Eurovision winner Cheryl Baker credits Sam Ryder with making contest ‘cool again’

Cheryl Baker says Sam Ryder’s stellar performance at last year’s Eurovision has reignited the UK’s passion for the annual singing competition.

The 33-year-old singer-songwriter from Essex won over a legion of new fans thanks to his charismatic performance in Turin, Italy, which saw him come in second place behind Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra.

Although it is customary for the winners to host the contest the following year, due to Ukraine’s ongoing conflict with Russia, the UK agreed to step in on their behalf.

While we are only hosting on a technicality, there is a lot of excitement around the live final, which is set to take place on May 13 in Liverpool – and ex-Eurovision winner Baker says a lot of that is down to Ryder.

Speaking to the Standard on behald of ICE 36, she said: “Sam was astonishing. He has brought back the passion that we lost over the years because we were getting nil points and coming in at the bottom five.

“We haven’t had a good enough song to win, we’ve had good songs that didn’t do very well and politics definitely don’t do us any favours for one reason or another, but he has turned all that around,” she continued.

Adding: “He has changed the face of Eurovision in the UK and he has made it cool again.”

Baker won the Eurovision as one fourth of group Bucks Fizz with the song Making Your Mind Up in Dublin, Ireland, back in 1981.

After their triumph, their song went to number one in nine countries and catapulted the group to worldwide fame with tours across the globe.

Baker went on to launch a successful career as a TV presenter and now performs with bandmates Mike Nolan and Jay Aston under the name The Fizz, after a legal dispute ruled they could no longer perform as Bucks Fizz.

She is also set to make a cameo in an upcoming Eurovision-themed episode of BBC soap EastEnders, which she says she is “thrilled” about.

Reflecting on what it meant to her to win Eurovision and how her life changed as a result, the East London-born singer said: “To win is pretty fantastic. It’s still the biggest day of my life. Five acts ever in the UK can say they won the Eurovision and I’m one of them.

“It gave me the chance to buy my mum and dad a house, I bought my own house, a big gold car, a boat… so it gave you monetary opportunities that I had never had before.

“It changed my life because I met my husband Steve while touring, we fell in love, got married, had two children... absolutely everything I am now is down to winning Eurovision.”

Weighing in on how she rates the UK’s chances this year with Mae Muller’s entry I Wrote A Song, Baker admitted that there was some “stiff opposition,” but thinks we could be in with a shot.

She said: “I think we’ll do well. For a start I think it’s a good song and she’ll perform it brilliantly. Plus, the host country generally does pretty well. I think that she will be up there, maybe top five.”