Scottish singer and former Eurovision winner Lulu has said her "heart sunk" when she learned that her home country would not be hosting the next song contestant.
Graham Norton announced on Friday that Glasgow lost out to Liverpool, who will host Eurovision 2023 on behalf of Ukraine. Understandably, Glaswegians were gutted after an excitable wait, as was the Scottish pop star.
Speaking on Saturday's BBC Breakfast, she admitted: "It's upsetting."
However, the 73 year old took the loss in her stride: "You know, you have to be a good loser," she advised. "You have to be a good loser, it's very important."
"And in the end, you know, it's the UK hosting it. And that's what we've got to be grateful for. We are now focused on supporting Liverpool doing a great job for Ukraine."
But Lulu couldn't completely hider her devastation. While on a video call to BBC entertainment correspondent Colin Peterson, she admitted: "My heart sunk, I have to say.
"But I've had a lot of disappointments in my life, so I managed to get over them and I suppose I'll get over this one! But yeah, I sort of thought we were going to get it."
She added: "You know, actually not unlike the Glasgow audience. Liverpudlians - I mean, if you think about the fact that The Beatles started in Liverpool, all that great music started there, and we were very much on the same wavelength."
As reported by the Express, the host of the Glasgow event, drag queen Bella Houston, then joined the video call. "I'm absolutely gutted," the entertainer told Lulu.
"We all are," she replied. "On a personal note, it's upsetting. But we've got to be magnanimous, we've got to accept..."
BBC audiences were quick to respond to Lulu's brief appearance during the BBC coverage. Twitter user @MogP wrote: "Lovely to see the reaction from Glasgow and Lulu - shame for Glasgow but well done Liverpool #BBCBreakfast."
@ourMikeGeorge commented: "What a nice person @lulushouts is #BBCBreakfast," while @BigAlexJones shared: "Isn't Lulu really nice? #EurovisionLiverpool #BBCBreakfast,"
@BCollier2012 remarked: "#bbcbreakfast Lulu still looks amazing."
This year's competition saw Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra crowned winners, with the UK coming in second place with Sam Ryder's Spaceman performance. Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine though, it was decided the UK would host the next event.
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