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National
Andrew McGarry and Dannielle Maguire

Ukraine wins Eurovision Song Contest 2022 after attracting massive score from public vote - as it happened

The Eurovision Song Contest has wrapped up for another year, with Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra winning the trophy after attracting staggering support from viewers. 

Look back at how it all unfolded in our live blog. 

Key events

Live updates

By Andrew Mcgarry

The grand prize goes to Ukraine

So with that, the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest comes to an end.
  
There were some brilliant moments in the grand final - from Mahmood and Blanco duetting on Brividi, to Spain rocking everyone's world with Chanel's banger SloMo, to the Moldovan foot-stomper Trenulețul by Advahov Brothers and Zdob și Zdub.
  
Sweden's Cornelia Jakobs and UK's Sam Ryder will be left thinking what might have been, but they can be proud of two amazing performances on a groundbreaking night for Eurovision.
  
Big congratulations to Australia's Sheldon Riley for making it through a tough semi-final, achieving his Eurovision dream and nailing the vocal on Not the Same in the grand final. An awesome performance.
      
There may be some fans who are not happy with tonight's result, and the huge public vote for the Ukrainian song.
While the aim of Eurovision is to keep politics out of the contest, the competition does not exist in a vacuum. Since 1997, the public televote has played a part in the winner of Eurovision, and from year to year the votes of the public may not make everyone happy.
The televote performance of Ukraine in Turin is unprecedented, but Kalush Orchestra had been high in the odds even prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
All I can say is that the recorder break from Stefania is still stuck in my head, after all 25 songs and that says something.
We will definitely see you back here on the blog next year, even if we don't yet know whether Ukraine will host themselves or co-host with another country.
Thank you very much to everyone who has joined us on the blog this morning. From myself and Dannielle Maguire, it's been a pleasure to bring you all the action from the grand final. Enjoy the rest of the day, and we'll see you next time!

By Dannielle Maguire

Eurovision welcome pack handed to the Ukrainian delegation 

Eurovision Song Contest executive supervisor Martin Osterdahl just gave the delegation a folder — the welcome pack for hosting Eurovision. 

That's the beginning of their journey to hosting Eurovision 2023.

Of course, there's a big question mark over what next year's contest will look like given Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian delegation didn't weigh in on which country could host on Ukraine's behalf if the nation is unable to hold the contest. 

"You were extraordinary, you were brave, you were courageous," Mr Osterdahl said to the group. 

By Dannielle Maguire

Ukraine's public vote was the highest ever in the history of Eurovision

That got a big applause in the press room. 

ICYMI: Ukraine got a whopping 439 votes. 

By Andrew Mcgarry

Reaction from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky

By Dannielle Maguire

Stefania is 'very proud' of Ukraine's win

Yes, THAT Stefania.

Oleg Psyuk's mum says she's "very proud" of her boy. 

By Dannielle Maguire

Kalush Orchestra talks us through their plea at the end of their performance

The group was asked about this moment:

The band's frontman Oleg Psyuk says he wanted to draw attention to the situation in Mariupol, where people are still trapped in the Azovstal steel mill. 

"What can be done?

"Information, spreading information.

"If at least you write about it, then so much information will be spread."

By Andrew Mcgarry

The EBU talks 2023

In their statement announcing the winner, and congratulating Ukraine, the EBU has addressed the issues with next year's contest.

“We congratulate Ukraine and Kalush Orchestra on their win and superb performance. Now we will begin planning for 2023 with winning broadcaster UA:PBC. Obviously, there are unique challenges involved in hosting next year’s competition.
 
"However, as in any other year, we look forward to discussing all the requirements and responsibilities involved in hosting the competition with UA:PBC and all other stakeholders to ensure we have the most suitable setup  for the 67th Eurovision Song Contest.”

By Dannielle Maguire

Is Kalush Orchestra worried about going back home to the war?

"Being worried doesn't end with my crossing the border — all my family friends, close and loved ones are in Ukraine," Psyuk says. 

"It's more comforting to be there with them."

By Dannielle Maguire

Will Kalush Orchestra go back to Ukraine?

They have two more days of leave until they have to return. 

"Like every Ukrainian we are ready to fight as much as we can and go until the end," Psyuk says.

By Dannielle Maguire

Kulash Orchestra wants Ukraine to host Eurovision next year

That's the big question, will Ukraine be able to host? 

Oleg Psyuk — the guy in the pink bucket hat — says he hopes that Eurovision 2023 is hosted in the new "integrated and happy Ukraine".

By Dannielle Maguire

Lots of support for Ukraine in Turin

Germany's Malik Harris flashed this at the end of his performance:

And Iceland's Systur used blue and yellow tape to show solidarity with the besieged nation:
And there were a lot of Ukrainian flags popping up in crowd shots. 

By Andrew Mcgarry

If you thought during the voting that there were a lot of technical issues with getting juries on the phone, well you were right.

The European Broadcasting Union which organises Eurovision has put out a statement on the voting.

By Dannielle Maguire

Aaaand here's that song again

Let's be honest, it's going to be stuck in your head all day anyway. There's no point trying to avoid it. 

May as well have another run:

By Dannielle Maguire

'Help Ukraine'

Let's just go back to that moment at the end of Kalusk Orchestra's first performance of the night:

By Andrew Mcgarry

Some reactions

Not surprised by Ukraine winning, but the televote result? Didn't expect that.


Fun fact: Ukraine has broken their own record to make their score one of the highest scores at Eurovision - when they won in 2016, their score was the highest ever (broken the next year by Portugal), before breaking it today. It's now the second-highest Eurovision score ever.

-What's the secret to Meghan Markle's healthy hair?
As far as voices are concerned go Australia xxx

-Daly
There *really* doesn’t seem to be any patterns to the voting here.

-Confused

By Dannielle Maguire

Twitter reactions to Ukraine's win

By Andrew Mcgarry

Last year's winners Måneskin congratulate Ukraine

Måneskin have posted on social media, congratulating Kalush Orchestra and Ukraine on their win...

"YES Ukraine! Kalush Orchestra. This means even more than a well deserved victory. In dark times music is always able to bring light and make everyone feel closer. Thank you #Eurovision," they wrote.

By Andrew Mcgarry

What a result for the UK

Let's not forget what an incredible result this was for the UK!

Last year James Newman received no votes from either the public or the juries with his song Embers.

The United Kingdom has had bad results at Eurovision for a while - and there has been a prevailing view that Brexit was going to make that worse.

But Sam Ryder has come to Eurovision on a genuine charm offensive, smiling his way through interview after interview, generating genuine excitement for the contest back in the UK, and performing a great song brilliantly.

He was asked about Brexit in a media conference and he basically said he thought negative ideas come from inside, not outside and that as long as British people thought there was a problem, it would continue.

If it wasn't for Ukraine, we might have been looking at the first British win in 25 years!

Hopefully the 2nd place doesn't lead to frustration and the UK comes back bigger and better for 2023. Who knows, given the question mark over where next year's contest will be hosted, it could be coming from London or Manchester or Cardiff or Edinburgh!  

By Dannielle Maguire

Not a bad night for Australia

Look, there weren't a lot of public votes for our fine nation, but there was a massive show of support for Sheldon Riley from the other acts when the vote was announced. 

Australia ended up in 15th place.

By Andrew Mcgarry

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