Scots singer on UK Eurovision jury praises Sam Ryder's second place success

A Glasgow singer part of the UK Eurovision jury says Sam Ryder’s second place in the competition bodes well for the future and shows what the nation is capable of when putting “full weight behind it”.

Adam Hunter, who is one half of electropop duo Hyyts, was on the jury of experts selecting how many points the UK would give to other entries in the competition.

Ukrainian folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra came out on top with Ryder landing second for the UK with Space Man.

The judging process is a lot more technical than Adam first thought with four main categories for the voting, he told STV News: “If they’re a good singer; if the performance is good like the outfits and staging; the general feeling you get when you’re watching it; and the song itself so the composition and the originality.

Although not able to vote for their country, Adam backed the UK’s chances with this year’s entry.

“The UK is probably the country in the competition with the biggest music industry, the biggest record labels and the best artist development.

“A lot of the other countries just don’t have that infrastructure and listen to a lot of the music made in the UK or the USA.

“It was really cool to see them put their full weight behind it, getting world class artists and song writers.

“I thought when I was listening to it ‘this might be the best song’.

“Me and Sam Hunter [bandmate] have worked with one of the guys who helped write that song, Max Wolfgang, a number of times, he’s an absolute pro.

“It had such a cool vibe, had the right amount of emotion and a tempo.

“Last year was zero points, it was quite sad. I don’t think it was the best song in the world, but I don’t think James Newman deserved zero points.”

Ryder’s second place was the first time that the UK has placed in the top three at the Eurovision Song Contest in 20 years.

The singer was in the top spot after the national jury vote with 283 points, but there was a huge surge of support for Ukraine in the public vote.

Adam added: “There definitely is an aspect of politics and the win for the Ukraine shows that but I always thought it was less political than we thought and we’ve just given lacklustre entries and now it shows you when we put in the effort we can maybe win it. It’s a good sign for the future.”

Hyyts are working on their debut album and were very close to representing the UK in the competition but officials opted for Ryder instead.

Adam added: “Everyone at Eurovision was so nice to us.

“Sam Ryder seems like such a lovely dude and it was such a good song. So there’s no way to be bitter, but it’s tough.

“We were really excited for it, seemed like a really cool opportunity, who knows, maybe one year we’ll get to do it.”