Britain gets the Eurovision blues as score falls even lower

THE UK’S dismal Eurovision Song Contest result was worse than originally thought as organisers deducted even more points from the rock-bottom score.

A mistake in calculating the totals meant the British entry’s 16 points were cut to 11, with apologetic organisers blaming “human error”.

The slip-up came about when an incorrect calculation was used to create a substitute score for Hartlepool-born Michael Rice’s song Bigger Than Us.

The unusual step was necessary after the Belarussian jury was dismissed for a breach of the rules in publicly revealing its semi-final votes.

Asked whether the jury system used in the competition should be dropped, Rice said it “wasn’t a decision for him to make”.

But he conceded he “knew something like this probably was going to happen”. He told the BBC: “I enjoyed the whole experience and I was just living the dream. It’s made me stronger. It’s built my confidence up and built me as a person.”

In a statement, the Eurovision Broadcasting Union said it “deeply regrets” the error.

The positions of Eurovision’s top four acts including winner Duncan Laurence from the Netherlands, followed by acts from Italy, Russia and Switzerland remained unchanged after the recalculations. Laurence’s song Arcade gained six points, bringing it to a total of 498 points.

Norway had points deducted and dropped to sixth from fifth, with Sweden leapfrogging its neighbour. The UK finished 26th and last.