Eurovision 2022: The wash.
May. 15th, 2022 09:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
passionpop1 The UK
Last year the UK got a double Doughnut and when the public vote was announced, shocking the audience, James Newman got up and encouraged them to cheer. This year when a contestant got a poor public vote, the other artists clapped and cheered them. This is the legacy of James Newman. He has made the greenroom a better place. Thank you James.
Also on that, The UK faired much better this year. When they received 12 points from one jury, Sam Ryder and the team were shown on TV chanting "We Got Points! We Got Points!". The UK actually won the jury vote, which left literally everyone in shock. It was just shock that the UK was actually being supported because the song was actually alright and Sam's performance was really good. he is an engaging performer which is what you want at Eurovision. His televised performance may not have been his best but this would have been a deserved winner, and it did win the Press award
2 Moldova
Despite getting only 9 points from the Jury, Moldova finished 7th mainly because they received the most non-politicised (second overall) from the public. 239 points from the public is enormous considering all but 11 of the 40 available allotments of 12 points were taken by the politicised winner. The crowd in the venue loved it, the public loved it. The Jury... they never like anything fun
3 Sweden
Irish fans may have been nervous that this song could cause Sweden to finally equal Irelands phenomenal record at Eurovision, but instead it finished second with the Juries and fourth overall. It won the OGEA fan clubs award and the composers award. It was a great song, but it is a dull performance.
4 Serbia
the final recipient of a Marcel Bezençon Award, Serbia won the Artistic award, and this was an amazing performance piece. I was concerned that this song could be impacted by politics, but it finished 5th overall, 4th with the public and 11th with the Jury
5 Spain
An honourable mention goes to Spain who finished third in everything. Third with the public, third with the Jury, third overall and third in the OGAE. This is actually the best result for Spain since 1995 when they finished second and if they had managed to win, it would be their first win since the 1969 4 way tie.
6 The Winner.
Ukraine were short odds through the whole contest to win, pretty much from when the war broke out and Russia was expelled from this years competition. It was not the best song, hell, it didn't even legitimately win in Ukraine, it came second but the winning song got disqualified for politics... because the singer, Alina Pash, had entered Crimea and could not prove she had not done it through Russia. Kalush Orchestra was installed as the Ukrainian representative and the rest is history.
If and when Kalush Orchestra return the Ukraine, they may be lauded as heroes, but more likely they will be sent to the frontline, a potion they avoided by going into by ousting Alina Pash as their countries representative (All men in the Ukraine have been conscripted). They may never reprise their winning song
There was politics writhe throughout the contest from the grand final intro act singing 'Give peace a chance', to the blatant statement about the latest alleged attack in Ukraine by the Ukrainian act, to other countries baring Ukrainian flags, and it must be remembered that both Armenia and Iceland have been sanctioned in recent years for waving flags representing peoples involved in wars. Though political statements are familiar territory for Ukraine. their 2016 winner was criticised for being overtly political, their 2005 song by Green Jolly had to be changed before the contest as it deems to be a political chant more than a song, and ever popular Verka Serduchka was picked up in the semi rehearsals for slurring a line in "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" that changed the words to sounding like the line was "Russia Goodbye". though not performed with the slur in the semi due to the threat of sanctions, apparently it was performed with the slur in the grand final.
Eurovision is meant to be an apolitical contest and the EBU should have thoroughly stamped out the political statements from Ukraine and others, and they have stamped out statements by some, but in the end the EBU are toothless and will not do anything without the prompting of its members. It is the EBUs inaction and the shows producers almost promotion of Ukraine that lead to this result. It was not a fair contest and it is a very average song and it will damage the contest for a long time coming starting next year
2023 is interesting because we don't know where the contest will be hosted. Yes, Ukraine will want to host it but their previous hostings have all been shemozzles, starting with the suggestion by the organised to the EBU in 2005 that visitors to Eurovision can stay in tents due to the lack of accommodation. Even if Ukraine still have a venue, the accommodation and other infrastructure could be an issue even if the war ends before this time next year. If it is moves to another country it will be the first time since about 1980 that that has occurred. There are already rumours that Sweden will be hosting the contest. Good Money would also be on Italy, the Netherlands and the UK as a darky. but that is all for another day. today we 'celebrate' what has become of what was once a great Song Contest.
RIP Eurovision