Eurovision viewers declare Hannah Waddingham ‘stole the show’ with her ‘unreal’ vocals

‘Whoever hired Hannah Waddingham for Eurovision should probably be made Director General of the BBC,’ fan tweeted

Ten acts went through to the Eurovision Grand Final on Tuesday (9 May), but it was Hannah Waddingham who won the night.

The Ted Lasso star took one-third of the semi-final hosting duties alongside Britain’s Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon and Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina.

The trio established a rapport from the off with many on social media praising Waddingham’s chemistry with Sanina.

In one segment between acts, Sanina taught the actor how to “rock out”, which culminated in perfecting “the ultimate rock note”.

Waddingham proceeded to blow fans away with a soaring acapella screech.

The actor has performed in a number of musicals over the years and her mother was an opera singer, as were both her maternal grandparents.

“Hannah Waddingham not only flexing her insane air guitar skills but her unreal singing voice,” a fan account for the actor tweeted alongside a clip of the moment.

“Hannah Waddingham is Petra Mede level of Eurovision hosting. Utterly sensational,” The Guardian’s Scott Bryan tweeted.

“Whoever hired Hannah Waddingham for Eurovision should probably be made Director General of the BBC,” said another.

In another segment, Waddingham read out a message about voting rules in French before concluding: “You see Europe, some of us Brits do bother to learn another language!”

“Hannah Waddingham speaking French has made me bisexual,” one fan joked.

“Just a little teeny tiny message for all residents of Europe: a vote for the UK on Saturday is a vote for Hannah Waddingham to host again next year. Just saying,” tweeted another.

“Brilliant start to #Eurovision but it was Hannah Waddingham who stole the show!” wrote a third.

Tuesday night’s semi-final saw 15 countries compete for a spot in the Grand Final.

The 10 acts to progress included this year’s favourite, Sweden (Loreen singing “Tattoo”), Finland, Norway, Israel, Serbia, Portugal, Croatia, Switzerland, Moldova and Czechia.

Meanwhile, the five countries with the lowest number of votes and therefore out of the competition were: Malta, Latvia, Ireland, Azerbaijan and Netherlands.

The next semi-final will take place on Thursday (11 May) ahead of the Grand Final on Saturday (13 May).

You can find out more information about how to watch Eurovision here.