Mae Muller will be performing I Wrote A Song

A SCHOOL is celebrating after it was announced that one of its former pupils will represent the country in an international music contest. Holly Mae Muller, from Kentish Town, is a former Acland Burghley student who is set to represent the country with her single I Wrote A Song at the Eurovision competition in May.

Performing under the stage name Mae Muller, the singer announced she would be representing the UK on Friday.

Language teacher Stella James was Ms Muller’s form tutor for the five years she studied at Acland Burghley, between the age of 11 and 16.

“I taught her [older] brother as well,” said Ms James, adding she was also Ms Muller’s French teacher.

“They were a lovely family. I always found her to be a very polite, engaging student. She was always good fun and friendly to everyone. We remember her singing in front of the year group – I could see then she was very much into performing arts, she loved her music. She would stand up in front of the year group in assemblies and sing, which took a lot of guts,” Ms James said.

“She loved her music and she was very involved with the music department.”

Ms Muller is now one of a growing number of famous performers among the alumni from the school, including Ms Dynamite, Akala and Eddy Grant.

“There’s a boy in Year 8 who’s doing Matilda, and was in the film,” Ms James added.

“I think it’s a testament to the school because we do focus a lot on the performing arts and creativity, and we really try to instil that in students here. I think it’s absolutely brilliant for them to see a former student perform and be successful – it’s a lovely sign to them of what they might be able to achieve if they work hard.”

The Abbey Tavern

She added: “I did meet her again a few years ago, she told me she was involved in singing. I think she was very determined. I would imagine that when she left school, she thought: right, I’m going to go for it, prove that I can do it. And we’re all delighted for her.”

In a short documentary about her life – called Muller’s Corner (Kentish Town) – the singer said: “School life: on the whole I had quite a positive experience at school – slight hiccup in year eight, where I was bullied quite a bit, I don’t really know why they decided they hated me all of a sudden, but they did. “I just started carrying on with my life… I just let the words bounce off of me. It just feels like the end of the world when it’s happening, and then it’s over, and it’s like: ‘oh, okay. That was weird.’”

In the film, Ms Muller also recalled how she and her friends would “come to the Heath – because where else could we go? Nowhere”, adding: “We’d run about the Heath getting pissed when we were too young.”

Mae Muller’s catchy tune could be this year’s winner

Ms Muller also worked at the Abbey Tavern on Kentish Town Road from the age of 18, last popping in several months ago, according to pub staff.

“Most people were nice, but you get the odd angry, angry one, and it kind of taught me to get a bit tougher, and I kind of miss it,” Ms Muller said of her time working in the pub. She has also described visiting Pedro’s Café in Kentish Town Road “all the time” with her aunt, with the business featuring in her music video for her song Anticlimax.

“I’ve always felt very very lucky, especially in Kentish Town – you won’t find two people that look the same, there’s so much diversity and it’s just one big melting pot of different cultures and different people and I’ve just grown up around that,” Ms Muller said.