Rylan and Roman Kemp clash over Eurovision acts entering twice

rylan clark
Rylan and Roman Kemp clash over Eurovision winnerGetty Images

Year after year, the Eurovision Song Contest proves to generate buzz, backlash and banter, as a Twitter conversation between Rylan and Roman Kemp confirmed.

Following the international event hosted in the UK last week, the presenter and the DJ shared their opposite views about acts entering the competition more than once.

The debate stemmed from Swedish act Loreen bagging her second win with 'Tattoo,' thus becoming the first female artist to win the Eurovision twice after her 2012 win with 'Euphoria'.

loreen holds the eurovision 2023 trophy after her win for sweden
Oli Scarff - Getty Images

On May 14, Kemp shared a tweet, revealing he's not a fan of artists entering the ESC twice.

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"Just gonna say this… if you've won it before I don't think you should be able perform again," he wrote.

The radio host's view prompted Rylan to explain why he thinks it makes sense for singers to be allowed to enter multiple times.

"Look at it this way. It's not like someone re entering X Factor again… this is the World Cup of music. Like saying Argentina can't enter again because they won last year," the former Strictly: It Takes Two host commented.

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Getty Images

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Kemp wasn't completely sold, admitting he wasn't aware re-entering was possible and assuming that the contest's purpose was to give a platform to relatively newer artists.

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"Not entirely the same but get your point. I just wasn't aware that re-entering was a done thing. Thought it was meant to be about emerging artists and birthing new talent each year," he noted.

In line with the Eurovision spirit, the two found some common ground and the jokey debate ended in a laugh.

"Just be thankful I've not entered x," Rylan wrote, hinting at his own singing career and X Factor stint in 2012, to which Kemp replied: "I would actually love that x".

The Eurovision Song Contest airs on BBC One.

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