James Newman says Eurovision was ‘the best night of my life’

Singer James Newman said he had no regrets after the Eurovision Song Contest, which he described as “one of the best nights of my life”.

He was the only entry to not score any points from the jury and the public vote, placing at the bottom of the standings in the singing competition held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, this weekend.

Newman, the brother of singer John Newman, told ITV’s Lorraine: “Saturday was one of the best nights of my life. I sang in front of 100 or 200 million people or whatever. I got into music because I want to sing on stage for people and that’s literally what I was doing. And I got to work with all these incredibly talented people and have such a great time so, no regrets at all.

The British musician said of when the results were revealed during the competition: “What can you do? We went there and did our best. I think we took the best of the British.

“I was really happy with the song, really happy with the performance. But the best thing for me was that the crowd went completely crazy when they said “no points”, but the audience was cheering me on, everyone was cheering me on.

The UK was previously at the bottom of the Eurovision Song Contest, coming in last place in 2019 with Michael Rice’s Bigger Than Us.

Newman, whose Eurovision song Embers climbs the UK iTunes music chart, also spoke about next year’s Eurovision song contest and how the UK could do better.

He said, “I think, keep trying and keep giving your best efforts. Putting the best of Britain and showing Europe that we care about the Eurovision Song Contest.

“I think in other countries it’s a huge thing and we’ve kind of lost touch. Everyone was so behind me, I felt it. The support I have had from the UK has been incredible. I was so proud that everyone was behind me.

This year’s winners, Italian rock band Maneskin, made headlines after being forced to deny that their lead singer, Damiano David, took drugs in the final.

The group, who won with their song Zitti E Buoni, “strongly refuted the allegations of drug use” that emerged on social media after David appeared to lean over a table in the green competition room in front of the camera.

An investigation then concluded that he did not take drugs in the grand final, after returning a negative result on a test since Saturday’s event.

A statement from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said: “Following allegations of drug use in the green room of the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday 22 May, the EBU, at at the request of the Italian delegation, carried out a thorough examination of the facts, including verification of all available images.

“A drug test was also carried out voluntarily earlier today by the singer of the group Maneskin who returned a negative result seen by the EBU. No drug use took place in the green room and we consider the matter closed. “

The EBU said it was “alarmed that inaccurate speculation leading to false news has overshadowed the spirit and outcome of the event and unfairly affected the group.”

At a press conference after Maneskin’s victory, David denied using drugs and said he leaned over because another member of the group smashed a glass at their feet.