Some Eurovision fans were left calling for a big change to the competition’s voting format after Sam Ryder’s amazing second place on Saturday night.
Space Man singer Sam did the country proud by scoring a grand total of 466 points, which is 466 points better than the UK did last year when James Newman got nothing from either the juries or the televote. Bookies and experts forecasted a huge turnaround in fortunes for the country, with the last win for a UK Eurovision entry coming 25 years ago when Katrina and the Waves triumphed with Love Shine a Light.
And they were right as, after putting in a superb performance in 22nd spot in the Eurovision final running order, Sam defied many people’s expectations by finishing as runner up to Ukraine.
READ MORE : How Eurovision voting works as televote has huge impact
The Kalush Orchestra had long been the favourites to win with their song Stefania and they lived up to predictions. While Sam finished top with the juries with 178, getting points from every single country, Ukraine stormed the Eurovision public vote, just as they did in 2016 when Jamala overcome a massive jury lead from Australia’s Dami Im to win.
But some UK based fans, whilst delighted by Sam’s final Eurovision position aren’t happy that the public vote turned the outcome on its head and 'robbed' him of victory.
Commenting on a BBC Eurovision post on Twitter, one reacted: “UK won, sympathy votes shouldn't count,” with a second tweeting: “Eurovision was rigged. Moldova got the biggest public vote besides Ukraine and no one country gave them 12 points. It's a shame even a music contest gets turned into a propaganda machine" and a third commented: “Surely this result should make them look closer at how the jury vs public vote is conducted. The public supported Ukraine, not necessarily for the music but more for solidarity. I agree that politics should play no part in who wins.”
However, others argued that Ukraine winning was the 'right thing,' to happen and showed how much support there is out there for the war torn country since the Russian invasion.
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