The UK’s 2023 Eurovision entrant Mae Muller has issued a statement in response to a disappointing result in last night’s (May 13) finale, which saw the UK finish second from last.
Sweden’s Loreen was crowned the overall winner in the final, after earning a score of 583 points. Sweden were the bookies favourite to win ahead of the final in Liverpool, with Loreen’s song ‘Tattoo’ having odds of 4/9 on bet365 to win on the day of the grand final.
The win made Eurovision history, with Loreen becoming the first woman to win the competition twice, following her victory in 2012 with the track ‘Euphoria’.
After the jury votes, Sweden stood in first place at 340 points. Once combined with the public vote, this increased at 583. Finland and Israel came in second and third place respectively.
The UK, however, didn’t fare as well. Muller was the final act to perform on the evening and while her performance was well-received in the venue, it failed to inspire voters of either the jury or audience, and subsequently saw Muller finish in 25th place. This was second-to-last place with a score of 24 points.
Responding to the result, Muller said: “I just want to say thank you x I know I joke a lot but we really put our all into the last few months,” she wrote on Twitter last night.
“Not the result we hoped for but so proud of everyone & what we achieved on this journey. Congrats to all the countries, I’ll never forget this journey and I love you all.”
i just want to say thank u x i know i joke a lot but we really put our all into the last few months, not the result we hoped for but so proud of everyone & what we achieved on this journey. Congrats to all the countries, I’ll never forget this journey and I love you all. ❤️
— Mae Muller (@maemuller_) May 14, 2023
This year’s instalment of the contest took place in Liverpool. While Ukraine won last year and would normally host under the rules of the competition, the ongoing political conflict meant it was held in the UK, who were runners up last year with Sam Ryder.
However, the opening segment of the finale was dedicated to Ukraine, with their 2022 entry Kalush Orchestra opening the contest with an emotive rendition of their winning song, ‘Stefania’.
The opening also saw the band joined by musicians and famous figures from afar. During one segment of the song, it cut to a clip of Ryder playing guitar on the song from on top of Liverpool’s Liver Building.
Other contributions via video included ones from Joss Stone, Miss Banks, Andrew Lloyd Webber and the Princess of Wales, who played piano on the song.
Ryder then later returned to the stage after the finalists to perform his latest single ‘Mountain’ with Taylor making a surprise appearance on drums. Ryder last joined Queen on stage for a rendition of ‘Somebody To Love’ at the Foo Fighter’s Taylor Hawkins tribute concert.
Elsewhere, the show featured a segment where previous Eurovision contestants paid tribute to Liverpool’s music history during a song medley as well as a special video message from ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus who paid tribute to Eurovision and its importance in ABBA’s career.
Speaking about her Eurovision win after the competition, Sweden’s Loreen said: “This feels amazing. I’m started to melt! It was surreal in the beginning I’m like ‘what does happened?!’ …It’s sinking in, it’s so beautiful and I’m so thankful.”
“It’s so much bigger now and I’m so happy about it…I love this community…and it’s going to grow, even bigger!”
Meanwhile, some fans were disappointed with the result, with many wanting Finland’s Käärijä to win with the song ‘Cha Cha Cha’. You can check out all the reaction to the results here.
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