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​The Moment An Angry Stage Invader Ruined England's Eurovision Performance

​The Moment An Angry Stage Invader Ruined England's Eurovision Performance

SuRie performed 'Storm' in Lisbon back in 2018, but had her performance interrupted by a stage invader

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

As Eurovision returns this year after a year off due to the pandemic, let's just hope things go better for the performers than they did for SuRie, who represented the UK back in 2018 - when a stage invader stole the limelight and left the singer suffering from PTSD.

SuRie, whose real name is Susanna Marie Cork, took to the stage in Lisbon, Portugal, during the May 2018 competition, treating the audience in the Altice Arena and viewers at home to her rendition of 'Storm'.

However, midway through her performance, a stage invader ran onto the stage, shouting into a microphone: "Modern Nazis of the UK media, we demand freedom, war is not peace."

The moment left SuRie visibly shaken, but she carried on and finished the song.

She was also offered a second chance to sing, but declined.

Jose Sena Goulao/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

PA

Speaking on This Morning shortly after, SuRie recalled: "There wasn't any time to feel fear. There wasn't. 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, the backing vocalists were still singing, the crowd were still chanting."

She said she suffered a sore shoulder and 'a couple of bruises' on her hand from the incident, adding: "But I'm okay."

But in 2019, the singer - who is now 32 - spoke out about how she was later diagnosed with PTSD as a result of what happened, and found it hard to perform again.

PA

Speaking to the Daily Star, she said: "I was composed on stage. But once I was off stage the emotions really hit - the shock, the fear, the confusion, the anger. I had a very physical reaction. I was livid.

"It was quite a traumatic thing to go through.

"Everything is always so heightened at Eurovision, even when things go smoothly.

"So when they don't go smoothly, something like that can have a huge impact. And that impact lasted for a little while after. I kept thinking everything was fine. But I wasn't fine. I was getting quite emotional at gigs."

She continued: "It affected my everyday life. When people approached me, I found it quite worrying.

"And I wasn't sleeping very well.

SuRie in 2019.
PA

"I was diagnosed with PTSD. When the doctor said that I thought, 'Come on, it's Eurovision - this isn't a war zone.'

"But he explained that what happened to me was so abnormal that it had really affected me."

She added: "I don't approve of what he [the stage invader] did. But I try to see the good in everyone.

"I can forgive what he did. I don't want to carry it around anymore."

Featured Image Credit: Jose Sena Goulao/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Topics: Entertainment, Music, Eurovision