How did the Eurovision Song Contest go? Bad for Germany again. Who triumphed, what was laughed at, cried, tweeted at the world’s biggest TV music show?
Germany only came last in the Eurovision Song Contest this year. The Hamburg dark rock band Lord Of The Lost (“Blood & Glitter”) joined the series of bankruptcies in recent years with only 18 points. In terms of ratings, the ESC final in Germany was a success with 7.96 million TV viewers.
Sweden won the ESC for the seventh time: Loreen won the biggest music show in the world for her country for the second time. In 2012 she succeeded with “Euphoria”, in 2023 she did it with the very similar sounding “Tattoo”. So far, only Irishman Johnny Logan has been a two-time ESC winner. Finland finished second on Sunday night, followed by Israel, Italy, Norway and Ukraine.
“Lord Of The Lost would have deserved more points,” said ESC commentator Peter Urban after his last assignment as the ARD voice of the show on Sunday of the dpa. “Of course it’s hard to end up in last place. We really didn’t expect it either,” said Lord Of The Lost singer Chris Harms.
Disappointment of the organizers
The German organizers also showed disappointment. “We started with an extraordinary act that didn’t achieve the result we wanted at all. That’s very, very disappointing and sobering,” said NDR (Norddeutsche Rundfunk), responsible for ARD, on Sunday.
In 2022, a message after the last place for Malik Harris said: “In Germany, the song was very well received on the radio and in streaming. We are disappointed that the performance was not rated better.” And in 2021 the NDR said in the penultimate place: “We also knew that music polarizes and is a matter of taste.” Despite all the disappointment, Jendrik “lived with us” his ESC dream.
There is something similar almost every time. About eight years ago: “Zero points are very disappointing. Ann Sophie’s performance was great.” You will now think carefully about how to prepare for the following ESC. But the results have changed little since then – except for 2018, when Michael Schulte finished fourth with the soulful ballad “You Let Me Walk Alone”. The song was a highly emotional homage by Schulte to his deceased father.
In 2023, fan forums will again be asking what Germany is doing wrong, whether it is simply unpopular abroad or whether it has fundamentally misunderstood the ESC.
A thesis of hardcore fans: The ESC requires topics of conversation, emotional performances, an extraordinary story. And Germany doesn’t offer that – with the exception of Schulte or Lena at the time.
Käärijä from Finland delighted the international TV audience
The rockers from Lord Of The Lost put on a sparkling performance, seemingly great theatre. But viewed soberly, it was more of a concert with pyrotechnics and calls like “Scream for me, Liverpool” and “Eurovision, make some noise”.
The two big winners, Sweden and Finland, on the other hand, delivered memorable performances: Loreen made a mystical creature lying between two large plates as an eye-catcher.
Finland’s Käärijä’s wacky performance around wooden pallets wowed international TV audiences even more, as the dots showed. At the beginning he broke out of a box, then hopped across the stage half-naked and beyond all masculinity clichés with a bright green bolero, accompanied by a creepy dance group.
His song “Cha Cha Cha” is surprising through and through. The song about getting drunk starts out as an industrial metal number, only to suddenly become a disco catchy tune and a chunky tune that could also become a Ballermann hit. Käärijä freed herself from a shack on stage. “Now I’m going to dance like Cha Cha Cha – and I’m not afraid of this world.”
The Ukraine war was omnipresent at the show from Liverpool. The grand finale began with a clip of scenes from the Maidan, among others, from Kiev – where the singer Oleh Psjuk from last year’s winner Kalush Orchestra danced in a subway station. A strong symbolism – the train stations are used by the Ukrainians as air raid shelters.
Ukraine flags and tears of emotion
And the war didn’t rest that night. While the spectators in Liverpool were celebrating, the hometown of the Ukrainian ESC participants Tvorchi was attacked by Russia. Shortly before the duo’s performance, explosions from Russian rockets shook the western city of Ternopil.
The most emotional moment was probably when the whole hall joined in the classic “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, which the Dutch ESC winner from 2019, Duncan Laurence, sang as a break during the audience voting. Many Ukraine flags were waved. Tears of emotion flowed. The song was made famous by the Liverpool band Gerry and the Pacemakers in the 1960s and is the Liverpool FC stadium anthem. That evening, however, it was a moving gesture of solidarity to Ukraine, which is suffering from Russia’s war of aggression and was therefore unable to host the ESC, which is why Great Britain stepped in.
Eurovision Song Contest eurovision.de NDR announcement
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
