Amid feather dresses, smoke machines, self-playing pianos and more LED lights and sequins than you can imagine, a powerful vocal performance, a pedestal and some truly incredible nail art secured the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden.
Lorine Zineb Nora Talhaoui, known as Loreen, delivered a pitch-perfect rendition of her song ‘Tattoo’ – leading Sweden to draw level with Ireland as the two most successful countries in the history of the colorful competition, each with seven wins.
But at a competition designed to bring together European countries in song, glitz and glamor after being torn apart by World War II, the specter of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia hung over the action.
Just minutes before Ukrainian artist Tvorchi took the Eurovision stage, reports surfaced that Russia had attacked his hometown of Ternopil in western Ukraine, about a three-hour drive from the Polish border. It threw a somber hue over an event known for its bombastic outfits and ridiculous staging as much as its songwriting and singing.
“Ternopil is the name of our hometown that was bombed by Russia while we sang about our hearts of steel, our indomitability and our will on the Eurovision stage,” said Tvorchi, an electronic music duo consisting of Andrii Hutsuliak and Jeffery Kenny, in a post on Instagram after her performance. “This is a message to all cities of Ukraine that are bombed every day. Kharkiv, Dnipro, Khmelnytskyi, Kiev, Zaporizhia, Uman, Sumy, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Odessa, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Kherson and all others. Europe, unite against evil for peace!”
Tvorchi performed “Heart of Steel” on a stage lit with a Ukrainian trident, or tryzub, in the national colors of yellow and blue. The song’s title is a reference to the Azovstal Steel Works in Mariupol, where last year a small group of Ukrainian soldiers withstood a Russian siege in appalling conditions for weeks.
The organizers of the annual singing competition insist that Eurovision “must in no event be politicized and/or exploited”. For this reason, the European Broadcasting Union has blocked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from addressing the finale, citing the need to keep things apolitical. But laws have long since found ways to circumvent the rules by making indirect political statements.
Tvorchi, who finished sixth in the 2023 contest, was aiming for Ukraine’s second consecutive Eurovision Song Contest win after the Kalush Orchestra won last year.
As reigning champions, Ukraine would normally have hosted the competition this year. But amid the ongoing Russian invasion, organizers turned to 2022 runners-up Britain to hold the competition on behalf of Ukraine. Liverpool, home of the Beatles, was then chosen as the host city; Russia is excluded from the competition.
Throughout the evening there were references to Ukraine’s plight, along with a medley of famous Liverpool music and a moving rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, a song synonymous with the city.
Catherine, Princess of Wales made the second royal cameo in the Eurovision Song Contest. Wearing a flowing ball gown in a vibrant shade of Ukrainian blue, she played the piano in a star-studded opening version of the Kalush Orchestra’s winning song “Stefania.” (King Charles III and Queen Camilla were featured in a cutscene in the semifinals.)
Loreen sings her song “Tattoo” | Peter Kneffel/Picture Alliance via Getty Images
Loreen sings her song “Tattoo” | Peter Kneffel/Picture Alliance via Getty ImagesHot favorite in the 67th Eurovision final and winner of the 2012 Song Contest, Loreen became only the second artist to win two of the coveted trophies, alongside Irishman Johnny Logan. Fan-favorite Finland finished second, while Israel took third place.
For the first time, people from non-participating nations were able to take part in the competition, with public voting accounting for 50 percent of the overall result, along with judgments by juries from participating nations, made up of music industry professionals.
Sweden built up a 163-point lead after the jury’s vote, but Finland, which finished in fourth place, jumped to the top after winning 376 points from the crowd. Sweden, the last country to be announced, needed 187 public votes to win and secured 243, securing a relatively comfortable victory despite initial scares.
Sweden first won the competition in 1974 when the ABBA Quartet performed “Waterloo”. The country’s last victory came in 2015.
Norway jumped up the rankings after the public vote and finished fifth, while countries like France, Belgium and Spain failed to match their solid performances in the jury voting round.
A crowd of 7,000 packed the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, draped in national flags, waving glow sticks and, among other crowd favourites, going completely nuts with the Finnish song ‘Cha Cha Cha’.
Some 26 nations took part in Saturday’s grand final after two semi-finals eliminated Ireland, Malta, Azerbaijan, Latvia, the Netherlands, Romania, Denmark, Georgia, Iceland, San Marino and Greece this week.
The United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany and Italy, known as the Big 5, automatically qualified for the finals as the countries that make the largest financial contribution to the organization of the competition through their respective broadcasters. The UK traded second place in 2022 for penultimate place this year.
As the winner, Sweden will host the event next year.