With a victory for the right, this Saturday the Swiss Nemo broke the codes of a tumultuous Eurovision, the most controversial in its history, showing a conciliatory message in defense of non-normative gender identities.
He became the first non-binary artist to be announced to win the coveted crystal microphone hours earlier, when he came in third place behind Croatia and Israel. “I hope this match fulfills its promise and we can continue to keep the peace!”
His victory partially erased the black horizon that emerged with Israel as the winner and host of the next event, after one version of tension because he was once at the Coexistence Forum in the middle of a bloody military offensive in Gaza. Nearly 35,000 Palestinian civilians were killed, half of them children.
As the Swedish city of Malmö became the epicenter of pro-Palestinian protests, his representative's outcry at all of his shows, or repeated calls for evacuation, was the 50th anniversary event of 'Waterloo'. ABBA owes much to the festival's current identity.
Faced with that sense of color and musical celebration, there was a trail of increasingly bitter episodes leading up to the final, which culminated this Saturday with disqualification, yes, but the punishment of Dutch representative Joost Klein, whose TV deemed “disproportionate” for making a “threatening gesture” to a festival camera operator in a tense environment.
A gala with booze.
The gala opened with a message from Princess Victoria of Sweden and a performance by her country's musical representatives this year, brothers Markus & Martinus. They've been given projects like skyrocketing Ukrainian girl power or returning to Luxembourg after a 30-year absence.
After that, the Israeli artist once again sang the praises of his protest at opportune moments between applause from the audience and cheers from another section, loudly if possible.
Irish Bambi Thug has finally jumped on stage for his big ghost call, which was apparently absent mid-afternoon due to “a situation” requiring an urgent meeting with the EBU.
In the United Kingdom, international band Years and Years Ollie Alexander paid tribute to the music of The Pet Shop Boys, and Italian Angelina Mango's experimental cumbia appearance was notable. A new dress in black or an elegant presentation of the Portuguese Iolanda.
Already some big favorites have piled up in the final stage. First Nemo shows off his skills as a rapper and singer with 'The Code', jumping on an unstable rotating stage and dragging him around like social conventions at first. , the chorus goes, “Break the code.”
Croatian Baby Lasagna combines Rammstein's influence with visual and musical elements of his country's folklore, reflecting the forced exodus of thousands of students from his country in search of another life.
To conclude, the Frenchman Slimane, in the musical coordinates of a classic French song and an unusual “a cappella” piece five feet from the microphone, as an emotional “partner” the history of the festival with an intimate dialogue with the audience.
Switzerland voted the most among the juries.
Just in time for the vote comes the 'Waterloo' celebration and the reappearance of ABBA, but in hologram form, with original voices from the group's members, just like their London show. Three former Eurovision champions took it upon themselves to revisit the issue in their absence: Sweden's Carola and Charlotte Perrelli and Austria's Conchita Wurst.
Then came the results of the 37 jurors, with this edition more eventful than other editions due to the pose of Eurovision's executive supervisor, Martin Oosterdal, due to the decisions taken and the Netherlands' refusal to present its jury votes. . Also Finland's Karija and Norway's Alessandra Mele will both compete in 2023.
The majority gave Switzerland the highest score, which is why it finished the region as the most voted candidate with 365 points, followed by France (218) and Croatia (210).
This last country received the highest number of popular vote points, with 547 points, although not enough to reach Nemo, which finished the competition with 591 points, while Ukraine completed the podium with 453 points.
Jurors had already discounted Israel's chances of victory in twelfth place with 52 points. The popular vote finally gave it enough impetus to push itself into fifth place behind France.
The rest of the “Top 10” is like this: 6) Ireland, 7) Italy, 8) Armenia, 9) Sweden, 10) Portugal. Next, Norway.
EFE
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