Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Sam Ryder delights Eurovision fans with impromptu performance on Liverpool docks

Sam Ryder performs in Liverpool town centre ahead of the semi-final of Eurovision Song Contest at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool (Peter Byrne/PA)
Sam Ryder performs in Liverpool town centre ahead of the semi-final of Eurovision Song Contest at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool (Peter Byrne/PA)

Sam Ryder wowed fans with an impromptu performance on Liverpool’s historic docks ahead of the next knock-out round at Eurovision.

The 33-year-old singer, who came second at last year’s contest in Turin with his track Space Man, performed a short set from the steps of the Grade l listed Albert Dock Traffic Office.

Dressed in a turquoise and green cardigan with a matching hair clip holding back his long blonde hair, he was accompanied by an acoustic guitarist.

Harking back to his days busking to strangers on the street, Ryder sung a cover of Queen’s Radio Ga Ga as well as his own songs Somebody and Mountain.

Eurovision 2023
Sam Ryder on the steps of the Albert Dock Traffic Office (Peter Byrne/PA)

An audience of hundreds comprising both Liverpudlians and Eurovision fans from across the world gathered after he put out a call on social media.

For his rendition of Radio Ga Ga, he changed the lyrics to reference Eurovision’s history before encouraging the crowd to take part in a call and response section.

He also called for a round of applause for the “legends” performing at Eurovision this year.

As he ended his set, rain began to fall heavily, although the crowd stayed to cheer his departure.

Eurovision 2023
A crowd of hundreds gathered to watch Sam Ryder in Liverpool (Peter Byrne/PA)

Beforehand two members of the Riverdance group, Jane from Liverpool and Anton from Ukraine, performed an impromptu routine to Cha Cha Cha by Finnish entrant Kaarija.

Ryder rose to fame as the British hopeful in Eurovision 2022 missing out on the top spot to Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra.

He has gone on to perform at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace, sing with members of Queen during a tribute concert for Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters at Wembley Stadium, and score a number one album.