Eurovision icon Sam Ryder's emotional message to Remember Monday ahead of final
Ahead of Remember Monday's attempt to bring the UK to Eurovision victory once again, former contestant Sam Ryder has given them some words of advice. The singer-songwriter came a hair's breadth from winning the competition in 2022, with his single Space Man.
And with the grand final of this year's massive international music competition just hours away, Sam had a few words of encouragement for the country-pop three-piece. Speaking with Magic Radio presenter Gabby Roslin, he told the girls to "smash it".
Host Gabby asked Sam: "OK, so the girls, how are they gonna be feeling right now?" He replied: "They're gonna be buzzing. I'm sending them all my love and I'm sending every single person that has the nutrients to get on that stage and look down the camera lens at 180m people or something like that."
Sam added: "Yep. All of them are going to be going through the same human emotions that are basically 'what on earth is this? What is happening?' And this is completely the opposite of natural, so yeah, shine completely brightly and remember you're putting on the shirt for your country. So just smash it."
The 35-year-old became the highest-scoring UK entrant, earning the country 466 points with his TikTok hit in 2022. He came second to Ukraine, whose rap-folk act Kalush Orchestra won the vote with 631 points, amid their country's conflict with Russia.
Sam's second place was a welcome turnaround for the UK, which had previously seen a dramatic decline in its Eurovision success. The UK hadn't even had a top 10 spot since Jade Ewen came fifth in 2009. In 2019 and 2021, the UK came last on the scoreboard, coincidentally when 52% of the country voted to leave the EU in the Brexit referendum.
Fans were thrilled with Sam's Eurovision efforts, with Graham Norton saying it was a "fairytale ending to an incredible evening". At the time, Sam told the BBC: "This is the tip of an iceberg. The UK is going to be a force next year. It's gonna be mad."
Despite the UK's high hopes, Remember Monday, made up of Lauren Byrne, Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele, have been given some disappointing news ahead of the final in Basel tonight. The country-pop trio have been slammed by bookies who say they are more likely to come last than they are to win.
The news will be a huge disappointment to British Eurovision fans, whose dream of a win for the first time in 27 years could be looking unlikely. Hoping to take home the glass microphone trophy - and help to redeem the country's Eurovision reputation - Remember Monday will perform at the 69th Eurovision Song Contest.
Ladbrokes have ranked the act at just 66/1 to take home the trophy tonight, with the odds of them coming in last are just 3/1. The chance of them scoring 'nul points' sits at 12/1.
Having been given an automatic guaranteed place in the final, the trio performed their song What The Hell Just Happened? this week. It got mixed reviews from fans.
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