Eurovision 2021: James Newman on coming last for the UK

James Newman says competing at the Eurovision Song Contest has been "life-changing" - despite his entry Embers getting zero points.

It's only the second time in history the UK has failed to get a single point at the event.

Italy won this year's contest in Rotterdam with rock band Måneskin's anthemic Zitti E Buoni.

Asked if he'd do anything differently, James said he "wouldn't change a thing" about his performance.

But clearly something didn't work for the United Kingdom. Was it the song? The staging? Did politics come into it?

"Maybe people just didn't like my music," says James.

"We tried as hard as we could. I need time to process what it is that we could have done better."

The result means the UK has now come bottom in the last two contests (2019 and 2021).

On the night, the points are revealed in two halves.

The national juries are the first to give their scores and because James got zero from them, he became the first act to receive the public's scores.

With pauses for dramatic effect, host Jan Smit announced: "The United Kingdom… gets… from the public… zero points."

The news was met by a huge cheer in the arena.

"I genuinely had the best night of my life. I loved the crowd's reaction because I got a standing ovation and everyone was cheering," says James.

Spain, the Netherlands and Germany also received 'nil points' from the public, but James came bottom because they'd at least got a few points from the juries.

After years of middling to low results for the United Kingdom, the BBC had tried a different approach to Eurovision by getting record label BMG on board to help pick the act.

James was originally chosen for the 2020 contest with a ballad called My Last Breath. It was cancelled so after reselection, he entered an upbeat, dance track - Embers.

Spectator editor and Eurovision enthusiast Fraser Nelson wrote: "The UK was simply outsung and outclassed by smaller countries who made more effort."

"We have to keep showing Europe that we care about the Eurovision Song Contest," says James.

"I suppose if you look at a lot of the songs that did well, they might have been a little less pop than what I was doing. We just have to keep trying."

For the first time in years, none of the top three songs were sung in English. Italy won, with France in second and Switzerland in third (both sung in French).

In fourth place was the much-hyped Daði Freyr for Iceland, and fifth went to Ukraine's techno-banger Shum by Go_A.

James says he was "trying to start a process of showing people that we were bringing the British music industry to the stage" and "putting in songs at Eurovision that stand up to the radio and streaming services".

"If I was choosing, I'd probably try and carry that strategy on."

Embers is on course to enter this week's Official Chart Top 40, along with the Italian winners Måneskin.

James says he's got support from loads of people, including Coldplay's Chris Martin, who Facetimed him on Monday morning.

"He told me to not take the result personally, said I was amazing and told me to keep my chin up. I've grown up listening to him, he's an amazing songwriter so it made me feel so much better."

James has watched his performance back and says he "couldn't have done any better".

"The dancers nailed it every time and I think it looked great."

Laughing, he says "someone called me James Nil-man the other day. It was funny but I don't want that to catch on."

Looking forward, James says he's going to working on new music and "getting back to a normal life after this rollercoaster I've been on for the past two years".

And whether he embraces it or not, he'll always be a small part of Eurovision history - just probably not in the way he'd hoped.

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