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Olly Alexander's dad responds to Eurovision criticism

Monday, 13 May 2024 12:28

By Esmee Howie

Harrogate's Olly Alexander at Eurovision 2024.

The dad of Harrogate's Olly Alexander has defended his son after criticism for his performance at Eurovision.

Olly Alexander was the United Kingdom's representative for the 68th Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night (11th May).

But his performance of 'Dizzy' received zero points from the public vote and saw him finish with just 46 points in total.

The Years and Years singer, 33, has since received a lot of criticism online - particularly on Twitter, where his performance has been branded "embarrassing", "weak" and "off-key."

But Olly's dad, David Thornton, from Sheffield, was shocked at the public's reaction.

He claims he "enjoyed every moment of it" and that it was a great learning experience for his son.

David said:

"It's one more step to wherever he's going.

"To me it's a real surprise the public didn't sort of connect with that song, though the juries gave it a really good score."

Olly himself also responded to the backlash on ITV's Lorraine. He said:

"I had a slight wardrobe malfunction.

"My mic pack fell off and had to improvise but that's fine it's live TV, it happens."

Olly placed 18th at Eurovision whilst Swiss singer Nemo won the contest with 591 points after 'The Code' - a mix of opera and hip-hop.

They are the first non-binary artist to win Eurovision.

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