What a heart-stopping finale! The Ukraine wins the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, supported by an outstanding public vote – ahead of Great Britain, which was clearly ahead according to the votes of the jury. Here are the most beautiful moments of the show.
They were the favorites – and they actually clinched victory for their country with “Stefania”: The Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine was still fourth according to the jury ratings, but an overwhelming 439 points from the audience catapulted the band to first place .
Rightly so, because the song, which mixes traditional and modern elements, is simply enthralling. The performance, including the flute hookline, breakdance and funny shaggy costumes, was spot on. Not to mention the strong message coming from the victory: Europe stands together.
Sam Ryder has managed to sing Great Britain from a deep valley of ESC sadness to second place – with his “Space Man” rising to the top of his voice. Very likeable guy with a full blond beard, metal mat – and a convincing song.
That’s why we love the ESC: Gaga song with Gaga lyrics, lovingly crazy costumes – and at the same time the most beautiful fairy tale. We’re talking about “Subwolfer” from Norway. They appeared in yellow wolf caps and reinterpreted Little Red Riding Hood: “Before the wolf eats my grandmother, give the wolf a banana!” Hopefully there were a lot of bananas.
If the points had only been awarded for the most beautiful train and the most beautiful mask, Sheldon Reily from Australia would have won hands down. Australia has been an honorary Europe at the ESC for several years, and Sheldon Reily showed why again. Heartbreakingly, he sang about his queerness, the ESC was invented for his outfit. “Anything is possible,” he said at the end and almost cried – a touching moment. Of the many sad boys that night, he was the only one who really made his song shine.
Almost something like an art performance, Konstrakta presented as the penultimate starter. And stood out in a funny, multi-layered way: to her song “In Corpore Sano”, the Serbian singer, dressed all in white, sat in the middle of the stage and washed her hands in a white bowl throughout her performance. Now and then a towel was handed out by the five people around.
“Umetnica mora biti zdrava/ Biti zdrava, biti zdrava/ Biti zdrava, biti-biti-biti-biti zdrava” (The artist must be healthy/ Be healthy, be healthy”) she sang. Konstrakta not only criticized society’s obsession with health and the associated compulsion to consume, but also quoted a performance by the great Serbian artist Marina Abramović, who combed her hair intensively for 14 minutes in 1975 under the title “Art must be beautiful… Artist must be beautiful …” said. Definitely one of the strongest moments of the evening.
Zdob şi Zdub provided one of the happiest moments of the evening
Which brings us to the many soulful boys. Whether Poland, Switzerland, Belgium, Estonia or the duet from Italy: you really don’t want to diss them. As often as they appeared that evening, it was very monotonous. Nadir Rustalmi from Azerbaijan did it most consistently. He lay down straight away, which was the appropriate listening position for his and similar songs. Attention, danger of falling asleep!
Speaking of falling asleep: This also applied to the “jokes” of the moderation team. Bravely they tried to sell a Best-Of-ESC DVD, for minutes they struggled through the most important gestures in Italy. waved off!
Was the white guitar originally intended as a greeting to Nicole, who won the Grand Prix 40 years ago? 19 years before singer Rosa Linn saw the light of day. For Armenia, she performed the unremarkable song “Snap,” sitting in a room whose walls were lined with white leaves. It looked a bit like toilet paper and you immediately thought: So that’s where all the hamster purchases ended up. Sometimes Rosa Linn would tear off a few sheets and the writing “22nd of June” or “Snap” would appear underneath. Hopefully the paper was at least collected and reused afterwards.
Were the Germans in the majority in the audience or why was the applause so horrible? Always on every stroke instead of trying the 2 and the 4. This was particularly disturbing at the beginning of the Kalush Orchestra’s “Stefania” and in the beautiful Lithuanian chanson that Monika Liu (“Sentimentai”) sang.
Also with Systur’s soft folk-pop piece “Með hækkandi sól” the fans did everything to smack it. The members of the Kalush Orchestra knew how to help each other and in the second half of the song simply demonstrated how to appropriately clasp your hands. The hint was then also taken up – it works!
Rarely has the vote of the jury differed so much from that of the audience. Striking: the juries preferred more conventional songs, with Great Britain, Spain and Sweden ahead of Ukraine. Even the inconspicuous Singkreis-Lied from Portugal received an impressive 156 points from the jury and thus fifth place. Moldova and Serbia, number two and three for the audience, were pretty much ignored by the juries (11th and 20th place respectively). The fact that an ESC appearance should be a dazzling overall performance did not seem to have quite arrived at the juries this year.
And Germany? Malik Harris ungratefully had to perform right behind Ukraine, which made his otherwise charming song look rather pale. Whoever set the stage for a better rehearsal room with a few instruments and sweeping carpets should think again about what the ESC is about. rock stars? Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that. Somehow you could almost feel sorry for Malik, the last place is a bit too hard.
What else was there? Here is our encore:
Conclusion: A great evening in Turin with a deserved winner. Kalush Orchestra has already wished that the next ESC should take place in peace in a happy Ukraine. May the wish come true.
