Fans in shock as UK entry Sam Ryder comes second in the Eurovision song contest

Fans took to social media to express their surprise and delight for the UK's Eurovision entry last night - especially when we came second in the contest.

Although dedicated fans wonder how to watch the Eurovision, they're not generally watching it with much hope of the UK actually winning. However, Sam Ryder took to the stage for the 66th edition of the annual songwriting competition and blew everyone away with the UK's entry Space Man.

The TikTok star and singer seemed to wow the rest of Europe too, as he was awarded numerous high scores from different countries - and fans were in shock, despite the UK only having odds of 8/1 to win.

After the judge's scores, the UK were in the lead - and fans expressed their delight on social media. One fan said on Twitter, "@SamRyderMusic's #Spaceman is awesome and his voice has real #FreddieMercury vibes, not surprised by how well he did, really well-deserved #Eurovision"

While another went on to say, "Hurrah for Sam Ryder and the team who did such a great job promoting our song. So lovely to find the UK are capable of winning Eurovision after all. And so heartwarming to see such solidarity from everyone in supporting Ukraine. What a message to send Putin. The best #eurovision"

Memes and videos were also shared by shocked UK viewers. While there was a peak of 10.6 million viewers tuning into the live show.

After votes via the public Eurovision, Ukraine ended up being the overall winner, but the UK still came in second. Sam Ryder's song Space Man is also riding high in the iTunes chart - after last night's success.

Just days before the event the Ukraine entry emerged as the odds-on favorite with several other nations following close behind. The UK's odds, just days ago to win, were 8/1 - which is much better than previous years. 

The Eurovision entry for Ukraine and winner of the contest this year was the Kalush Orchestra, a Ukrainian hip-hop group that, according to the Eurovision Song Contest website, incorporates both modern sounds and folk instruments into their work. 

The Ukrainian hip-hop group named themselves after the city of Kalush in Ukraine which is the hometown of band member Oleh Psuik, who is joined by Tymofii Muzychuk, Ihor Didenchuk, Vitalii Duzhyk, Oleksandr Slobodianyk, and Vlad Kurochka.