The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 has been decided – the Ukrainian Kalush Orchestra won. The musicians were only allowed to travel to the competition with a special permit because they are of military age. Their crossover folk-rap song “Stefania” sings about Kalush frontman Oleh Psiuk’s mother, whose trademark is an oversized pink hat.

Actually, Kalush had not even qualified as second in the Ukrainian ESC preliminary round. However, the originally qualified had to withdraw from the competition after criticism was leveled at a performance in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia.

At the ESC, 25 countries competed in the final on Saturday evening, and the Eurovision Song Contest took place in Turin this year. In the run-up to the bookmakers, the favorites were Ukraine, Great Britain, Sweden, Italy and Spain. Serbia and Moldova were also traded highly among fans. Last year, the Italian rock band Måneskin won with their song “Zitti e buoni”.

Malik Harris, representing Germany, ended up in last place. Already in 2021 it was only enough for the penultimate place – and thus a series of bankruptcies, bad luck and breakdowns for the German contributions to the Eurovision Song Contest continued. With the exception of Michael Schulte in 2018 (fourth place), the starters from Germany have never made it past the lower ranks in recent years. In fact, Germany has only won twice, namely with Lena (“Satellite”) in 2010 and Nicole (“A little peace”) in 1982.

Ireland is the record winner with seven successes. The ESC is considered the largest music event in the world, which is watched by billions of people every year.