This year’s epic Eurovision has been named the most watched television show of 2022 so far, with over 100million people tuning in.
Rap group of the annual songwriting competitionin Turin, Italy on May 15 following a narrow race with the UK’s Sam Ryder.
It was a very special moment for , which has been devastated by ’s relentless bombing campaign on the country, causing the deaths of thousands of civilians since February.
According to the, the vibrant event reached 161million people across the three live shows, with approximately 9.3million watching the four-hour final.
A staggering 3.3million viewers watched the finale on social media platforms with 5.1million live streams in total.
While the semi-finals – which took place on May 12 and May 14 – was streamed 4million times with 9.2million engagement actions on TikTok.
It’s the first time in 11 years the UK has seen higher ratings than Germany who previously delivered the highest audience.
TikTok sensation Sam had been a hot contender for the number one single for Space Man, which earned the UK an incredible second place at the song contest last week.
While he may not have got a number one, Space Man was still the highest-charting UK Eurovision entry in 26 years.
, Sam said: ‘They needed to win that. They were always going to win that.
‘It’s so important that we use the platform of Eurovision to celebrate solidarity and to shine light into darkness.’
During his chat with Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2, the 32-year-old singer described the whirlwind journey of representing the UK at Eurovision, and said: ‘It’s just been the most rewarding experience ever and that experience started way before the scoreboard.
‘We were sat there in the green room and absolutely engulfed in the energy of that arena, it was like being in a church because there was so much joy.’
Eurovision is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
