The Grand Final of this year's Eurovision Song Contest was supposed to be a superbly produced affair. as Sweden has been known for delivering top-notch productions. Host Petra Mede has been a reliable quantity in the previous editions she has hosted, and what she delivered in the two semifinals with Malin Åckerman prove no different (and speaking of Malin, she's also doing a very competent job). Everything seemed to be pointing to an enjoyable affair like last year's Liverpool edition and the now iconic editions hosted by Petra in 2013 and 2016 (yes, with 2015 champion Mån Zelmerlöw). But two events turned out to be dark clouds hovering above the proceedings, and their impact turned out to be indelible.
First is the presence of Israel in the contest. Yes, this country is a long-standing stalwart in this contest, and since at least 2019 this contest relies on a major sponsorship from Israeli hair care company MoroccanOil to help finance the entire endeavor. But since October 2023, Israel is mired in a war against Hamas at the Gaza Strip, and though Israel did not draw first blood (unlike Russia when it invaded Ukraine), its scorched-earth approach causing the destruction of hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians' lives is deemed excessive and reprehensible--many in the international community are declaring this is an act of genocide. Having this country present in the contest does not seem to be good optics, and hence there were street protests outside the venue against the presence of this country.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has stated that the contest is not among the countries' governments but among the countries' public broadcasters. But me, when I think of my oun country's public broadcaster PTV-4, I tend to view it as inextricably linked as a government's mouthpiece--but then of course I realize the US's PBS and the UK's BBC are not necessarily the mouthpieces of their respective governments, but the fact that they rely on funding from the governments to keep on going still make me think the separation between government and broadcaster is disingenuous, at least. Exacerbating matters is that the Israeli broadcaster KAN has been toeing the government line and in its selection of the artist, it featured some patriotic themed programs that indicate their support of the government's war effort. In fact, the initial entry submitted was deemed too political which is supposed to be against EBU's policy that it had to be rewritten to its current incarnation in order for Israel to not lose its spot.
As rehearsals for the Grand Final wore on, we were then hit with shocking news about The NETHERLANDS (Joost Klein) as he was barred from rehearsing for the Grand Final. First, the EBU permitted to juries to view his pre-taped Semifinal 2 performance instead as a backup. Speculation ran afoot of the cause of this--some thought it was because of Joost's testy behavior during the post-Semifinal 2 press conference when he heckled at Israel when they decided to deflect a press question about Israel's participation putting all other artists' safety in jeopardy, with Joost uttering a sarcastic "Why not?" Fueling further speculation was footage where a member of the Israeli delegation was hounding on a bodyguard from the Dutch delegation when Joost was barred from performing. In the morning of the final, it was announced that Joost was disqualified, and it turns out that it was due to an altercation with a female member of the EBU camera crew. As the EBU issued their statement, they emphasized that the incident did not involve members of other delegations. I'm glad that even with this disqualification, the Netherlands' juries and televoters were still allowed to participate. Still, undoubtedly the Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS was very upset at this development, and it seems many other delegations did not welcome this development.
With these two dark clouds looming over the Grand Final and creating a chaotic atmosphere backstage especially among the delegations,, how did it affect the conduct of the Grand Final?.
The opening number is an oblique reference to ABBA's Eurovision victor--though everyone attributed ABBA's victory as the beginning of Sweden's breakthrough in the international music scene, many people would like to note there was a precursor as in the week that ABBA won Eurovision, the No. 1 song in the US Billboard Hot 100 was actually by the Swedish band Blue Swede, with their cover of BJ Thomas' 1968 song, "Hooked on a Feeling"*1. So, they hired the band's lead singer Björn Skifs*2 to perform the song as the opening number. I think of Björn Skifs as the Swedish counterpart to Tom Jones as they share a similar earthy, bellowing vocal style. And like Tim, he still has the strength to sing his songs at full strength, just like this performance--hard to believe this man is already 77 years old! And he's looking pretty good--it seems that he, the other famous musical Björn ABBA's Mr. Ulvaeus, and The Beatles' Ringo Starr, have found a health routine that helped them retain vitality as well as they have in their advanced ages.
*1 That song has a very interesting journey towards its status as a pop culture legend, especially how it evolved from BJ Thomas' sitar-laced version to the now iconic Blue Swede version--I recommend visiting videos by YouTubers Todd in the Shadows and Proferssor of Rock for detailed backgrounders on this. Needless to say, Blue Swedes' immortal "ooga-chaka" intro was not even their innovation but was copied from now-disgraced British artist/producer Jonathan King's 1971 version. Blue Swedes' version was brought into the pop culture zeitgeist twice after its original peak thanks to its use as a meme involving a computer-generated dancing baby in the TV series Ally McBeal in 1998, and then its prominent use in the 2014 smash hit film Guardians of the Galaxy.
*2 Mr. Skifs (pronounced "shifs") is also a two-time Eurovision veteran, representing Sweden in 1978 and 1981, placing 14th and 10th respectively. He also has an ABBA connection as he recorded a duet with Frida in 1975 wtih the song "Med varann [With each other]", a Swedish language cover of the Stylistics' 1974 smash "You Make Me Fee Brand New". He also sang "The Arbiter" on the concept album for the musical Chess, which of course is famous as composed by ABBA's Mr. Ulvaus and Benny Andersson alongside famous lyricist Tim Rice.
Since the 2013 eiditon, the finalists were introduced to the stage with a flag parade, were each artist march forward on stage often carrying their flags as they were introduced. Like last year's sequence, they used recordings of famous songs/artists that have made Sweden a global pop force over the years. So, this flag parade features the tracks "I Love It" by Icona Pop featuring Charli XCX (2012), "Beautiful Life" by Ace of Base (1995), "The Look" by Roxette (1989), "I Follow Rivers" by Lykke Li (2011), "Sun is Shining" by Axwell X Ingross (2015) and finally "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (A Man After Midnight)" by ABBA (1979). I like this song mix, though there is a side of me that wishes they yank out Lykke Li and replace with, say, Robyn's "Dancing on My Own" (2010)
Like in the previous two evenings, hosts Petra Mede and Malin Åckerman wree in top form as usual, delivering witty quips and keeping the show going well, even if some segments were starting to emerge as misfires. One favorite segment for me is when Malin noted that her moter-in-law turned out to be the key choreographer of the winning entry by UK quarter Bucks Fizz in 1981, and of course this led to a skirt ripping gag as Malin revealed her black dress has a miniskirt underneath.
One segment that proved to be a huge misfire was a pre-taped segment featuring Swedish singer/comedienne Sarah Dawn Finer as "EBU Spokesperson" Linda Woodruff performing her usual malaprop-laden shtick before going into a musical ode to EBU Executive Supervisor Martin Österdahl, "Good to Go". It's unfortunate they had to run the skit at this tension-filled atmosphere as Martin has gotten a lot of flak regarding the EBU decisions to allow Israel to compete and accommodate to their needs above the other delegations and that Joost Klein decision, so the ode is obviously not received well. I have to hand it that Martin's role could be be viewed as a thankless job, as he often had to enforce disciplinary actions when anyone misbehaves--and remember what he did to the juries of five countries back in 2022 because of reported collusion? One might criticize how he handled such situations and believe the vitriol against him is warranted but we all know there are hard choices needed to be made when somebody misbehaves. If we were to oust him, would his successor be able to enforce order when something goes awry?
It's almost a requirment tat the reigning champion returns as an interval act, and this is true this year as Loreen performed her latest single "Forever", which of course is then blended with her winning song "Tattoo". It may not be as memorable as her winning performance, but we have to appreciate that the way she performed this number is not as easy as it seems--the way she poses and arches on a small metal chair is actually a feat of stamina and body control, and in this respect Loreen was actually very impressive--ordinary folk would be straining in pain doing the poses she made in her performance.
After closing the voting window, Malin excitedly announced to Petra about the reunion of a disco-oriented group that began with the letter "A". Of course most people were expecting the 1974 Eurovision champions, but of course they decided to trot out the Alcazar reunion. This is the first time this group got to perform at the main Eurovision stage after five previous attempts*3 at Melodifestivalen to represent Sweden at this grand stage. The song they chose to perform is their first charted single back in 2000, "Crying at the Discotheque". The group was in top form, and the song olds up well, but I feel sad that ulitmately they are dismissed as a gag as Petra declared that this was not the reunion she and many were hoping for. In a way, this is partly true, as even though the trio lineup of Tess Merkel, Andreas Lunstedt and Lina Hedlund were the longest-standing lineup and are terrific in their own right, I feel their peak lineup was the 2002-2005 quartet combo featuring Magnus Carlsson as the second male member and Annikafiore Kjærgaard instead of Lina.*4
*3 They had a great run of Melodifestivalen entries that eventually became pan-European hits: "Not a Sinner, Nor a Saint" (2003, 3rd place), "Alcastar" (2005, 3rd place), "Stay the Night" (2009, 5th place), "Headlines" (2010, Andra Chansen, not quite making the final), and "Blame It on the Disco" (2014, 3rd place). Actually the long-standing male member of the band,, Andreas Lunstedt, got to compete on the main Eurovision stage back in 2006 as he was a member of a one-off collaboration, six4one, that represented Switzerland and finished 17th with their carity-oriented number "If We All Give A Little".
*4 Magnus basically joined the band because he became Andreas's boyfriend and he's a good singer in his own right. This era featured some inspired Eurodisco twists on some unlikely songs, like "This is the World We Live In" (a mash-up of Diana Ross's 1980 classic "Upside Down" and Genesis' 1986 smash "Land of Confusion") and "Start the Fire" (lifting the chorus from Billy Joel's 1989 smas "We Didn't Start the Fire". But my big favorite performances of theirs were the live covers they did with ABBA's "As Good as New" and the shoulda-been ABBA song "Funky Feet"*4a. They achieved the heady heights of ABBA's blissful pop perfection in these performers way better than A*Teens (which was formerly formed as ABBATeens) ever could.
*4a Benny & Björn wrote the song but felt the song sounded too similar to their immortal classic "Dancing Queen" that they decided not to record it and instead give it away to the married duo Svenne & Lotta, Benny's former bandmates from his group the Hep-Stars (take note that Lotta joined that band in their later stages alongside Björn). This is not the first time Svenne & Lotta got a Benny and Björn song as the 1975 ABBA tune "Bang-a-Boomerang" was originally performed by this couple as a Melodifestivalen entry--like ABBA's "Ring Ring" two years before, they finished 3rd. The couple covered more Benny & Björn throughout their long career.
It was obvious that it's unlikely that the members of ABBA would not be physically present in this event in person, as they would rather prioritize their induction into the prestigious Royal Order of Vasa by no less than the King and Queen of Sweden at the end of May. But well, at least they allowed the ABBA-tars from the Voyage concert to make an appearance and banter briefly about their Eurovision experience. This then segued to a tribute performance by previous champions Carola (1991), Charlotte Perelli (1999). and Austria's Conchita Wurst (2014) sang their version of ABBA's "Waterloo". They all did a competent job, no doubt about it. Of the Swedish Eurovision champions, I observed one conspicuous absence--Måns Zelmerlöw (2015). He had popped up at various recent editions of this contest, so it's a bit of a headscratcher why he sat this out--was there bad blood between him and anyone involved in the production of this contest? Was he simply more focused on his wine venture? Anything related to the ongoing messes because of Israel's participation? I would like to know.
The disclosure of the results is always a highlight in this contest, starting with the satellite call to the various countires as the jury results. It was intended to be star-studded with Eurovision alumni and celebrities like the UK's Joanna Lumley (of Absolutely Fabulous fame) announcing her country's jury results. It still is star-studded, especially learning that 2016 champion Jamala is very much pregnant with her first child, and it's nice to hear from the likes of Armenia's Brunette (2023) and Azerbaijan's Aysel (2009). But there were two originally two 2023 Eurovision artists originally designated as spokespersons who decided to back out last minute, apparently related to Israel's presence in this contest: Nor, whoway's Alessandra because of her stance on the ongoing Gaza conflict, and Finland's Käärijä, who got caught up in a social media furor when he was photographed with Israel's representative Eden Golan and Käärijä requesting the photos to be taken down as Israeli parties are using them as propaganda implying that he supports the Israeli side of the war (which of course is not the case).
Like in 2022, Martin Österdal stepped in to announce jury results for at least one of the countries. But unlike in 2022 when it was involuntary and five of the countries involved in the Semifinal 2 jury collusion controversy were only told last minute that their actual jury votes would not be read out or used, this time it was because in protest over Joost Klein's disqualification, the Netherlands decided not to field any spokesperson, and hence Martin stepped in. Because of teh aforementioned controversies, Martin was greeted with boos as he showed up, and the boos never relented whenever he's called or shown on TV.
After the jury results, it turned out SWITZERLAND was dominant, arguably more dominant than Loreen was when she won last year. So the question was if any of the Televote leaders are able to amass points to offset SWITZERLAND's lead. It turns out that even if CROATIA, ISRAEL and UKRAINE amassed at least 200 televote points each, SWITZERLAND amassed enough points to maintain its standing as champion.
COMING UP: NON-TOP 10 FINISHERS
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