] Before the contest, Alexander faced numerous calls to withdraw due to the participation ofIsrael amongst theGaza war.[46][47] Days before the contest, Alexander affirmed his intents to participate and expressed distress at the protests, claiming he was "trying not to have a breakdown" and that he felt "ashamed of[himself] and embarrassed" due to the protests. He later added his thought that withdrawing would not "make a difference" regarding humanitarian and hostage crises in the war.[48][49] He also signed a letter along with eight other Eurovision 2024 artists that called for "an immediate and lasting ceasefire, and the safe return of all hostages".[46]
For its Eurovision performance, "Dizzy" was revamped, which included an "orchestra style build into the final chorus".[50] Before the contest, Alexander stated intentions for the performance to be "quite gritty".[51] The performance featured Alexander in a white, ripped t-shirt and red trousers along with four backing dancers, all wearing red boxing clothes.[52] The setting around the performance was described as a "post-apocalypticdystopian boxing gym locker room, aboard a spaceship hurtling toward Earth through a black hole in 1985".[53] The locker room itself was remarked as dirty;[52] according to Alexander, he chose the setting of a locker room to incorporate "queerness" into his performance, stating inPinkNews, "I plan to be as gay as possible – and what’s gayer than a locker room?"[54] It also featured shots of the room being upside-down and "cameras rotating to give a spinning feel to Alexander and the dancers".[55] Nearing the end of the performance, all five performers head out of the locker room.[52]
The performance was met with mixed reception according to Emma Guinness ofThe Independent.[56]Graham Norton, the British commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest, proclaimed that he thought the staging for the performance was the "best staging possibly [the United Kingdom has] ever done".[57] In contrast,Gareth Roberts ofSpiked stated that Alexander's performance was based on the cliches ofgay pornography. "I do find it boring and embarrassing... It’s meant to be enlightening and empowering, but it’s depressing," he said. Roberts later added that he thought that the performance represented the "devolution" of Alexander due to him being "brainwashed" by "LGBTQ+ Central".[58] Philip Oltermann, writer forThe Guardian, wrote that the performance was "not especially risky: there was no sense that this particular performer was taking a punt at the risk of making a fool of himself on the night".[59]
After the results were announced, Alexander finished in 18th with 46 points, with a split score of 46 points from juries and zero points from public televoting.[60][61] No sets of the maximum 12 points were awarded for the song; the most a country gave towards it was eight, given byIceland andSweden.[62] Alexander's final result, particularly his public televote result, was met with disappointment by British media and personalities.The Daily Telegraph's Liam Kelly proclaimed that Alexander's result, along with his actions and activism at the contest had "alienated everybody: his die-hard liberal fans are disappointed he didn’t speak out aboutIsrael; while mainstream viewers may have been put off by his vow to 'fly the flag for the country in the gayest way possible'”.[63]The Guardian's Michael Hogan declared that a combination of factors, including the "edgy" staging, sound issues, the song itself, and "our unpopularitypost-Brexit" contributed to the poor public televoting result.[64] David Thornton, Olly's father, expressed surprise at the result, stating in theBBC that "to me it's a real surprise the public didn't sort of connect with that song".[65] In response to his result, Alexander stated happiness at having a chance to compete in the contest, stating, "Though we may have received NIL Points from the voting public (which I shall be claiming as iconic!), I’ve also seen a lot of love and i’m truly grateful [sic]".[66]
Credits are adapted fromApple Music.[67]
Digital download/streaming[67]
Digital download/streaming – extended mix[68]
Digital download/streaming – Lizot remix[69]
Digital download/streaming – Prezioso remix[70]
Digital download/streaming – Monss remix[71]
Digital download/streaming – acoustic version[72]
Digital download/streaming – Essel remix[73]
Digital download/streaming – performance version[74]
Digital download/streaming – D.O.D remix[75]
7-inch vinyl, CD single[76][77]
Digital download/streaming –Ben Nicky remix[78]
| Chart (2024) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Greece International (IFPI)[79] | 59 |
| Lithuania (AGATA)[80] | 12 |
| Lithuania Airplay (TopHit)[81] | 47 |
| South KoreaBGM (Circle)[82] | 98 |
| Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[83] | 1 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[84] | 42 |
| Region | Date | Format | Version | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | 1 March 2024 | Single | Polydor | [85] | |
| Italy | Radio airplay | Universal | [86] | ||
| Various | 15 March 2024 |
| Extended | [68] | |
| 29 March 2024 | Lizot [de] remix | [69] | |||
| 5 April 2024 | Prezioso [it] remix | Polydor | [70] | ||
| 19 April 2024 | Monss remix | [71] | |||
| 26 April 2024 | Acoustic | [72] | |||
| Essel remix | [73] | ||||
| 7 May 2024 | Performance | [74] | |||
| 10 May 2024 | D.O.D remix | [75] | |||
| [76][77] | ||||
| SpinnerUSB |
| [87] | |||
| 17 May 2024 |
| Ben Nicky remix | [78] |