A Eurovision loving family were devastated after missing out on Eurovision tickets by the barest of margins.
Lewis Royle, a 24 year-old living in Wavertree, said he and his two sisters have been massive Eurovision fans from a young age, and host yearly watch parties of the song contest. Lewis said: "My mum forced me and our sisters to watch it when we were kids, and eventually we all fell in love with it."
He added: "For a while, we never seemed enthusiastic about it as a country. But now it's being held in Liverpool, the city of music, it feels like it's given everyone Eurovision mania, which we have every year."
READ MORE: ABBA Voyage outfits on display at Liverpool's British Music Experience
Jean Royle, their 77 year-old grandma, had offered to buy the tickets for the siblings. Lewis said: “Our grandma, who knows how much we love Eurovision, had offered to buy us tickets as Christmas and birthday presents. We had her card as we didn’t know how much the tickets would be in advance.”
When the second wave of ticket sales were announced last week, Lewis and his sisters felt this was their chance to attend their dream event. He said: “Every year we want to go but it’s never been feasible. We have to think about paying for flights and hotels as well as tickets, but this year it’s totally doable with it being in Liverpool.”
When one of his sisters got to the front of the online queue, it felt like the stars were aligning for them. He said: “My sister selected four tickets and added them to the basket.”
He added: “We paid all fine and then the website said it needed to approve the transaction on online banking." There was only limited time left on the site to complete the transaction.
Lewis said: "I had to ring my grandma, who barely uses her iPad anyway, to talk her through how to do it." However, the time soon ran out and the tickets were lost."
Lewis said his grandma called a minute later to say she'd approved it, but by then it was too late. Lewis said he and his sisters were left “absolutely devastated” after this disappointment. He said: “We were sobbing, screaming, crying, it was awful."
He added: “We were disappointed not getting anything in the first sale, but that was nothing compared to this. The UK might not host Eurovision for years, and even if it does, it probably won’t be in Liverpool again. It’s a real once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Lewis, who is originally from Manchester, will continue to post Eurovision updates on his TikTok channel to those fans not in Liverpool to celebrate, including other family members.
He said: “Seeing all the posters and artwork in Liverpool promoting Eurovision has been fantastic. I’m looking forward to showing to those who can’t experience it what it’s like to live in the host city, with trains and posters covered in Eurovision stuff."
Lewis and his sisters have tickets to the watch party at St George’s Hall, but he admitted the ticket disappointment had “dampened his excitement” about the song contest. He said: “When we are there watching it at St George’s Hall, we’ll feel sad that we could have been at the Arena watching it."
However, he is confident he and his sisters will be able to enjoy the song contest. He said: "We've always had amazing nights watching Eurovision. This will be the best one we've experienced, because we'll be in host city at a massive party. "
Order your 48-page Eurovision souvenir guide from our online shop
Discover, learn, grow. We are Curiously. Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
READ NEXT:
