Eurovision: SuRie left 'bruised' after stage invasion

SuRie has revealed she has some bruises on her hands after a man invaded the stage during her Eurovision performance on Saturday.

The man grabbed the microphone while the singer, representing the UK in the contest, was performing Storm.

SuRie told ITV's This Morning: "There's a couple of bruises from where I was holding the mic. But I'm OK."

She said she was also hurt on her shoulder from where the man had barged into her.

"There wasn't any time to feel fear," she said.

"He was suddenly there, security were on him as quick as he was on me, he got the mic for a few seconds, that was out of my hands, but the song was still going.

SuRie was speaking on ITV's This Morning on Monday

"The backing vocalists were still singing, the crowd was still chanting, so I just turned upstage for a moment but I was still clapping and cheering with the crowd, I just didn't have the mic.

"I turned back and saw the mic on the floor, and I thought, 'well that's mine', I'll finish this song."

She added that the invasion gave her a new lease of life to finish the song.

'Really proud'

"You can see it in my eyes for the last part of the song," SuRie told hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby. "You can see the determination to finish the song.

"As you say, the lyrics took on a new meaning - 'Hold your head up, don't give up' - and the crowd, the surge from then, that's my lasting memory from this."

The singer was offered the chance to perform the song again, but declined after discussing it with her team.

"We had that conversation, but I was really proud of that performance," she explained. "And you work up to that moment.

"You don't get to do the 100m sprint at the Olympics again because your shoelace is untied or something. You had that one shot and that was my moment, and we didn't need to repeat that.

"We had those conversations backstage, I saw the reaction and faces of my team, who were very proud of the recovery and the power of that, and we didn't need to go again."

'Love and support'

Schofield commented he was expecting the singer to benefit from a "sympathy vote" after her performance was interrupted, adding he was surprised she finished 24th out of 26.

"I don't need the sympathy vote," SuRie replied.

"The point of the Eurovision Song Contest is it began a few years after World War Two when everyone's reeling from grief and sadness and fear, and they bring nations together to sing their way out of it.

"It's such an amazing thing to be a part of, it really is. And my leaderboard for the night is the Twitter feed, the Instagram feed that I've had, with the love and support from so many people.

"And especially the UK crowd who have rallied around me and said 'We've got your back, we're proud of you, we support you'."