Space Man singer Sam Ryder’s Eurovision 2022 position was UK’s best in decades

Sam won the jury vote but missed out on the top spot as votes from the public catapulted Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra into the top position during Saturday’s electric contest

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Eurovision: Sam Ryder gives an electric performance for the UK

Sam Ryder did the UK proud during Saturday night’s Eurovision Song Contest by bagging the best result in decades – and just missing out on the top spot.

The 32-year-old singer-songwriter gave an electrifying performance of his hit single Space Man and ended up in second place with an impressive 466 points.

Bookies favourites Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine were the overall winners with 631 points for their song, Stefania.

Sam had been winning the contest for much of the evening – entering the stage at the beginning of the competition as all the finalists entered the show with the UK star winning loud cheers from the crowd.

To the shock of many, Sam won the contest when it came to the judges votes – with the UK singer topping the leader board once votes from the experts were considered.

And while he continued to sit at the top of the list as votes from the public rolled in, everything changed when the final numbers were crunched.

Ukraine’s folk-meets-hip-hop band Kalush Orchestra sealed victory when the public awarded them over 400 points, taking them to the top of the leaderboard.

And this left Sam with the silver medal after the final votes were counted and he was awarded second place.

The long haired musician and TikTok star helped end decades of misery for the UK – with us receiving very low points in recent years.

In the 2021 contest, the UK ended up at the absolute bottom after failing to win any votes from either the jury or the public.

And the UK was also bottom of the leaderboard in 2019, 2010, 2008 and 2003.

Indeed, fans would need to go all the way back to 2002 to find a decent result for the UK, when Jessica Garlick ended up in third place during that years’ contest.

While the singer Imaani was the last UK entrant to win second place – way back in 1998 with her song Where Are You?

The last time the UK actually won the contest was in 1997 when Katrina and the Waves won with the single Love Shine A Light.

Following his performance on Saturday night, Sam hinted he had an incredible time and was grateful for his second place position.

He wrote via Instagram Stories: “Big up to this team for blazing positivity throughout this entire blessing of an experience.”

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