Italy has won the Eurovision Song Contest with their song Zittie e Buoni.
Maneskin leadman Damiano David screamed, “Rock and roll never dies”, as the four-person band collected their glass microphone trophy.
It was a disappointing day for the United Kingdom, with James Newman’s Embers scoring zero points.
It is the fourth time the UK has come last, and the second time it has received zero points.
The first time was in 2005 when Jemini performed the song, Cry Baby.
Newman put on a brave face, cheering and smiling as the bad news was announced.
The anchor Graham Norton acted by saying: “I’m trying to put a positive turn on it, but I feel sorry for James. A lot of sad people in the arena tonight, but excited to be a part of Eurovision.
He also had sufficient support from fans like Matt Lucas, who said, “We love you James Newman”, and Dan Walker, the BBC Breakfast host, who praised him “laughing it off.”
Michelle Visage, the RuPaul’s Drag Race star, wrote: “I am sending this tweet to James Newman. You were MARVELLOUS.”
However, some people did not think James’s performance was good enough. The Vinyl Frontier tweeted, “I love all the conspiracy theorists. It would help them if we sent a decent song over for a change. James Newman was clearly universally liked, lovely fellow and a bit of a geezer. But he couldn’t sing the verses of his song, what he wrote.”
In contrast to the lack of points for James, it was ecstasy for Maneskin, who had been favourites despite their rock song not being typical Eurovision fare.
Victoria de Angelis, Maneskin’s bassist, said after the show that their victory was a boost for her country, which was severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is a message of hope after this worst year we’ve been through,” she added.
