James Newman has broken his silence after receiving zero points in Saturday’s Eurovision disaster.
More than seven million people in the UK tuned in to watch James Newman score nil points in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest.
It was a disappointing night for the British hopeful, who was the only contestant to scored zero points from the jury vote and from the public vote, coming bottom on the leaderboard.
The competition, which was held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, after the show was cancelled in 2020, was won by Italy with rock band Maneskin’s Zitti E Buoni.
Some 7.4 million people tuned in to watch the competition on BBC One, giving the channel a 48.5% share of the audience.
It was the biggest overnight audience for a Eurovision final since 2014.
Now, the UK’s act has taken to Twitter in the wake of a disastrous night for the UK in the international song competition.
James Newman wrote: "I want to focus on the positives of this amazing experience. I stood on a stage and sang to hundreds of millions of people with a song that I wrote and love.
"I've learnt so much from the amazing people who gave everything to help me live my dream, the dancers, my choreographer, my vocal coach, everyone from my label, my manager and the BBC and all the people behind the scenes at Eurovision and the arena.
"All these people are the best in the business and I got the chance to work with them and share this crazy experience that I'm so lucky to have the chance to do."
🧡🧡🧡 pic.twitter.com/0iaSSrT30Y
— James Newman (@JamesNewmanUk) May 24, 2021
He added: "The thing about writing songs is that there is no guarantee that a song you think will connect with people, will connect with an audience.
"Thank you to all the amazing dedicated fans who have supported me through the whole thing and made it all worth it.
"Because at the end of the day they are the people who you do this all for.
"I just want to say a massive thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has been on this journey with me, supported me, listened to my music, and filled my life with positivity and love."
Newman took his defeat in good humour, drinking a beer and standing up to applause from the live audience in the arena.
The singer, who is the older brother of pop star John Newman, had hoped to win over viewers with his rendition of upbeat track Embers, which was inspired by the end of lockdown.
He performed in front of a crowd of 3,500 fans at the Ahoy arena.
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