The UK came in last position at the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in almost a decade and people think the reason is political.
The singing competition, which took place in Israel last night, was won by the Netherland’s entry and bookies favourite Duncan Laurence.
The winning song Arcade secured victory with 492 points. A stark contrast to the UK who only managed to muster 16 points for their entry sung by Michael Rice.
Rice’s song Bigger Than Us was selected by a public vote earlier this year was down at odds of 150-1 to win prior to the competition, 12-1 to get nil points and shockingly 4-1 to finish last. So, good calls all around there.
The UK has finished second a record 15 times and has the record for the longest running string of Top 5 placings. This is the first time the UK has come last in the contest since 2010, where the dubious honour was taken by Josh Dubovie and their (unanimously voted awful) song That Sounds Good To Me.
The last time that the UK won the infamous European singing competition was in 1997 when they took the top spot with Katrina and the Waves' performance of Love Shine A Light.
Many took to social media to blame Brexit for our such an embarrassing placing.
Ever needed absolute truth of harmfulness of BREXIT, Eurovision was it. We’ve spent 3yrs saying “we hate Europe“,… https://t.co/BMq9GH5FvX— Alison 🧜🏻♀️ #🔶 #RN #DN #Vaccinate #WearMask 😷 (@Alison 🧜🏻♀️ #🔶 #RN #DN #Vaccinate #WearMask 😷) 1558253667
@RobJonesPUSB Metaphor for Brexit or Eurovision 😂— Curtis (@Curtis) 1558250807
Let’s face is they voted us last in Eurovision because we are leaving the EU 😂 #EUROVISION #Brexit— Tashia (@Tashia) 1558250368
UK either come last or close to last. We are never near the top. Eurovision has always been political anyway and no… https://t.co/KLWd1TTJof— 🇳🇬 Tee | Webtoon era (@🇳🇬 Tee | Webtoon era) 1558250911
In shock news, the UK comes last at #Eurovision - not really a surprise given the mess we have made with Brexit— jane (@jane) 1558251687
The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political event say the organisers. Rubbish! The UK song came last because of… https://t.co/FsIvc3S8IR— Mike Payne (@Mike Payne) 1558252886
Haha UK came last in Eurovision? Brexit much?— Gary Mercer (@Gary Mercer) 1558253245
The only reason UK came last is because people in Europe don't like us. 1 Brexit 2 Iraq war. Its the same political… https://t.co/X1txaPrBeK— Ian Elliot (@Ian Elliot) 1558253268
Others thought it was a case of art imitating life
I have not watched the Eurovision Song Contest for years. But reading timelines it appears Australia and Madonna we… https://t.co/pPWcm7AO1N— Cantona & Best (@Cantona & Best) 1558251596
@campbellclaret Good to see #Brexit Britain holding up the whole #Eurovision edifice with a strong and stable foundation of 16 points...— TontKowalski (@TontKowalski) 1558250071
Already missing Eurovision? Don't worry, the EU elections are pretty much the same. Corbyn - swaying all over the… https://t.co/B20m3QMklR— Peter Broks (@Peter Broks) 1558251674
Had @theresa_may come out to say that the #Eurovision shows that we should #GetOnWithIt and expedite #Brexit yet?— max (@max) 1558252460
And then there were those who thought our terrible finishing position was more likely due to the fact we entered a terrible song
And some people just thought it was typical of the UK to come up with an elaborate excuse
Still, some people just thought it confirmed Brexit was a good idea
Can we gracefully Brexit the Eurovision Song Contest now and stop putting singers through this 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️— Kat Deal (@Kat Deal) 1558250025
My grasp of politics is embarrassingly poor.....but if/when Brexit actually happens, does that mean we won’t have t… https://t.co/SU1FfqH5Lh— Lou 🏃♀️ (@Lou 🏃♀️) 1558249917
Here’s the final positions for all the 2019 Eurovision entrees:
Netherlands: Duncan Laurence - Arcade - 492
Italy: Mahmood – Soldi - 465
Russia: Sergey Lazarev - Scream - 369
Switzerland: Luca Hanni - She Got Me - 360
Norway: KEiiNO - Spirit in the Sky - 338
Sweden: John Lunvik - Too Late for Love - 332
Azerbaijan: Chingiz - Truth - 297
North Macedonia: Tamara Todevska - Proud - 295
Australia: Australia: Kate Miller-Heidke – Zero Gravity - 285
Iceland: Hatari – Hatrið mun sigra - 234
Czech: Lake Malawi – Friend of a Friend - 157
Denmark: Leonora - Love is Forever - 120
Slovenia: Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl – Sebi - 105
France: Bilal Hassani – Roi - 105
Cyprus: Tamta: Replay - 101
Malta: Michaela Pace- Chameleon - 95
Serbia: Nevena Božović – Kruna - 92
Albania: Jonida Maliqi- Ktheju Tokes - 90
Estonia: Victor Crone – Storm - 86
San Marino: Serhat – Say Na Na Na - 81
Greece: Katerine Duska – Better Love - 71
Spain: Miki – La venda - 60
Israel: Kobi Marimi – Home - 47
Germany: Sisters - Sister - 32
Belarus: Zena - Like It - 31
United Kingdom: United Kingdom: Michael Rice - Bigger Than Us - 16