OLLY Alexander spoke openly about the stress that Eurovision had caused him after struggling with technical difficulties.
The Years & Years star is representing the UK in the legendary singing competition.
Olly performed his song Dizzy for the semi-finals, but many viewers complained that the sound was muffled and they could not hear him.
After the backlash, he has taken to Instagram to talk about the difficulties he faced during his performance.
With teary eyes he told fans that he was “stressed” after a massive technical blunder.
“Eurovision update! Semi-final one was last night. I performed, it was good. My mic pack fell out halfway through the performance so I had to catch it and it just kind of threw me off,” he said.
“I was just worried. There were elements of the routine that I couldn’t really do as well as I would have liked.
“I was quite stressed that my pack was going to just fall of entirely and that my in-ears were going to… anyway. It doesn’t matter,” he said shaking his head.
“That is the thrill of live music, live television, anything can happen,” he grinned.
He went on to praise the other contestants and said how it was “heartbreaking” to see people leave the competition.
Eurovision Song Contest entries 2024
Here are all of the acts taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Finalists:
- United Kingdom: Olly Alexander – Dizzy
- Sweden: Marcus & Martinus – Unforgettable (2023 winning country)
- France: Slimane – Mon amour
- Germany: ISAAK – Always On The Run
- Italy: Angelina Mango – La Noia
- Spain: Nebulossa – ZORRA
- Serbia: TEYA DORA – RAMONDA
- Portugal: iolanda – Grito
- Slovenia: Raiven – Veronika
- Lithuania: Silvester Belt – Luktelk
- Ireland: Bambie Thug – Doomsday Blue
- Ukraine: alyona alyona & Jerry Heil – Teresa & Maria
- Luxembourg: TALI – Fighter
- Finland: Windows95man – No Rules!
- Croatia: Baby Lasagna – Rim Tim Tagi Dim
- Cyprus: Silia Kapsis – Liar
Semi-finalists:
- Malta: Sarah Bonnici – Loop
- Albania : BESA – TITAN
- Greece: Marina Satti – ZARI
- Switzerland: Nemo – The Code
- Czechia: Aiko – Pedestal
- Austria: Kaleen – We Will Rave
- Denmark: SABA – SAND
- Armenia: LADANIVA – Jako
- Latvia: Dons – Hollow
- San Marino: MEGARA – 11:11
- Georgia: Nutsa Buzaladze – Firefighter
- Belgium: Mustii – Before The Party’s Over
- Estonia: 5MIINUST x Puuluup – (nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi
- Israel: Eden Golan – Hurricane
- Norway: Gåte – Ulveham
- Netherlands: Joost Klein – Europapa
Out:
- Poland: LUNA – The Tower
- Iceland: Hera Björk – Scared of Heights
- Moldova: Natalia Barbu – In The Middle
- Azerbaijan: FAHREE feat. Ilkin Dovlatov – Özünlə Apar
- Australia: Electric Fields – One Milkali (One Blood)
“I’m just quite tired really. I’m tired in a deep emotional and spiritual level,” he told fans.
After Olly’s most recent performance, one viewer wrote: “Much as I want UK to do well at Eurovision, our choice of Olly Alexander singing while crashing around inside a box isn’t going to produce outstanding live vocals. Dodgy sound all round at SemiFinals 1, hope it’s better for SemiFinals2 and Grand Finals…”
Another wrote: “Watching Olly Alexander’s performance, Great staging, the singing/sound was not great at all…”
However, some fans flocked to reassure the singer on Instagram.
One person shared: “Loved the staging & song, dropped his mic pack & carried on like a pro!”
A second gushed: “THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!! People just trying to discredit the totally epic staging and song! .. yes he sounded a little breathy in places but overall … that was just incredible !!!!!! Best staging of the night!”
Olly, 33, has had five Top Ten hits, Bafta and Brit nominations and even his own waxwork at Madame Tussauds.
But his path to fame hasn’t been easy. He was relentlessly bullied when he was a child for his sexuality.
“At school I was picked on and I just felt like something was wrong with me, like I was just different from other people in a way that was really bad,” he said.
“People would make fun of me and call me gay even before I had any idea of my sexuality.
“But music and performing and drama, like, the weirder you were, the more unique you were. It kind of worked in your favour.
“If you stood out, people remembered you, and I’m actually really good at something. I have this secret power. So I really just followed that feeling and I haven’t stopped.”
He delivered a boxing-themed dystopian performance which he teased as being “really gay” in a bid to promote equality.
He and his backing dancers first started rehearsing the sexy routine two months ago.
“You know, for a lot of people, it’s not safe for them to be themselves, not safe for them to express their sexuality. I’m really lucky that I can, and I can do that in this really big, bold way,” he said.
