Rylan Clark and Scott Mills took to the microphone to provide commentary for the BBC during the Tuesday night semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest live from Malmo in Sweden and fans were loving their double act. The pair lent their voices to the show as 16 acts went head to head to try and get a place in the final this coming Saturday (May 11).
One moment that particularly endeared them to viewers was their introduction of Australia, who failed to qualify for the final. In keeping with what has become an annual tradition they managed to include a reference to Oz sitcom Kath and Kim.
“You will gasp when you see the size of that didgeridoo when it comes up,” they said. “It’s huge.”
The pair won’t be commentating the main event on Saturday night as that honour rests with Graham Norton.
However fans were delighted with their work on the qualifier and took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their feelings. @amanda_erica gushed: “Love you @scott_mills & @Rylan, doing a lush job as always #Eurovision2024 #Eurovision #EurovisionSongContest @bbceurovision.”
@annie2497 enthused: “Watching #eurovision in Plymouth. amazing show and Olly smashed it. loving the commentary @Rylan and @scott_mills.” @Rick_Turner opined: “The French announcers aren’t a patch on our Rylan and Scott #Eurovision.”
@BigBadDaveB had a favourite between the two writing: “Rylan is engaging and quite amusing. Scott Mills, not so much.#Eurovision #Malmo #Eurovision2024.”
@SurajG was delighted with the acknowledgement of the Australian comedy writing: “Love @Rylan getting a Kath and Kim reference in every year #eurovision.”
@__Anastazia shared a picture from Kath and Kim and laughed: “Not Rylan and Scott referencing this when introducing #Australia #eurovision.”
Meanwhile @chigworld joked: “To be honest, Scott, you built that up and it wasn’t as big as I expected. (Sorry if you’ve heard that before) #didgeridoo #Eurovision @Eurovision #Australia @scott_mills @Rylan @grahnort.”
In a Eurovision first, the pair got to discuss the UK entrant Olly Alexander’s performance tonight.
The UK is one of the “big five” financiers of Eurovision along with France, Germany, Italy and Spain and they automatically qualify for the contest alongside the previous year’s winning country – in this case Sweden.
This means the UK’s entry isn’t usually heard until the final. However, a shake-up this year meant that all acts get to perform their tracks at the semi-finals – the second of which takes place on Thursday (May 9) – but those who have already qualified aren’t competing for votes.
The Eurovision Song Contest takes place on Saturday May 11 and will air on BBC One from 8pm.
