Sam Ryder praises Ukraine as he thanks fans for Eurovision support

With zero success for the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest over the last two decades, it's absolutely no surprise that fans across the country were hyped during Saturday night's live final, when Sam Ryder finished in second place!

TikTok star Sam, who entered with his amazing track 'Space Man', was top of the leaderborard for the majority of the night, and finished in first place after the jury vote. However, he was beaten to the top spot by Ukraine, who received an impressive 438 points by the public.

After finishing in second place, the UK's best result since Imaani in 1998, Sam took to social media to thank his fans for their support, as well as praising Ukraine entry Kalush Orchestra on their emotional victory.

He wrote: 'Still up in Space, Man! 👩‍🚀🙏Thank you all for blazing with love, positivity and kindness throughout this wild and euphoric experience. We completely felt your support and we so deeply appreciated it 💛

'Huge love to @kalush.official for bringing it home for glorious Ukraine!!! 🇺🇦 COULDN’T BE HAPPIER RIGHT NOW AND I CAN’T WAIT TO HUG MY GRANDAD!!! 🇬🇧🌞💫'. (sic)

Since the impressive show in Turin on Saturday night, Ukraine's Oleg Psiuk, the front man of winners Kalush Orchestra, has since returned to his home country as the war continues.

He said: "Our culture is under attack. We wanted to present our music to the world last night. I wrote the Eurovision song for my mum way before the war - but afterwards, it started taking a different meaning for different people.

"I'm going back home as I run a volunteering organisation that helps refugees with food, accommodation, and medication. I will keep doing that. We will host Eurovision in a newly rebuilt and happy Ukraine."

Check out the most watched Eurovision performances of all time:

Meanwhile, as Sam returned to the UK following his performance in Turin, the 32-year-old was pictured wearing a pink bucket hat in tribute to Ukraine's Oleg.

The BBC have since revealed 8.9 million people tuned in to watch the Eurovision Grande Final, with a peak of 10.6 million.

A spokesperson said: "Sam's performance was simply out of this world and we couldn't be prouder of him, achieving the best result in 20 years for the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest, including winning the jury vote.

"Kalush Orchestra's performance was incredible and generated a reaction both in the arena and around the globe like no other - we offer huge congratulations to Ukraine on their win."

You can re watch the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest on BBC iPlayer now.

Now read:

UK's Sam Ryder finishes SECOND at Eurovision Song Contest 2022

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• sam ryder
• Eurovision
• Eurovision Song Contest