Olly Alexander took to the stage for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 on Saturday night to represent the UK, with some viewers left confused by an apparent audio issue

Eurovision fans tuning into the 2024 contest live on Saturday night saw Olly Alexander take to the stage in his bid to win the competition.

But some viewers were left a little puzzled, claiming something “wasn’t right” with the performance. The singer, representing the UK in the competition, put everything into his performance after criticism just days ago during the semi-final.

Olly performed his track Dizzy for the crowd, as he put the recent drama behind him. Many viewers watching Olly were backing the star, saying he “smashed it” as his song came to an end.

But some fans were a little confused after noticing an apparent sound issue, with viewers commenting that they could not hear the track. As Olly sang his heart out, several fans questioned if something was wrong, as the microphone or audio appeared to be quiet.

Taking to X, one fan posted: “I think Olly (United Kingdom) mic failed again like it did in rehearsal.” Another added: “Just me or was Olly’s mic turned down what happened?”

A third fan posted: “I have loved Olly for years! But why didn’t they turn his mic up? And that box thing was so distracting.” A fourth viewer commented: “Have they turned Olly’s mic down?!” as another comment read: “Did they turn the volume down on Olly’s mic?”

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Eurovision fans tuning into the 2024 contest live on Saturday night saw Olly Alexander take to the stage (
Image:
AP)
Olly’s performance comes days after he received criticism after viewers at home watched his performance at the semi-final, and slammed his ‘poor singing’. He later revealed his microphone pack fell off during his performance which “threw him off”.

He took to Instagram to speak about feeling “tired” in a video and discussed acts having not qualified for the upcoming final. Olly explained: “Eurovision updates. Semi-final one was last night. I performed – it was … it was good. I had a slight … well, my mic pack fell out halfway through the performance so I had to catch it and … just … it kind of threw me off.

“There were elements of the routine I couldn’t really do as well as I’d have liked. I was quite stressed that my pack was gonna fall off entirely and my in-eyes were gonna … anyway, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. That is the thrill of live music, live television – anything can happen,” he continued.

It comes as the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced a number of changes to the grand final after the disqualification of Dutch act Joost Klein. The singer was confirmed to be missing the final ahead of it taking place, while Swedish police investigate a complaint of inappropriate behaviour, the European Broadcasting Union said.

A statement from the EBU said: “The Dutch artist Joost Klein will not be competing in the Grand Final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Swedish police have investigated a complaint made by a female member of the production crew after an incident following his performance in Thursday night’s Semi Final.

“While the legal process takes its course, it would not be appropriate for him to continue in the Contest. We would like to make it clear that, contrary to some media reports and social media speculation, this incident did not involve any other performer or delegation member.

“We maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate behaviour at our event and are committed to providing a safe and secure working environment for all staff at the Contest. In light of this, Joost Klein’s behaviour towards a team member is deemed in breach of Contest rules. The Grand Final of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest will now proceed with 25 participating songs.”

As for the changes, the organisers of Eurovision have said that all contestants would keep their official running order. According to the EBU, the jury results received after dress rehearsal number two on Friday had been recalculated, so that the Netherlands would not receive any points.

Jury members rank all songs from one to 26 – there are now 25 performers. This means that if the Netherlands was ranked ninth by a national jury in any country, the 10th ranked song would move down to number nine.

It was confirmed that during the grand final no points would be awarded to the Netherlands from the viewing public and the country would not appear on the scoreboard. Dutch viewers are still allowed to vote in the grand final and the Dutch jury result is still valid.