Week 83: Eurovision Week 2! #2 - Sam Ryder - SPACE MAN

[@JekyViews]

The best thing the UK has sent since... well, last millennia. Literally. This guy is what made me actually sign up for TikTok (he had his big breakthrough there).

[@BDog54]

I would say Sam's had the most impact for the UK in 20 years, but I wouldn't say he's the absolute best since last millennia, or at least, not the only decent entry. We had Jessica Garlick who came 3rd in 2002, I thought she was a great entry. Also, 'No Dream Impossible' was an underrated entry in 2001. However, since those early 2000s years, with maybe the exception of James in 2004 and Jade Ewan in 2009, our entries haven't been that great until Sam.

[@tytllee]

I was about to write something similar.

[@MissMars2022]

@@BDog54 i think Lucy Jones was outstanding. No clue why she ended up 15th

[@paullashmana]

Sam at the end says "Shine brightly my friends, thank you all. Grazie a tutti!"

[@ehmzed]

I heard "Grazie tante" which means thank you a lot

[@EmoBearRights]

The last bit is Italian - it means thank you to everyone.

[@PastaSauce.]

After almost a decade of the UK not taking Eurovision seriously Sam was a cultural shift for us.

[@carlosfro9770]

2022 was the year of UK and Spain's incredible glow up. From years and years of ending in the bottom 5 to the top3 this year. Sam was incredible stunning! So proud of the UK this year! Another good reaction for you two would be all the Eurovision winners so you can see the contest evolution through the years and how massive it has become 😍

[@that_cat21]

and then back to normal for 2023 lol

[@carlosfro9770]

@@that_cat21 lmao yes! 😂🥲 maybe we will be on top again next year 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

[@mjm3091]

Tbh Spain had their moments every few years before that. UK was just not giving it. Major issue why we shouldn't keep up the Big 5, but instead have them perform in semis - cause majority of the bad songs normally get filtered out out of the finale.

[@EmoBearRights]

I'd join a cult if was lead by Sam Ryder - hes a good bloke, lives in the town i grew up near.

[@jazzycat8917]

Sam Ryder single handedly destroyed the common whinge from UK fans that "oh no one ever votes for us coz they just hate us". Dude proved if you just actually allow earnest talent to shine then the public responds in kind. (a lesson the BBC promptly forgot the following year when it forced the UK entrant into a bunch of unecessary choreography that ruined her vocal performance)

[@tytllee]

UK doesn't send bad songs, they just send completely boring songs. Sam showed what happens when the song and the singer has charm.

[@Labbish1]

Well, 2020's Are crazy times. Even we (Finland) get some points now 😂

[@JekyViews]

@@Labbish1 - I have great respect for Finland. You do your thing, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but you still do YOU. I love it, you're so unpredictable, and I hope you never stop. :)

[@Labbish1]

@@JekyViews Stakes are really high for next years UMK. But our broadcaster is yelling that we are getting our revenge and get our second victory next year. We'll see 🤣

[@JekyViews]

@Labbish1 - I'll be rooting for you! When you won the first time, that was also the first time I ever voted in the finale. :D

[@PPfilmemacher]

I'm looking forward to you checking out performances from 2021 (in my opinion one if the best years of Eurovision since a long time)

[@arkano18cl]

yes please

[@svenskatabbar1519]

Well, I cant wait for 2006.. am I right? xD

[@pennybleta9721]

Agree

[@carlisbookshelf]

Agreeeeeed!

[@musicmoments8510]

We love Sam in the UK!! Very proud he represented us!

[@phueal]

This grand final performance is really interesting: Sam adds several vocalisations which aren't in other live performances that he'd done beforehand, some sort of shouts and growls. I think it actually adds a lot of dynamism and interest to the song, a really genius move. But then later I found out that it was because he was trying to suppress a large burp for almost the whole performance 😂

[@johanjory3825]

If you want to do a week of the biggest winning Eurovision songs of the 21st century (excluding previous reactions) I would recommend the following (always pick the grand final performance btw): #5: Hard Rock Hallelujah (Finland 2006) #4: Amar Pelos Dois (Portugal 2017) #3: Zitti E Buoni (Italy 2021) #2: Euphoria (Sweden 2012) #1: Fairytale (Norway 2009) Or alternatively a week of some certified Eurovision cult favorites: #5: Alcohol Is Free (Greece 2013) #4: Shum (Ukraine 2021) #3: Say Na Na Na (San Marino 2019) #2: Run Away (Moldova 2010) #1 Dancing Lasha Tumbai (Ukraine 2007)

[@MariaCarabin]

Fantastic list! Do these please guys!

[@awwdabaaby]

This gave the UK its best performance since 1997

[@mikaelsb7849]

1998*

[@awwdabaaby]

@@mikaelsb7849 they won in 1997, hosted 1998

[@mikaelsb7849]

Yes and came 2nd so best since 1998 would be correct

[@noyou1320]

Well they came 3rd in 2002

[@paullashmana]

The UK is the country with the most Runner-Up placings. Up until 1998 they were very often up there, but from 1999 onwards, the free language rule was instated, and the UK lost its 'advantage'. Since then they've managed top 5 only a handful of times, often (wrongly) attributing their poor results on politics, whilst refusing to recognize that the actual entries varied in hugely in quality. This entry, by Sam Ryder, was a huge breath of fresh air and shows a way forward for the BBC for future entries.

[@linn469]

so true! like, when the song doesn't even chart in your own country, why are you expecting the rest of Europe to love it? But this song by Sam Ryder and above all the performance was extraordinary, and the results reflected that!

[@Piia2023]

He for sure was the winner, but Liverpool did do the best Eurovision Song Contest I have ever seen. Eurovision today is a lot about lights to show off the most in the 3 minutes you have.

[@kperttul]

My honest opinion is that this was definitely the best song that year and I also gave my vote to it. So cool to se you guys enjoying the performances. 🥳

[@emmybm15]

Our beautiful Sam, our most dearest Sam with his most brilliant shiny glittery jumpsuit and wicked guitar, I swear the most charming bloke you'll see on your telly! When I tell you the country was completely stunned when the votes came inn, we could not believe our eyes and ears, firstly he absolutely killed his performance but we didn't dare dream we'd even get to the left side of the scoreboard nevermind SECOND OVERALL because we'd been burt a few to many times this century. The UK has the most second places in the history of the competition, we've won it 5 times but all of those happened LAST century so the country has had a bit of a.... I won't say given up on ever getting on the left hand side of the scoreboard but certainly close until Sam happened and within a year the perception had suddenly shifted to a good place. Like the bloke rejuvenated Eurovision in the country over night! UK Twitter that night was amazing!

[@WeirdBeardMike]

So glad to see you blokes enjoy the Eurovision. All the best for you two and greetings from Finland.

[@Maypril1894]

Sam Ryder is the true king of the UK 😂🤴

[@robertpetre9378]

Sam Ryder is a rockstar and a live legend

[@RiyaSDesai]

i laughed so hard at "yeah, he's got nice teeth"

[@mral8145]

Bloke with the tache is me watching this! Smiling, getting it and liking it! Ps I added this before hearing their critique!

[@ryanniv1851]

Arguably the greatest eurovision performance of all time

[@tapping-asmritalia6658]

Tbh this song and this performance gave me goosebumps the first time and gives me goosebumps everytime. This is just magical, he is magical. 💙

[@tamaravanhees1749]

Top 5 of 2021 Eurovision is a must, best year in awhile in my opinion. I hope someone has put in a top5 for it or I will 😅

[@AmaanStorm]

I still get goosebumps watching that live performance! And seeing your reaction was wholesome, particularly the dude with the glasses, who was basically me through the entire performance in the finals! 😂

[@jonathanwilliams9697]

The way the whole UK screamed for him that night was insane. But for the invasion of Ukraine, we would have won. He's the true winner in pur hearts.

[@Jason-ib4fk]

Y'all should check out more of Sam Ryder. He has an amazing voice!

[@fergie1014]

The real winner of Eurovision 2022

[@karenmarie64]

Sam has a voice that lends itself well to almost any genre of music. I recommend you listen to some of his covers done during the COVID lockdowns and some of his own songs like "Tiny Riot" "More" "Mountain" and "Fought and Lost" which features Brian May from "Queen" playing the guitar solo.

[@GalaxyGirl777]

Spaceman by Babylon Zoo is what popped into my head when I read this title… this was good though, love his falsetto.

[@AbsolutePernilla]

I love this song.

[@lanpingpug]

The song is very hard to sing unless you have a lot of vocal control. He really did us proud here and I have been following his career since this and its going from strength to strength.

[@lauriegonzalez2012]

I loved Sam that year, it was an amazing second place (I loved Ukraine more, tho) Now that you're almost over with the 2022 Eurovision, I'm BUMMED that you're not going to react to two gems from that year's contest: Zdob şi Zdub & Advahov Brothers - "Trenulețul" (Believe me, that song is a party for the ears) and Konstrakta "in corpore sano" (A song about how the physical hygiene is considered the most important thing but the mental health is left aside)

[@vickkibradfield4592]

Best Eurovision act we've had in years. Sam seems like such a fucking stand up guy too. His music is a bit mainstream for my tastes, but I REALLY respect him, his talent and his music. He seems like he's loving absolutely every minute of his much deserved success. Talented and humble. Check out his duet with Justin Hawkins. It's class.

[@JR-do5cq]

If you liked the beam lights and the effects here, you'll definitely love the lights on Czech Republic's performance in 2022 (the same year as this one) by the group "We are Domi" and their song is "Lights off"!

[@rokrxxx]

He was one of the favorites that year he have 14.5m followers in tiktok 10 when he enter the competition

[@billybscotland7246]

React to Sam and Cornelia singing Spaceman behind the scenes at Eurovision, they were good friends during it

[@musicmoments8510]

And them singing Cornelias song Hold Me Closer

[@tihk89]

I'm pretty sure you'll react to Stefania for the last one. I hoped that Serbia's entry 'In corpore sano' would have been in this top 5 :)

[@Craigy2818]

We came second and everyone was so shocked 😂 we thought we were hated, for the most part, due to multiple reasons. We were set to become first but as a sign of solidarity, everyone voted for Ukraine to win, which was sweet.

[@ОксанаВісина]

Ukraine has a very good song. Especially the sence of it.

[@adas9848]

I’m glad I found you guys doing this series. Until the songs for 24 start to come (usually at the end of the year) Eurovision reactions are kind of dead. Thanks for doing this.

[@ronnopotter]

You're right, at this time of year I only come across reactions to Junior Eurovision, which are not my cup of tea, because I don't follow it.

[@karendinsdale832]

YOU GOTTA HEAR THE SONG ..MORE..HE SINGS IT IN THE MUSEUM..JUST AWESOME!!

[@marina-yz7lh]

I love Sam Ryder's voice, energy and he just radiates positive vibes, but I'm so bored of comments about "pity votes for Ukraine". Waiting for you to watch Stefania, it is a great performance that deserved to win. And ESC2021 is amazing as well, maybe you should check it out sometime 🙃

[@tytllee]

Stefania would have one pity votes or no pity votes. I undestand that brits felt that their only plausible chance at a win in 20 years slipped through their fingers, but there's no reason to pretend that Stefania wasn't a complete banger.

[@henrikechers9995]

He should have won. He is amazing.

[@yorka20]

My winner❤🎉

[@Andjelka99]

Love this one, aldo staging could've been better personally. Sam is such a sweet dude. Still wish whoever made a list liked Konstrakta enough to have her 😩. She's a Queen and real classic wierd Eurovision act

[@jess6064]

The staging was exactly what Sam wanted. They even put star filters over the lights.

[@nahuelma97]

The best performance of this song wasn't at Eurovision, though, even though this was definitely great. It was at Elizabeth's last Jubilee celebrations, which took place after he'd won the vote at Eurovision, and there was a strange sense of patriotism around the song, or at least that's how it felt from the outside watching it, but it makes it incredibly good to watch

[@zarbakry6465]

EUROVISION 2019 - Fantastic production this year!! Your mind will be blown by the visuals at least twice!! (Make sure to watch GRAND FINAL performances) #1 - Duncan Laurence - Arcade - Netherlands #2 - Kate Miller-Heidke - Zero Gravity - Australia #3 - Keiino - Spirit in the Sky - Norway #4 - Sergey Lazarev - Scream - Russia #5 - Hatari - Hatrio mun sigra - Iceland

[@svenskatabbar1519]

Cant wait to see you react to 2006! :D

[@wyeueiieisisjsj]

Please react to eurovision 2022 Cyprus live at the semi-final. The song is called Ela and the artist is Andromache (Andromache-Ela). It's the best song ever that didn't qualify for the final but it was qualified by the people. It's in both Greek and english, so you'll understand its meaning and also get to hear Greek, which is such a beautiful language!! The staging is also amazing. It is inspired by the birth of venus. Venus (or Aphrodite in Greek mythology) was rumored to be born in Cyprus!! The light show and the props are also amazing and the song includes ethnic elements and instruments. You'll love it!

[@callumwright2085]

I have a Eurovision List for you... VOCAL POWERHOUSES: #1 Sweden 2014: Sanna Nielsen - Undo #2 Iceland 2009: Yohanna - Is it True? #3 Spain 2012: Pastora Soler - Quédate Conmigo #4 United Kingdom 2017: Lucie Jones - Never Give Up On You #5 Italy 2015: Il Volo - Grande Amore Please please please, these vocal performances are ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. !!!

[@Dasypodidae45]

The craziest performances of 2019 (in no particular order): Kate Miller-Heidke - Zero Gravity Keiino - Spirit in the Sky Sergey Lazarev - Scream Hatari - Hatrio mun sigra Miki - La venda

[@zerfect]

Eurovision Italy 2023!

[@bitterblue8115]

MOAR EUROVISION LFG

[@glenn20081965]

The song was shortened for time limits, the full song is longer. He's been trending on KZbin for over a year, showing his versatility.

[@tinamariasteenfathjenskole99]

The year the British stepped up their game and took Eurovision seriously. My winner for sure. "He looks like a cult leader!" Well, I have seen him described as a happy golden retriever.

[@andrewhallam237]

I heard someone on KZbin refer to him as " Catholic Jesus " which I thought was quite funny :)

[@karinseregni221]

I am still wondering what is the secret behind Sam Ryder's healthy hair (semi quote)

[@Beyjil3460]

Konstrakta Serbia next please 🙏 please 🙏

[@jacklovejoy5290]

Regarding the instruments, they're all fake because they don't have time to do sound tests on them all

[@a59s4]

PLEASE do "LA ZARRA ÉVIDEMMENT France GRAND FINAL 2023" 🎉🎉🎉 worth the watching incredible performance

[@katakania]

If anything, you should definitely check out 1996 Lordi - Hard Rock Hallelujah even if you already know the song or 2018 Netta - Toy 😉🙌🏼💪🏻

[@christofferlundstrom9118]

I assume you mean 2006 Lordi?

[@Evasion381]

Excited to see you guys react to Ukraine and I'm from the UK

[@jiipai7952]

Uno-Little big from cancelled Eurovision in 2020. I guarantee you won't regret

[@ehmzed]

I can't stand how he doesn't pronounce the word "home" once 😭 But other than that it's a great performance and it deserved all the points it got in the competition, especially considering the UK's recent history at that.

[@anonymousonetwothree]

Yeah he wasnt actually playing thay guitar, but mega voice!

[@perdomdirindina]

You need to react to "Bellissima" and "Mon amour" by Annalisa. She's an Italian singer 🔥

[@nanon8501]

Great reaction and great song and performance. Please reacted to Netta-toy 2018🙏🙏❤

[@birkinater1139]

🇬🇧🎸👨‍🚀❤

[@hiddentreasures5543]

Please react to Gladiator by Jann (Official Music Video) ⛓️🖤⛓️🖤⛓️ You won't regret it. He is from Poland Jann Top 5 songs: 1. Gladiator 2. Need a Break 3. Promise 4. One Missed Call 5. The Letter

[@tapanim6576]

React to Eurovision 2006 winners LORDI - Hard Rock Hallelujah. 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@Metencefalon]

You're incredibly lucky he is the first British artist on Eurivision you've heard - cause most of them suck very bad 😅

[@hiddentreasures5543]

🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 Please react to my top 5 National Final songs that didn't make it to Eurovision: 🖤💚💛💙🩵💜🤎🩶 1. Gladiator by Jann (Official Music Video) 2. Bulletproof by Dotter 3. Ekko inni meg by JONE 4. Me Tana by Elvana Gjata 5. Every Minute by Eric Saade

[@Johnknowsstuff]

When Sam REALLY won but the world wanted UKRAINE to be seen as being supported.

[@lesliej.5612]

He should have won that year, but because of the war there were a lot of pity points going to Ukraine

[@LittleVoodooDolly]

I dunno about that. It's hard to tell how the public would have voted, although my money would be on Chanel getting far more of the public votes than Sam. But we'll never know 🤷‍♀

[@2609israel]

It was either UK or Spain, at least we got an edition in Liverpool 🤡💀

[@memolara4089]

Actually, if the pity points hadn't gone to Ukraine they would most likely have gone to Chanel (Spain).

[@jazzycat8917]

Stay mad about it, Ukraine deserved that win.

[@lauriegonzalez2012]

Ukraine's song was amazing tho, it had a powerful message, it was sung in its original language, it also had traditional instruments and clothing. People keeps thinking it was "pity point" but Ukraine always brings artists who are loved by the public

[@awkwardpatrick1987]

He should of won but because what’s happening in Ukraine they won