The BBC has today officially announced that Sam Ryder will represent United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 with the song “Space Man”.
Listen to “Space Man”
Who is Sam Ryder?
In 2020, Sam Ryder uploaded his first covers and quickly caught the attention of some international stars, including Alicia Keys and Elton John. Only a year later, he had reached over 10 million followers on TikTok and he released his first EP. The most streamed-song on the EP, “Tiny Riot”, currently has over 12 million streams on Spotify.
As of March 2022, Sam Ryder has over 12 million followers on TikTok, 3.5 million followers on Instagram and over 35 million streams on Spotify. Recently his song “Space Man” was chosen as the Tune of the Week by Scott Mills on BBC Radio 1. Today, the song was officially announced to represent United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022.
The song is written by Max Wolfgang, Amy Wadge and Sam Ryder. It’s produced by Grammy-winning Canadian producer Koz, who has produced plenty of hits for Dua Lipa and Dermot Kennedy. The Eurovision version of the song was released today with a music video.
Having been a fan of Eurovision since I was a kid I am so honoured to have been presented with the opportunity to sing at an event alongside some of Europe’s most talented creatives, performers and songwriters. I hope to sing my head off in a way the UK can be proud of, and to showcase a song I wrote with my friends last summer makes the whole experience even more special. See you in Turin legends!
Sam Ryder on Eurovision
United Kingdom at Eurovision 2022
For the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, BBC collaborated with the global publishing and management company TaP Music to choose the song and the act to represent the country. According to TaP Music, a lot of artists, both new and well known, expressed their wish to collaborate for Eurovision 2022. One of the main goals of this selection for TaP Music seems to change the attitude towards the UK entries for Eurovision and make the country proud, especially after some of recent years results.
Last year James Newman was selected internally to represent the United Kingdom after the contest in 2020, where he was supposed to represent the country with “My Last Breath”, was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. In Rotterdam, he represented the United Kingdom with his song “Embers”. Unfortunately in the grand final of the contest, the entry scored 0 points and finished last.
In the United Kingdom, the semi-finals of the 2022 contest will be broadcasted on BBC Three for the first time since 2015. Scott Mills and Rylan will be the commentators of the two semi-finals on BBC Three. United Kingdom will be voting on the second semifinal of the contest on May 12th. As one of the members of the Big 5 of the Eurovision Song Contest, United Kingdom has automatically qualified to the final of the contest. Eurovision Song Contest 2022 is hosted in Turin, Italy with the final taking place on May 14th.
What do you think about the entry? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify for the latest music from your favourite Eurovision acts. As well as YouTube to see our reactions to the news in the run up to the 2022 contest in Turin!
