A teary-eyed Brooke Scullion has vowed to fans "it is not the end" of the road for her as she reveals she is set to launch her first EP soon.
The Derry native was left heartbroken after she failed to qualify for the Eurovision Song Contest with her Irish entry, That’s Rich, in Turin, Italy.
But despite the disappointment, a teary-eyed Brooke told followers on Instagram: “Look it didn’t go our way tonight. We are so so happy with what we did, and it maybe isn’t for me right now.
READ MORE: RTE viewers concerned for Marty Whelan during Eurovision 2022 results
“But maybe in the future, maybe bigger things are going to come. I’ve literally got an EP coming out like who knows. Thank you to everyone who voted. I couldn’t have done anymore. I’m so happy.”
Brooke and her backing dancers Amy Whearity, Amy Ford, Lizzy Benham and Sophie Kavanagh looked incredible as they delivered a polished performance with a spectacular display of fireworks at the end.
Speaking on Friday morning, the 23-year-old said: "I am so proud of how far I've come and the support from home has been amazing.
"This Eurovision experience has been one I'll never forget, and I hope is only a stepping stone to my career. Thank you to everyone for your support and love!"
Marty Whelan, who is over in Turin with the Irish delegation, said Brooke did us proud. “Well done Brooke, you did us very proud," he said.
Irish fans were shocked when Ireland didn’t qualify for Saturday’s final. The last Irish Eurovision winner, Eimear Quinn, congratulated Brooke on an “amazing job”, but added on Twitter: “I’m so disappointed for you.”
Niamh Kavanagh, winner of the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland, congratulated Brooke on a “fantastic” performance, adding that “you did us proud”.
Kerry TD Brendan Griffin jokingly questioned whether Eimear Quinn “honked the horn passing a funeral coming home from Eurovision ‘96 or something?” adding the #robbed hashtag.
Comedian Oliver Callan said: “I’m fuming here! Poor Brooke! Who was handling the votes?! Thierry Henry?”
It’s A Sin actor and musician Olly Alexander said Brooke "killed it" with her performance, while many were in agreement 'That's Rich' was Ireland's best entry to the contest in years.
There was even support for Brooke during a Little Mix concert in the O2 on Thursday night when Jade Thirlwall told fans to vote for Brooke.
RTE star Ryan Tubridy described it as “a travesty”. Speaking on his Rte Radio 1 show, Ryan said he was really taken aback when we didn’t qualify.
He said: "Poor Brooke. I was watching her last night and I was very proud of her performance. I thought she did really well. I thought the singing was great, the song was great, her performance was great, the staging was great.
"She has nothing to be disappointed about or ashamed of - far from it! I thought it was going to be straight forward and I watched the points come in, I couldn't believe it. I was really, really taken aback by not qualifying."
He added: "I don't know what we can do at this point. We've thrown everything at this including Brooke's performance last night. What do they want from us!? So, here we go again, back to the drawing board. Exhausted coming back to it."
Listeners wrote in to say they were "baffled" that Ireland didn't make it through. Others flocked to social media this morning, waking up heartbroken and "crying" after last night's semi-final.
Aaron tweeted: "What a travesty! Gutted for Brooke. But she should be extremely proud of how she did. What a song! What a performance!"
Stephen said: "@Brooke_Scullion didn’t get through. I’m not able for this boring final now. Travesty. Robbed. Devo".
Belgium, Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, Poland, Finland, Estonia, Australia, Sweden, Romania and Serbia will now join Ukraine, Switzerland, Armenia, Iceland, Lithuania, Portugal, Norway, Greece, Moldova, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France and Spain in the final on Saturday.
