James Newman speaks out after Eurovision last place finish: ‘What can you do?’

James Newman has spoken out following Eurovision 2021 at the weekend.

The UK entry finished in last place with his song Embers, receiving nil points from both the show’s jury and audience votes.

James appeared on ITV’s Lorraine today (26 May) in his first interview since the contest in Rotterdam.

Reflecting on the result today, James said: “What can you do? We went there and we tried our hardest. I think we took the best of British. I was really happy with the song, really happy with the performance.

“But the best thing for me was how the crowd just went absolutely crazy when they said ‘nil points’ but the audience was cheering me, everyone was cheering me.”

When asked whether he had any indication that he would place last in the competition, James said: “I couldn’t really tell. I was being really positive. I was trying to just visualise winning so that I could put a positive vibe on it all. You just can’t tell.

“Writing songs and singing to people, you can’t guarantee it’s going to connect with an audience. I think, for me, I just wanted to go and try my best and we definitely did. My whole team was so amazing. It was such a great time. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Despite placing last in Eurovision 2021, James’ single ‘Embers’ has climbed the music charts. James said: “It’s amazing. The whole reason I got into doing this is so I could sing music to people and get my song out to the world. So, it’s definitely done that job.

“Coming home and seeing my song was Number 1 on iTunes in the UK. I was like ‘Oh my God, that is amazing’ so everything has a silver lining.”

James went on to say he had no regrets about taking part in the show.

He explained: “Saturday was one of the best nights of my life. I sang in front of 200 million people and I got into music because I wanted to sing on stage to people and that was what I was doing. I got to work with all these amazing, talented people. No regrets at all.”

Meanwhile, looking ahead to next year’s Eurovision Song Contest and how the UK can come back stronger, James said: “I think keep trying and keep putting in your best efforts. Putting in the best of British and showing Europe that we care about the Eurovision Song Contest.

“I think in other countries, it’s a huge thing and we’ve lost touch a little bit.

“Everyone was so behind me, I felt. The support I’ve had from the UK has been amazing. I was so proud that everyone was behind me.”

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