Olly Alexander breaks silence over ‘nuls points’ Eurovision score
Pop singer came 18th after performing his song ‘Dizzy’ at the final in Sweden
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Your support makes all the difference.Olly Alexander has said that he is going to be processing his Eurovision experience “for a long time”, as he addressed his disappointing final scores after the contest in Malmo, Sweden.
The former Years & Years frontman and It’s a Sin star represented the UK at the annual song contest last weekend, but recieved the dreaded nuls points in the public vote and just 46 points from the jury, leaving him in 18th place out of 25 countries.
However, the “Dizzy” singer seemed to put on a brave face as the scores were announced at the live final, laughing and cheering with his team, and celebrating as Switzerland’s Nemo was crowned the winner with a huge 591 points.
“Eurovision 2024 is over!” Alexander wrote in a post on Instagram on 14 May. “I’m so happy for [Nemo], they’re amazingly talented and the sweetest, kindest person.”
He continued: “I honestly I don’t know where to even begin with this whole experience, I’m going to be processing things for a long time! For now I just want to say I am so proud of the performance and my team, everybody absolutely smashed it and gave it their all to bring the vision to life.
“I met so many talented wonderful people on and off the stage and I’m really thankful we were able to support each other throughout. Though we may have received NIL Points from the voting public (which I shall be claiming as iconic!), I’ve also seen a lot of love and i’m truly grateful. Thank you.”
The 2024 Eurovision Song Contest was overshadowed by controversy and protests over Israel’s participation amid its war on Gaza.
There was also uproar after Netherlands contestant Joost (the stage name of musician Joost Klein) was disqualified just hours before the final, allegedly after threatening behaviour towards a female crew member.
On Monday (13 May), the organisers behind the Eurovision Song Contest said they were reviewing the events of the weekend, having received complaints of a “horrible” atmosphere backstage.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said it regretted that some delegations “didn’t respect the spirit of the rules” in Sweden and confirmed that a number of contestants had made complaints.
“We spoke to a number of delegations during the event regarding various issues that were brought to our attention,” the organisation said.
“The EBU’s governing bodies will, together with the heads of delegations, review the events surrounding the ESC in Malmö to move forward in a positive way and to ensure the values of the event are respected by everyone.”
Earlier responding to Joost’s disqualification, the EBU confirmed that, “contrary to some media reports and social media speculation, this incident did not involve any other performer or delegation member”.
Explaining its decision to rule his behaviour “in breach of contest rules”, the EBU said: “We maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate behaviour at our event and are committed to providing a safe and secure working environment for all staff at the contest.
“In light of this, Joost Klein’s behaviour towards a team member is deemed in breach of contest rules.”
Swedish police said on Monday that Joost would likely be charged for making illegal threats and that a decision should come “within a few weeks”.
Klein has already left Sweden, according to reports.
Next year’s Eurovision Song Contest will now be hosted by winning country Switzerland, with the exact city to be announced at a later date.