Eurovision Fans Left in Tears Following Paul O’Grady’s Posthumous Cameo

The Eurovision semifinals kicked off on 9 May and fans were immediately greeted with an emotional tribute to the late Paul O'Grady. The comedian, who sadly passed away at the age of 67 on 28 March, made a posthumous cameo during the opening credits of the first semifinal which included a video celebrating the host city Liverpool.

O'Grady, who rose to fame as a trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ community as drag artist Lily Savage (with her wig even being carried at his funeral), was remembered during the show as he featured alongside one of his beloved dogs during the "Welcome to Liverpool" film. Marking the TV icon's final performance, the short film also showed a boy from the maritime city realising that his hometown would be hosting the competition on behalf of Ukraine this year.

As well as the Merseyside-born media personality appearing in the video, "The Great British Bake Off"'s Paul Hollywood, Ukrainian "Strictly Come Dancing" dancer Nikita Kuzmin, and King Charles and Queen Camilla showed their support. But it was O'Grady's performance in particular which caused viewers to shed a tear as his cheeky smile lit up their screens once more.

"Nobody told me the #Eurovision semi-finals would be so emosh," wrote one viewer, as they took to Twitter to share their reaction to the tribute. "Just started bawling seeing Paul O'Grady in the opening of the Eurovision Semi Final," another added, while a third wrote: "Wasn't quite ready for Paul O'Grady in the opening to #eurovision."

The Eurovision semifinals will be returning on 11 May, hosted by Alesha Dixon, Julia Sanina, and Hannah Waddingham, who already made quite the impression during the first semifinal show. They will then join Graham Norton for the Eurovision final on Saturday, 13 May. Watch O'Grady's cameo below.