Eurovision 2019: UK’s last-placed entry Michael Rice has points deducted
Welp, we guess things can't get any worse.
By Will Stroude
There’s more Eurovision heartbreak for the UK this morning (23 May), with the news that our last-placed entry has had its score lowered by five points.
Michael Rice’s song ‘Bigger Than Us’ was originally awared 16 points during the Eurovision Song Contest grand final in Tel Aviv on Saturday night (18 May) – a score that saw the UK tumble to the very bottom of the results table for the fourth time in sixteen years.
However, now organisers have revealed that due to an error in estimated the jury votes, the UK in fact should have been awared even less, with just 11 points.
Well, we guess it’s still better than 2003’s the infamous nil points.
The error, which has affected other parts of the final results table, came after an incorrect calculation was used to estimate Belarus’s jury votes, the Eurovision Broadcasting Union (EBU) said.
Belarus’s jury was had been controversially dismissed from the competition following the first semi-final after its votes became public, meaning its votes for Saturday’s final were estimated using the scores of other countries with similar voting records.
Norway’s KEiiNO, who originally placed fifth in Saturday night’s grand final, were the biggest losers after the error by the Eurovision Broadcasting Union was rectified.
The big loser from the error was Norway’s entry KEiiNO, who were also deducted points and have fallen from fifth to sixth in the final standings, switching places with Sweden.
The top four positions remained unchanged – though winner The Netherlands has actually been awarded an additional six points – finishing up on 498 points.