THE UK has been branded an embarrassment after presenter Amanda Holden boasted she couldn't tell the difference between saying hello in French and Dutch as she appeared at the final of the Eurovision song contest.

She made the gaffe when she was tasked with delivering the UK's jury's result on the last night of the competition hosed in Rotterdam.

Appearing from London to address viewers and the show's international participants, the Britain's Got Talent judge said: "Bon soir. Goedenavond. That is good evening in French and Dutch although I've got absolutely no idea which is which."

In contrast, ten year old Manolis Gkinis from Greece delivered his country's result in fluent English.

The UK ended up coming last for a second time in a row in the competition with many viewers concluding the result reflected its unpopularity in many parts of the world.

Former Scottish government culture secretary Fiona Hyslop wrote on Twitter: "Nil Points for UK and Amanda Holden thinking it funny to say she doesn’t know difference between French and Dutch #Embarrassing."

Thea Butler wrote on Twitter this morning: "How are people surprised that we come last when Amanda Holden literally said two words in different languages, laughed about it, and then said she didn’t understand what languages she just spoke? Disrespect earns disrespect."

Messenger Newspapers:

Italian band Maneskin won the competition 

Nazir Afzal, a former chief prosecutor and author, tweeted: "UK getting No Points was not half as bad as Amanda Holden telling the whole of Europe that she doesn’t know one European language from another We looked like stereotypical ignorant arrogant Brits Thank you & Bonne Nuit x."

UK Twitter user Catherine Baker highlighted Holden's ignorance: "Yes that is a UK spokesperson going live on air to the whole of Europe and making a joke about not being able to tell French from Dutch #Eurovision."

Another viewer remarked on the different approaches between Holden and Gkinis.

Ryan Latto tweeted: "Eurovision 2021  the Greek spokesperson, 10 years old, had a better grasp of different languages than Amanda Holden..."

Linguist Dr Clare Hardaker wrote on Twitter this morning: "Welp, Eurovision was punctuated by a linguistics controversy last night.

"Amanda Holden came on for the UK and quipped, "Bon soir. Goedenavond. That is good evening in French and Dutch although I've got absolutely no idea which is which.

"And given that she's topping the trending list this morning, safe to say that it got a fairly negative response. Why?

"Well, people have pointed out that (feigning?!) ignorance of the languages your continental neighbours speak makes you seem insular, and, well, ignorant.

"And others noted that it was reminiscent of the cringy "them funny foreigners all sound the same to me" racism from our not-so-distant-past, founded on colonialist ideas of UK exceptionalism versus 'that foreign lot' who weren't worth understanding or learning about.

"Ive pointed out before that notions of linguistic superiority are deeply rooted in racism, classism, ableism, and more, but in a continent-wide competition about bringing European countries together in celebration, this (pseudo?) ignorance clanged particularly badly.

"Instead of coming across as a charming 'aren't I daft, me' joke (which would be rather tedious anyway), lots of the UK audience cringed into their sofas in the expectation that it was perceived as a tiny vignette of insular attitudes that have shaped and driven Brexit." 

Viewers also took to Twitter to point out the UK's unpopularity after its entry came last in the contest.

James Newman scored zero points after his performance of his song Embers. 

It is the second time in a row that the UK has ended the contest with no points.
Italy's pop-rock Maneskin triumphed with France coming second in the competition which was held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands last night. 

Other top performances came from Switzerland, Iceland, Russia and Lithuania.
People watching across Scotland and the UK swiftly noted that the UK's result in the competition reflected its unpopularity among the other 25 countries taking part.

Journalist Lesley Riddoch wrote on Twitter this morning: "Eurovision was as life-affirmingly barking as ever. Silken Italian punks were elegantly defiant. Iceland was happy and cool. France/Switzerland songs were belters. And Brexited Britain is now clearly Johnny no mates. Ah well."

Journalist James Doleman tweeted : "The United Kingdom gets from the public, zero points" and added: "Feeling sorry for that poor guy now."

Actor Dan Stevens, who played the Russian contestant Alexander Lemtov in the film Eurovision, highlighted a quote from his character in the movie.

Stevens tweeted: "Called it" and referred to Lemtov's words in the popular film: "She's quite good but everybody hates the UK, so zero points."

Journalist Adam Ramsay tweeted: Can’t wait for Scotland to take our rightful place on the stage at #Eurovision. It’s gonna be amazing."

Jack O’Neil tweeted: "An independent Scotland would’ve won Eurovision.".

The results were: 
Italy - 524
France- 499
Switzerland - 432
Iceland- 378
Ukraine- 364
Finland - 301
Malta - 255
Lithuania - 220
Russia - 204
Greece - 170
Bulgaria - 170
Portugal - 153
Moldova - 115
Sweden - 109
Serbia - 109
Cyprus- 94
Israel - 93
Norway - 75
Belgium - 74
Azerbaijan - 65
Albania - 57
San Marino - 50
Netherlands - 11
Spain - 6
Germany - 3
United Kingdom - 0