Sweden wins a Eurovision Song Contest that showed solidarity with Ukraine
Held in Liverpool, England on Saturday, the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest was meant to be the celebration of Ukraine.
After Ukraine won last year’s beloved, campy singing competition, the country won the right to host the spectacle this year. But as Russia’s invasion seemed far from over, the event was moved to Liverpool.
In the midst of a war, and with millions of people watching live, Ukraine’s entrant Tvorchi was among the favorites to win this year’s edition of the glamorous and often eccentric event – a sign of the nation’s continued solidarity. European public with Ukraine against the invasion of Russia. .
Instead, Sweden crashed the party. Around midnight, the presenters of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Liverpool Arena announced that pop singer Loreen had won with “Tattooing”, a dance number that increases in intensity with each verse.
Loreen was the bookmakers’ favorite for the competition, thanks to both her catchy job and Eurovision background, having won it once before, in 2012. Her victory means that Sweden, a Eurovision-obsessed country, will host next year’s contest.
Ukraine’s entry, pop duo Tvorchi, placed sixth.
Eurovision, which started in 1956 and is now in its 67th edition, is the world’s most watched cultural event. Every year, newcomers representing countries across Europe and beyond, compete against each other and perform original songs in hopes of winning votes from viewers and juries.
Britain’s public service broadcaster, the BBC, which hosted this year’s contest, promised to throw a party for Ukraine, and in Liverpool on Saturday, the presence of the war-torn country was inescapable. Eurovision fans walked through the city with Ukrainian flags and dozens of Ukrainian art installations were displayed in prominent locations around the city.
In Kiev on Saturday, the event provided a distraction from the battlefield. In the city’s Squat 17b bar, Eurovision fans gathered to watch the show, dedicating their first round of applause to the Ukrainian army.
Kiev’s daily curfew starts at midnight and the bar closes at 8:30 pm so people can go home; fans couldn’t watch the entire event there. Still, a group of friends at a table sang along as long as they could.
“It’s a piece of luck,” says Olha Tarasenko, 24. Tarasenko said she remembered Ukraine’s victory at last year’s event. When Kalush Orchestra, a rap-folk group, triumphed, “I was crying and feeling like anything is possible,” she said.
European solidarity with Ukraine was evident during Saturday’s spectacle in Liverpool. It opened with a video of Kalush Orchestra performing on a subway in Kiev before the band took the stage to almost deafening cheers.
Later in the broadcast, Julia Sanina, one of the evening’s TV presenters, went into the audience and spoke to displaced Ukrainians living in Britain who had been given heavily discounted tickets to the final. And in a special guest appearance, Duncan Laurence, a Dutch pop star, gave a dazzling video rendition of Gerry and the Pacemakers’ You’ll Never Walk Alone, accompanied by a choir in Kiev. “Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart,” sang the choir, “And you’ll never walk alone.”
The show’s presenters and contestants were careful not to mention or criticize Russia, which was banned from the competition last year due to its invasion of Ukraine. Eurovision is intended to be a non-political event and overt political statements are prohibited.
On Friday, that rule sparked controversy in Britain after President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine asked to speak at the final but was turned down. This is reported by the European Broadcasting Union, which supervises the Eurovision Song Contest in a press release that “unfortunately” a speech by President Zelensky would have violated his rules.
Shortly after the union’s decision, a spokesman for Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters that the apolitical nature of the Eurovision Song Contest was not a good enough excuse. “The values and freedoms that President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine are fighting for are not political, they are fundamental,” the spokesman said. according to a report on the BBC.
Still, Saturday night’s non-political rule was stretched to breaking point, with several participants singing songs alluding to the invasion of Russia. During Tvorchi’s performance of “Heart of Steel”, the band sang lyrics including, “Despite the pain, I’ll carry on my fight.”
On Saturday night, even with Tvorchi’s sixth-place finish, Ukrainian culture was on display until the end of the spectacle.
After Loreen accepted the Eurovision trophy, Julia Sanina, the Ukrainian TV presenter, appeared on stage to thank Liverpool for being “a great host on behalf of Ukraine”. She then quoted the slogan of this year’s contest: “We will always be united by music.”