A wish for peace at the beginning: With a huge “Give Peace A Chance” choir, intoned on a square in downtown Turin and by around 8,000 visitors in the Arena Palasport Olimpico, the 66th Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) was opened. Of course, last year’s winners Måneskin shouldn’t be missing this evening; they have a guest appearance with their new song “Supermodel”. But later. First Laura Pausini (known to us above all from the hit “La solitudine” from 1993) was allowed to sing a medley. And it became a piece of peace or a wish for peace: “Mother, sing me the lullaby . . . I would like to hear your kind words,” says the Kalush Orchestra’s “Stefania”. Although written in 2021, it has a new meaning. Europe showed solidarity with the country, which was stricken by the Russian war of aggression, by telephone and SMS. For the people of Ukraine, the winning song has become a liberation anthem; the Ukrainian
Eisenbahn has named a train after the winning song “Stefania”.
As in the two semifinals, the Italian Grammy winner led through the biggest TV show in the world, alongside pop star Mika (“Grace Kelly”) and TV presenter Alessandro Cattelan. At this point, the EBU (organizer of the ESC) already knew the winner of the expert jury rating (where Austria’s Cesár Sampson was in first place with “Nobody But You” in Lisbon in 2019 … and then fell back to bronze due to televoting.)
Because the experts give their ratings on the previous evenings. At the so-called “Jury Shows”: Simone (10th place in Zagreb in 1990 with “Keine Mauern mehr”, since then hits like “Wahre Liebe”), bandleader and music producer Wolfgang Lindner, newcomer Tina Naderer, Austro-Islander and amazing voice Thorsteinn Einarsson (” The Great Chance” on ORF, radio hits like “Kryptonite”) and the Amadeus Award winner “Die Mayerin”, which is sponsored by the ORF entertainment department but is hardly known to the public.
surprise, isn’t it? The EBU already knows the rating of the five expert jurors (singers, music producers, specialist journalists, etc.) from all 40 countries, which were awarded on Friday evening at the dress rehearsal (officially: jury voting show) and sent to Turin. Like Austria, those countries that were eliminated in a semi-final are also entitled to vote.
Ukraine and her folk rap “Stefania” by the motley crew Kalush Orchestra is followed in the betting shops by British candidate Sam Ryder with his glam-pop title “Space Man”. The 32-year-old is vocally a force!
Swedish singer Cornelia Jakobs came in third with her sad love song “Hold Me Closer”. Fourth place for the bookmakers is Italy’s love duet “Brividi” (in English: “shudder”), Spain is in fifth place (Chanel’s hot choreography is more striking than the composition) and sixth is the extraordinary contribution from Serbia (“In corpore sano”). If only the ORF had hired a few dancers for DJ Lumix & Pia Maria, but they didn’t want that. Belgium, Lithuania and Germany brought up the rear in the final.
Despite everything, it will be exciting! The first two starting numbers brought a good mood to the hall. It started with electro sound from the Czech Republic by the trio “We Are Domi”, followed by the Romanians WRS, who despite the choreography in “Llámame” (translated: “Call me”) didn’t break a sweat. Or was it the perfect makeup? In the semi-finals you could even see beads of sweat in the ballad performers.
Finland swims with the rockers of “The Rasmus”, who had a world hit with “In The Shadows” (long ago: 2003), in the wake of last year’s winners. Shirtless included. The Swiss Marius Bear sang about the fact that men and boys are also allowed to show feelings; his song “Boys Do Cry” could have come from a “Merci” chocolate commercial, as a striking singer he is 100 percent convincing.
France had already competed with a song in Breton, at that time without any modern alienation. And was not lucky (1996 with the group “Dan ar braz” and “Diwanit bugale”); it was only enough for 19th place. It will also be difficult in 2022, and not just because of the language.
Spain also did not have to make it through to the semi-finals because it is one of the five largest contributors to the EBU, the umbrella organization for European broadcasters. “Less is more” was the motto of Spain this year after the flops in recent years. “Woki mit deim Popo” looked and sounded different here than with the Austrian Trackshittaz in Baku. It was obvious that the choreographer had already worked for Jennifer Lopez. The conflagration of “Fuego” (second place from Cyprus before our Cesar Sampson 2018 in Lisbon) could not be ignited, but compliments to Chanel: dancing and singing well at the same time is the supreme discipline. Spain’s ESC hope also sings about how it turns men’s heads.
With another fixed starter in the Finale, few show effects were needed, Italy relied on its voices and feelings: all the fans in the hall sang along with almost every line of “Brividi” (Mahmood & Blanco).
Carpets were laid out on the stage floor for the German representative Malik Harris (to create a cozy atmosphere), he is surrounded by various instruments, some of which he plays himself during “Rockstars”. In any case, the poor performance of our neighbors will not be due to Malik’s great voice. . .
Serbia stands out: avant-garde artist Konstrakta sings about health that is far too expensive: “I don’t have health insurance.
Oh, how will you follow me (in the name of health)” is only one message from her unusual ESC contribution. “What is the secret behind Meghan Markle’s healthy hair? What’s the secret behind it?” … that’s how Serbia’s song begins.
As for Ukraine, “I always find my way home, even when all the roads are destroyed. She didn’t wake me up, even when there was a storm outside!” Victory with 631 points ahead of Great Britain (466), Spain (459) and Sweden (438). Fifth place for Serbia, best result since 2007.
