2nd place!

[Sometimeswinning]

For a country which is apparently hated! I don't usually care much for Eurovision, but enjoyed it this year!

I agree. I wouldn’t mind losing to a better song but it sucks to lose to a dreadful song that just got a sympathy vote. It’s unfair.

God I hope it's us. I want to go next year.
Sam Ryder was absolutely brilliant. His vocals are off the scale.

This. ^ I bet all the Remainers /anti-Brexit people who laughed every time the UK lost Eurovision (spectacularly) over the past 4 or 5 years, are licking their wounds and wiping the egg off their face this morning Because they are WRONG. Europe does NOT hate us. Ooooh, it must be really be stinging them this morning! 😆

The reason the UK often does badly is that our songs are rubbish, and were we not given automatic passage to the final there's no way we would even be in it. This year we had a great song - hurrah!

I don’t know anyone who voted remain laughing when we lost, why would they do that?

Also remember you can't vote for your own country. This disadvantages populous countries because they have a greater proportion of excluded voters for their songs.

iglesias

im not a eurovision watcher but if there a degree of voting for neighbours and political partners?

Exactly @RufustheFloralmissingreindeer I don't know what sort of twisted logic @PrettyMaybug is applying.

I am a Remainer and love Eurovision and certainly never laughed when we lost or assumed it was due to "them hating us". If clearly wasn't. It was because for years we sent ill chosen songs, poorly performed and didn't promote them properly. This year they got it right and I am overjoyed by the result.
And actually I like the Ukraine song too

Enjoyed it lastnight, most songs/performances were actually decent. Great result to come 2nd and happy for the Ukraine to have a tiny bit of light relief. Just interesting Australia now hate us apparently!

Sam did a belter of a performance and thoroughly deserved all those points. Coming second to Ukraine was perfect.

Comments like this breed the idea of hate. agree totally and it is posted on purpose.

UK had bad results in EV long time before Brexit.

People whinge that we lose because people hate us and ignore the fact that our songs were dogshit.
We enter a song that is good with an attractive charismatic singer and suddenly we do great. Who knew?

One of the best Eurovision contests in terms of overall quality song content, I'd say. The Serbian one was bizarre but I can understand why it did well. We loved the Netherlands entry here. There was a real mix of the quirky, beautiful melodies, proper pop songs and the rest.

It was a given that Ukraine would won, and they really deserved to. I realised their song was already long ingrained in my subconscious when I heard it again last night.

Sam Ryder was excellent, performed brilliantly and what a voice. He may have won in a different year but Sweden and Spain were hot on our heels so it's entirely possible they could have beaten us had Ukraine not blocked the path to victory!

We have offered a substantial amount of assistance to Ukraine and have actively and openly supported them. We aren't hated because we have had balls to do what some of the other EU countries haven't.

I like the Ukraine song! Was great to see UK doing so well though :) 2nd is amazing for us! Not so hated after all?

We came 5th in the public vote. Lots of countries placed us but we weren't getting many of the higher places. Just consistently scoring across the board.

And? The sympathy vote was much needed.

What rubbish. I'm a Remainer and was always of the opinion that we did badly because we failed to put in a properly researched and marketed entry. I've never believed that Europe hated us and I was delighted we did so well.

Let's face it, the "hated country" narrative is just an excuse for rubbish efforts over the year. Put in a rubbish song, don't win. Put in a half way decent effort and it's ok.

I don't think so. I live in a different EU country. People were perplexed by Brexit, but nobody REALLY cares that Britain left. I think British people would be surprised at the indifference actually. Perhaps it's different in Ireland where it might be really irritating, but here, people were a bit interested back in 2016, but even then, not that much.

From what I understand, Sam Ryder didn't just deliver a great song, but he apparently put a lot of work and effort into changing the perception of the UK and Eurovision. He got a great reception last night and it was obvious he was very popular with other contestants and the audience. I think he did great and it was so exciting to see the UK doing well.

We need to build on this and keep putting forward strong performers with great songs - the UK needs to engage with it properly again. For years we've just turned up with a half-arsed effort just for the sake of being there, while massively taking the piss out of it all - and the other countries have noticed. Yes, there is political voting and yes it's all a bit cheesy - but we haven't helped ourselves in terms of the results. Last night proved that it's not ALL political. I don't begrudge Ukraine for winning - I don't think they had the best song - but I certainly don't mind a show of solidarity and support in the current circumstances. That aside, the result last night and the response to the UK shows that we can do very well if we make the effort - with the right artist, song and the right attitude. I thought there were numerous good songs last night - it was actually a decent show. It would be nice if the UK took this result and ran with it.

You say that as if it's a problem

@alfagirl73 well said.

I am actually shocked by this post.
Ukraine are being invaded by a far mightier country. The performers were, until last week, fighting for their homes and were given special dispensation to leave to perform.
It’s not a ‘sympathy vote’, it’s a show of support and solidarity. It’s the Eurovision Song Contest, a lighthearted entertainment show.
I bet Sam Ryder isn’t as pathetic and petty enough to think it’s ‘unfair’.

I think we can pretty much count it as a win.

The only reason Ukraine won was because they got the sympathy vote from the public.

We won the jury vote by miles, and if it hadn’t been for the public voting out of sympathy we would have won.

And how are they going to host next year? if they’re still at war (likely) it won’t be safe. And other countries won’t want to pay to host, a lot of countries don’t actually want to win because of the sheer expense of hosting.