Space Man (often stylized as SPACE MAN) was the United Kingdom entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin performed by Sam Ryder.
As a member of the Big Five, the United Kingdom was already qualified for the final, and Sam previewed his song during the second semifinal along with those from Germany and Spain. In the final, it was performed 22nd following Australia and preceding Poland. At the close of voting, it finished in 2nd place with 466 points, an incredible turnaround from the double "nul points" of the year before, also winning the jury vote. In addition, it is the best result for a UK entry in the 21st century and the country's best finish since 1998.
Lyrics[]
If I was an astronaut
I'd be floating in mid-air
And a broken heart would just belong
To someone else down there
I would be the center
Of my lonely universe
But I’m only human
And I'm crashing down to earth
I'm up in space, man
Up in space, man
I’ve searched around the universe
Been down some black holes
There's nothing but space, man
And I wanna go home
If I was an astronaut
I'd speak to satellites
My navigation systems
Would search for other life
But I'd be up here thinking
'Bout what I left behind
'Cause I'm only human
With the real world on my mind
I'm up in space, man
Up in space, man
I’ve searched around the universe
Been down some black holes
There’s nothing but space, man
And I wanna go home
Gravity keeps pulling me down
As long as you're on the ground I’ll stick around
Stick around
I'll stick around
I'm up in space, man
Up in space, man
I've searched around the universe
Been down some black holes
There's nothing but space...
I've searched around the universe
Been down some black holes
Nothing but space, man
And I wanna go home
Trivia[]
- According to Sam, the song took about 15 minutes to write.
- He wrote the climactic guitar solo part for the live performance about 2 weeks prior to leaving for Turin.
- The UK delegation brought the largest prop of any of the participants for Sam's performance. It was brought over to the mainland via ferry, then transported the rest of the way to Italy by truck.
- The song was featured in EastEnders, Coronation Street and Love Island UK.
- It won the Press Award at the 2022 Marcel Bezençon Awards for the best song in the grand final, the first time the United Kingdom had won in any category.
- The song earned more points than all UK entries between 2010 and 2021 combined.
- The video for the song was filmed in Budapest, Hungary. His live-on-tape backup was filmed in Sofia.
- It debuted at #2 on the UK chart, the highest-charting UK Eurovision entry since Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit in 1996. It is also the highest-charting UK Eurovision entry of the 21st century.
- Aerial duo Duo Odyssey performed a routine to the song for their audition during the 16th season of Britain's Got Talent.
- Aerial hula hoop artist Grace Good performed her routine to the song during the preliminary rounds of America's Got Talent: Fantasy League.
- Aside from the original studio version, Sam also released the Eurovision edit of the song as well as a special version in honor of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, which he performed at the Platinum Party at the Palace concert on 4 June 2022.
Videos[]
