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Post by Admin on May 14, 2022 0:51:02 GMT
United Kingdom: Sam Ryder - Space Man The United Kingdom has been accused of rarely taking the contest seriously over the last decades, and a string of calamitous results culminated in last year's entry getting the dreaded nul points from both the international juries, and voting public.
But this year the UK seems to have turned things around with wildly popular social media star Sam Ryder possibly going to reverse the nation's Eurovision misfortunes, with odds of winning at 8/1.
Competing with glam rock anthem “Space Man”, Ryder’s powerhouse vocals on display in the song’s soaring chorus have drawn praise from music critics.
And the singer already has a huge online presence with 12.4 million followers on TikTok and 3.4 million on Instagram.
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Post by Admin on May 15, 2022 18:14:21 GMT
Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra have won the Eurovision Song Contest, in a symbolic show of public support following the country's invasion by Russia. The rap-folk band, who were given special permission to leave the war-torn country, soared to first place with 631 points. They ended their performance in Turin with a plea: "Please help Ukraine, help Mariupol, help Azovstal right now." Sam Ryder came second for the UK, the country's best result since 1998. A former construction worker, he had been keenly favoured ahead of the competition thanks to his soaring power ballad, Space Man, which evoked the classic British pop of Queen and Elton John. It topped the jury vote, amassing 283 points, but was pipped at the post when public votes were added to the total. (The UK came fifth with the public, with Ukraine receiving the most points). However, his second place position reverses a long decline in the UK's Eurovision fortunes. The country hasn't been in the top 10 since Jade Ewen came fifth in 2009. In both 2019 and 2021, the UK came last. "This is the tip of an iceberg," he told the BBC afterwards. "The UK is going to be a force next year. It's gonna be mad." "This is a red letter moment," added Graham Norton, who presented the contest on BBC One. "I am so happy for [Sam], for the UK and for the BBC who have worked so hard to turn our fortunes."
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Post by Admin on May 15, 2022 19:51:18 GMT
EXCLUSIVE BTS: @sam Ryder's journey to Eurovision 2022 👨🚀 BBC 42,531 views May 12, 2022 Subscribe and 🔔 to the BBC 👉 bit.ly/BBCYouTubeSubWatch the BBC first on iPlayer 👉 bbc.in/iPlayer-HomeSam Ryder: Road to Eurovision An exclusive look behind the scenes of Sam Ryder’s journey to Eurovision 2022. In this documentary we discover what inspired Sam from a young age, and how he became a TikTok sensation during the pandemic, culminating in duets with global superstars and reaching a huge fanbase of 12 million. Now he makes his way to Turin to represent the UK at the 66th Eurovision Song Contest, with SPACE MAN.
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Post by Admin on May 16, 2022 17:13:37 GMT
It was a runner’s up slot that felt like a victory, given it had been widely expected that Ukraine would and – in the wider scheme of things – should win the contest. After a long, emotional evening in Turin, Kalush Orchestra won for Ukraine with their anthemic folk/hip-hop song Stefania. The band members had received special permission to leave the country and will be back involved in the war effort in two days. The victory led to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy defiantly promising that the contest would “one day” be held in Mariupol. It was a remarkable and important moment. The next question, certainly for British fans, was who would come second? And given the UK’s dismal recent record – including nul points last year – how low would its vote be this year? Instead Ryder and his song Space Man came a glorious second with 466 points. “It puts the argument firmly to bed that the UK hasn’t won because of Brexit or because of what Europe thinks of us,” said the TV critic and Eurovision pundit Scott Bryan. “It has been down to the fact that our entry was not interesting or good enough.” He added: “The song was fantastic but just as importantly the performance was fantastic … it was a real thrill to watch.” Ryder is the UK’s biggest success since Imaani was runner-up to Israel’s Dana International in 1998. In the intervening years UK fans have watched a succession of flops, including Engelbert Humperdinck finishing 25th of 26, Electro Velvet 24th and, for the last two contests, a national pride-piercing last place. The repeated failure is down, people have said over and again, to countries voting for their friends and allies and the UK never being one of them. That was rubbish, the BBC’s Eurovision host Graham Norton said after the contest on Saturday. “All those people wanging on about Europe hates us. I kept saying: ‘No … it is possible that with the right song, the right performer in the right year.’ We can do it and we did.” Bryan said the problem for the UK in recent years had been an assumption that the entry should be “Eurovision-ey”. “It has to be a particular sound, rather than an artist or a song who could be a big-selling artist in their own right, he said. “Someone was telling me that Sam Ryder’s song was played this morning on Capital Radio. That sounds an odd thing to say, but Capital Radio don’t play Eurovision entries.” Ryder was already a star, in that he is the most popular British musician on TikTok, thanks to his home-recorded versions of songs by everyone from Adele to Justin Hawkins to Michael Jackson. His performance of I Ain’t Got You led Alicia Keys to remark: “Yo. He killed this. This is hard for me to sing.” TikTok has given him 12.6 million followers, which helps. But what really mattered on Saturday, said Bryan, was the strength and the memorability of the song, co-written with the Ed Sheeran collaborator Amy Wadge. And the brilliance of the live performance. “Plus the order we appeared, only a couple from the end, that helped us stand out,” he added.
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Post by Admin on May 16, 2022 21:54:43 GMT
Sam Ryder's close call at Grand Final 😳 - United Kingdom 🇬🇧 - Eurovision 2022 #Shorts 48,173 views May 17, 2022 SPACE MAN singer Sam Ryder tells us about what could have been a very unfortunate moment!
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