Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra have stormed to victory at Eurovision 2022, winning in tonight’s final and beating UK entry Sam Ryder as they topped the leaderboard at the very last minute with the televote.
Tonight, the final stage of the song contest aired on BBC One, with the competition heating up for the last stage as 25 songs were performed by the contestants.
In the lead-up to the final, bookmakers predicted that Kalush Orchestra and Sam both had strong odds of being crowned the winners.
However, in the end, there could only be one act that went home with the trophy, and it was Kalush Orchestra’s time to shine with their hit song Stefania.
Earlier in the night Sam blew viewers away with his stellar performance of Space Man, as people in the UK expressed how ‘proud’ they were of the singer.
Meanwhile, Kalush Orchestra left audiences around the world in tears with their powerful performance of their track Stefania.
When the results were being announced, it was revealed that Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Germany, Belgium, France, Georgia, Austria and the Czech Republic had awarded their coveted 12 points to the United Kingdom, much to viewers’ jubilant astonishment.
The UK soared to the top of the scoreboard after the jury votes with 283 points, with Sweden in second place with 258 points and Spain placing third with 231 points before the televote confirmed the winner.
However, Ukraine received a huge 439 points in the televote, resulting in them ending the night on 631 points, securing their win.
This year’s competition has been eventful to say the least, with several of this year’s entries setting tongues wagging before the grand final had even taken place.
Serbia’s act Konstrakta performed a track called In Corpore Sano, which took everyone aback when it included lyrics about Meghan Markle’s luscious hair.
San Marino’s Achille Lauro delivered an explosive performance at the semi-final, delighting Eurovision fans with a male queer kiss live on stage.
During a recent chat with Metro.co.uk, Sam spoke out about the ‘negative stigma’ that many people in the UK have towards Eurovision, saying that he thought the ‘negative loop’ was ‘needless’.
‘I would love it if we could even just have a conversation about that negative stigma and how it was perpetuated how we’ve got to the place where we are now where it’s got so almost toxic, that we believe that Europe doesn’t like the UK,’ he said.
While Eurovision is known for spreading joy on an annual basis, in Ukraine, the competition continued against the backdrop of the ongoing war with Russia.
Ukraine’s commentator for the competition, Timur Miroshnychenko, delivered his usual broadcast from the safety of a bomb shelter, as a precautionary measure in case of any air raids.
Timur recently recalled to Metro.co.uk what it was like when the war first broke, saying that ‘no one was thinking of Eurovision, just how to stay alive’.
‘The great people of Europe, of the UK, the United States. We know now we have someone at our back. It gives us more power to continue our resistance,’ he said.
Eurovision is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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