United Kingdom UNITED KINGDOM 2022 - Sam Ryder - Space Man

[escYOUnited]

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 centre of my lonely universe
But I'm only human, and I'm crashing down to earth

If I was an astronaut, I'd have a bird's eye view
I'd circle 'round the world and keep on coming back to you
In my floating castle, I'd rub shoulders with the stars
But I'm only human, and I'm drifting in the dark

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 want to 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'd 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 want to 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, man, no
Oh, I'm in the wrong place, man
Nothing but, nothing but, nothing but space, man
Nothing but, nothing but, nothing but space, man

I've searched around the universe
Been down some black holes
Nothing but space, man
And I want to go home​

 

[HarryUK]

Proof will be in the pudding at the first rehearsal but I really hope the BBC staying away from staging and giving Sam more control than they've been willing to give to any previous UK ESC entrant in recent years works. The only UK staging I've liked in recent years is 2017, and I'm going back to the 00s here lol

 

[ArmpitOfEurope]

Well, looking at Cyprus, Shipton & Dietmann (stage directors) are looking pretty much on it this year. Might give some extra hope for the UK, as they are their stage directors as well.

The cypriot staging is very characteristic of the greek mythology, its connected to Goddess Aphrodite. It doesnt mean Sam will have a similar prop and I dont think it would suit Spaceman ( too static ). For me the use of a kinetic sun could seem very fitting to Spaceman so Im a bit worried for Uk.

 

[Chrisiam]

Well regardless of which it was based on there is going to need to be some tweaking done to it, as is the case with all the acts. By the looks of things his staging is more prop heavy than it will be reliant on the LEDs. But this all depends on what the hosts are able to do about the sun situation.

All I know is that Sam is a great singer and a charismatic performance. And I hope that shines through and he doesn't end up getting trapped in this cage thing they seem to have.

 

[ArmpitOfEurope]

My prediction is that he will be inside that triangular prism ( supposed to be an ufo ) and it will open and he will get out on the stage like he just arrived and the rest will be based on the led screens.

 

[ChiversLookDivine]

The cypriot staging is very characteristic of the greek mythology, its connected to Goddess Aphrodite. It doesnt mean Sam will have a similar prop and I dont think it would suit Spaceman ( too static ). For me the use of a kinetic sun could seem very fitting to Spaceman so Im a bit worried for Uk.

The discussion of Shipton & Dietmann producing great staging for Austria/Cyprus/Israel and others so far isn't @Zeus saying that the UK are borrowing Cyprus's props.

As others have pointed out, Dietmann has done well to reduce the effect of the 'sun' for the performers he's staging for. In Austria's performance the lighting was used so well you'd barely know the sun was there, and Cyprus/Israel have gone with other elements to focus on. The UK is probably the same, and I imagine the performance would have used the lighting side of the sun anyway (since it's space-like).

 

[ChiversLookDivine]

If I was to predict the staging, there are a few directions it might be heading in. Some have speculated that the black bars on the leaked 'prism' and the high angle in that leaked video suggest that the staging could rise upwards into the air a little like Austria 2018. As @ArmpitOfEurope says there is also the 'pod' aspect, but since the 3-minute cut starts abruptly from 0:00 I doubt there will be an opening transition like that. From the leak we saw and the way the prism glowed and shone I wonder if we might see some light effects like projections or something.

Either way I am excited though, as others have said Dietmann & Shipton have been really on it in 2022 so far. On top of that I was reminded of the "one to watch" comment Twan made back in April and just hoping that something really creative and unique is shown off on Thursday. Fingers crossed we planned to use the lighting side of the sun anyway like a few other countries that haven't been too affected by the broken sun (the leaked footage looked fairly dark at least), but honestly as long as it shows a modicum of thought and creativity I will be far happier than what we got in 2018-2021. That it appears to have been teased as far back as the March appearance on The One Show fills me with a little hope too.

 

[Leydan]

Watch ours be the exception to the Dietmann & Shipton apparent success and the staging look like dog shit because it's so LED reliant. Can see it now x

 

[Chrisiam]

I'm not sure to be honest. Given that the cage seems to be a massive part of the performance I'm not sure it will be all that LED heavy. As I feel that it will look better with the light bouncing off it rather than some ornate LED backdrop. But that depends on what else there is. There might be other elements for it, augmented reality, lasers, holograms, could be any number of things in the mix that aren't so reliant on the LEDs, but we'll find out before too long.

 

[jeriswani]

From the technical rehearsal leak that we got the LED screen on the back looked like it was all black and heavily reliant on the lights. The sun was also definitely not on the LED side.

 

[HarryUK]

The staging looks INCREDIBLE by all accounts. Sam's also brought in the 'nothing but nothing but' ending to the song, which I was praying he'd bring back!!!

 

[cripesdude]

From the live blog:

"Aaaand we have the biggest prop of the contest so far – a metal structure made up of three enormous wings, like something off the set of a sci-fi movie. For scale, each section is bigger than Australia’s staircase, maybe four or five metres high? Sam’s on an illuminated circular plinth in the middle wearing a black outfit with silver trainers, giving it HUGE vocals as the structure lights up, then finally opens up. It’s visually really impressive, and Sam does a great job of connecting with the cameras too.

The final twenty seconds of this takes a turn from the recorded version, and provides an EPIC finale. Very well played, United Kingdom."

 

[ChiversLookDivine]

I'm still going to need pictures, but this sounds like Top 5 material.

Maybe.

Still trying not to get ahead of myself but the dam is close to breaking for me.

 

[TB98]

I really hope Sam is to the UK what Anouk was to the Netherlands. It's about time UK wakes up and starts taking this seriously. Hopefully 2022 will be the kick to a new era for the UK at Eurovision. Can't wait for the staging.

 

[Rocket man]

This year is the first year where I'm actually relaxed about the UK staging, I have faith in Sam and his team.

 

[MopManMoss]

Usually i am against big props but given the state of the stage and how samey most of the performances look I think this could actually work pretty well? obviously need to see it in motion

 

[Synergise]

I'm getting my hopes up here. I know it's only one photo, but this looks incredible.

 

[jeriswani]

deleted

 

[Ajeje Brazorf]

This year is the first year where I'm actually relaxed about the UK staging, I have faith in Sam and his team.

When someone has a great voice and a very good song it's really difficult he fails. I have Uk in my top 10, so I really hope the performance is top like his recent performances. To be honest, I'm not afraid: I know it will.

 

[jeriswani]

Oh my…

 

[Ajeje Brazorf]

Oh my!

My God, the lights are gorgeous...