Millions of UK viewers tuned in to watch this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, held in Liverpool due to the war in Ukraine, with a record 9.9 million people watching the grand final on Saturday. The vibrant lights of the contest made for the most-watched Eurovision in history. A peak of 11 million viewers saw London-born singer Mae Muller finish second-from-bottom in the contest, which she described as “not the result we hoped for.”
Despite the disappointment, the ratings for the broadcast were remarkable, beating the previous record of 9.5 million people who watched UK entry Blue compete in 2011. Germany was the only nation to finish below the UK, on 18 points. The contest came just 12 months after the UK finished second behind Ukraine when Sam Ryder wowed with his hit “Space Man.”
Mae Muller took to Twitter in the early hours of Sunday to express her gratitude and share her thoughts on the contest. “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 and what we achieved on this journey,” she said. “Congrats to all the countries, I’ll never forget this journey, and I love you all.”
Saturday’s final was the latest in a month of big live events on British TV, with the Eurovision final roughly level with the 10.1 million who watched the star-studded coronation concert but dwarfed by the 18 million who watched the King’s coronation itself.
As the show ended, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted, “Liverpool, you’ve done the United Kingdom and Ukraine proud. What a fantastic celebration for #Eurovision2023 Congratulations @Loreen_Talhaoui. Sweden, it’s over to you.” The contest is now set to take place in Sweden next year.
