Sam Ryder’s Space Man, from the United Kingdom, becomes the highest charting Eurovision song since 1996 in the UK, reaching No.2 this week.
Traditionally, Eurovision always guaranteed a Top 10 single in the charts, whether that be for the UK’s entry or the winning entry, however, over the last two decades that became less and less of a reality. The last entry to find itself in the Top 10 was Flying the Flag by Scooch, from 2007, and the last to hit Number 1 was Ooh Ahh… Just A Little Bit by Gina G, from 1996. Even the winning entry, from 1997, Love Shine A Light by Katrina and the Waves only made Number 3.
Since 2008, the average chart position for a UK entry has been Number 72, a far cry from the constant hitmaker Eurovision was in decades past. The only exception to this rule seemed to be Loreen’s Euphoria, from Sweden, which bagged itself a Number 3 position in 2012.
Now, Sam Ryder’s second-place Eurovision song, Space Man, has reached an astronomical Number 2 on the Official UK Chart, only held off by, just 4,000 sales, to As It Was by Harry Styles, which is celebrating its 7th week at Number 1.
Additionally, Stefania by Kalush Orchestra has reached Number 38 on the chart, while Måneskin’s Supermodel has reached Number 43.
With this long awaited return of Eurovision to the UK charts, this could really help encourage more high profile artists, previously warned off from Eurovision due to “career-suicide”, to participate in future years, and create a path to victory for the United Kingdom.
