Singer Sam Ryder, 32, on representing the UK in Eurovision, why he doesn’t think it’s cheesy and his massive following.
You’re representing us in Eurovision! Excited?
Really excited. I’ve got some wicked outfits in a suitcase now, a few options, but I know what I’m going for.
Your song, Space Man, sounds tricky to sing. It’s very high…
It’s not necessarily hard to pitch. It’s a very technical song so you need to find ways of conveying emotion without getting too clinical.
Have you done a promo tour around Europe?
Yeah, I’ve been all over the place. I’ve done a few of the pre-parties but I wanted to make sure I did some stuff that wasn’t on the Eurovision Monopoly board.
The reason I’m here in the first place is that so many people were being generous with their kindness so I wanted to go to as many places as possible, even if it was to play on street corners.
Did you really play on street corners?
Yeah – Berlin, Madrid, Amsterdam. We wanted to do one in London but we couldn’t risk that.
Many people have a credibility issue with Eurovision. Did that go through your head?
Only as an afterthought. My initial reaction as a Eurovision fan was that this was a wicked opportunity and I’d love to do it.
But then you think, ‘Yeah, but what if people think it’s cheesy? What if your career goes down the pan afterwards? What if you get nil points?’
But it’s you creating this uncertainty so you can also create a bombardment of positivity against that.
You’re one of the favourites to do well. Pressure, much?!
I don’t feel pressure about it at all. I think it’s really cool because I think it shows there’s a .
Most people know you from …
That was a lockdown thing. I put a video up of me singing ’ Baby One More Time in my mum’s kitchen and sang it as high as I could, and then it started snowballing from there.
Everything I’ve done in the past has been very much overthought – that tortured artist approach of ‘I must bury myself in my work’. But TikTok was about immediacy, there were no barriers or distractions.
What’s your best song on TikTok?
The best-performing one was What’s Up? by 4 Non Blondes. That had almost 50million views, just bonkers. But then some of my favourites have been some of the Sia tracks, the songs, I did a Whitney Houston song when she covered Chaka Khan – I’m Every Woman – Gloria Estefan…
A very gay-friendly selection…
Yeah, absolute anthems [laughs]. You can’t deny it.
How many followers do you have?
On TikTok there’s over 12million and Instagram is coming up to four million. It’s bonkers but it’s just numbers and if you put your worth into following the numbers, you’re on a path of misery.
You feel like someone fresh representing us.
Thanks, man. There are smiles everywhere you look in the team. There isn’t that kind of funeral march in the background.
It doesn’t matter where we come on that scoreboard, first or last, it’s about the attitude leading into it.
Is it bad manners to say who you’d like to win?
It is. They’ve all got my immediate respect for agreeing to play in front of 200million people so I would hate for anyone to hear that I said that one person should win.
But your favourite of all time?
Lordi and Hard Rock Hallelujah. It’s heavy metal but I actually think it is very Eurovision because they were wearing platforms and prosthetics and bat wings… it’s basically drag.
You have the best beard in Eurovision since Conchita Wurst…
We actually met the other day and were comparing and it’s a fantastic beard.
You’ve been hanging out with Adam Lambert and Boy George.
It was at the and ‘hanging out’ is an exaggeration – I met them for about ten minutes and they were really lovely. Adam Lambert has been really supportive over lockdown.
Have you got an album ready to go?
I’ve got five albums ready! I wrote about 100 songs last year but they’re not all good so it wouldn’t be five good albums but there’s one album ready to go.
And you’re supporting Paloma Faith on tour…
Yeah, that’s coming up really soon. I’ve never met her but I’ve heard lovely things.
Well, very good luck to you at Eurovision. Do us proud!
I’m going to do my absolute best. We’ve left no stone unturned so whatever happens is going to happen. Eurovision is a beautiful moment in time.
The Eurovision Song Contest final is on BBC One at 8pm this Saturday.
