THE UNITED Kingdom may have come dead last at Eurovision 2019, but statistics released by the event’s organisers suggest Ireland ranked as the worst of the worst.
Former X Factor hopeful Michael Rice finished 26th out of 26 entrants after gaining just 16 points for his performance of Bigger Than Us.
Reacting to the result, Rice told The Sun: “I always knew I was going to come in this position because of Brexit. Do you know what? If it was Gary Barlow or Elton John, they still probably would have come last too.”
Despite the disappointing result, Rice could at least argue he fared better than Ireland’s entry to this year’s Eurovision.
Sarah McTernan scored the lowest number of votes out of any of the artists competing in this year’s semi-finals.
McTernan scored just 16 points in Thursday’s semi-final for her performance of the song 22.
Ireland received three points from the UK, five from Moldova and eight from Italy
That tally left her a whopping 78 points behind the lowest-placed qualifier on the night, Denmark, and represented a notable low point for a nation synonymous with Eurovision success.
Ireland has won Eurovision a record seven times since the competion’s inception, one ahead of Sweden’s haul of six wins at the event.
McTernan, for her part, has had nothing but positive things to say about Eurovision.
“Such an incredible experience from start to finish I don’t think anything will compare,” she wrote on Instagram.
“The journey i have been on with such amazing people I could have never anticipated it would be this amazing.”
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