SOUND AND VISION
MARION McMULLEN turns the spotlight on Eurovision ahead of this Saturday’s song contest
1 The UK’s Eurovision hopes rest on TikTok star Sam Ryder, pictured left. The 32-year-old from Essex attracted 12 million followers covering songs during lockdown and caught the attention of music stars like Justin Bieber and Alicia Keys. He will be singing
Space Man, a track he co-wrote with Grammywinning songwriter Amy Wadge, who has previously worked with Ed Sheeran and Max Wolfgang.
2 Sam will be hoping to do better than recent UK entries. We’ve featured at the bottom of the Eurovision leaderboard for the past two contests, coming in last place in 2019 with Michael Rice’s Bigger Than Us, and James Newman’s, right, Embers scoring “nul points” in 2021.
3 Russia will not be taking part in this year’s contest following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The European Broadcasting Union said in a statement that the inclusion of a Russian entry would bring the contest into “disrepute”.
4 Ukraine is currently the favourite to win the competition on Saturday. Kalush Orchestra, pictured below, are expected to top voting with their song Stefania. It mixes Ukrainian folk music with hip hop.
5 Italy’s northern industrial city of Turin is hosting the competition, which last year was viewed by 183 million people. Italy’s act, Mahmood and Blanco, will be performing the song Brividi at the event at the Pala Olimpico Arena.
6 The Eurovision Song Contest announced TikTok as its official entertainment partner for the 66th competition. The social media platform is featuring special programming, music playlists and behind the scenes content.
7 Pop star Mika, below, will host proceedings with singer Laura Pausini and presenter Alessandro Cattelan. Mika is best known in the UK for his 2007 album Life in Cartoon Motion.
8 Graham Norton, below, is returning for his 13th Eurovision Song Contest and will be commentating live from Turin. The grand final will be broadcast on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer and on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds on Saturday.
9 Italian rock band Måneskin, who managed to triumph in Rotterdam last year with their song Zitti E Buoni, will be back to perform at this year’s event, delivering a live premiere of their new single Supermodel.
10 TV host AJ Odudu will be our Eurovision spokesperson. The Strictly star will be delivering the results of the UK professional jury vote live from Salford.