As soon as it became known that Loreen, winner of the 2012 Song Contest, would again be competing in the national Swedish preliminary round this year, the country took first place with the bookmakers – and stayed there until the end. Although betting odds often say very little about the further ranking of the contributions, the hit rate for the winning title is extremely high and has always been correct in the past ten years. Only Conchita Wurst’s victory in 2014 could apparently not be predicted – she only slipped into the top three of the predictions after winning the semifinals.
“Tattoo” doesn’t come close to “Euphoria”, everyone agreed in advance that the Swedish pop machine had once again sent a technically flawless contribution and an outstanding artist into the race, but there was no question about it either. The well-oiled PR machinery did the rest, and so “Tattoo” was actually the only number that had already occupied top positions in the international charts before the song contest week. This is accompanied by a multiple of media attention and airplay compared to the other participating countries.
Schweden: Loreen – „Tattoo“
Juries much more predictable
The fact that it is not Loreen but the Finn Käärijä who clearly won the televoting with “Cha Cha Cha” shows that this is more likely to influence juries than the public. His enormous TikTok and Instagram presence in the past few days brought the exalted artist and his wild show attention and obvious sympathy. Sweden would not have received twelve points from the spectators from a single country. Conversely, the juries also saw Israel’s Noa Kirel with “Unicorn” and the Italian Marco Mengoni with “Due vite” ahead of Finland.
Finland: Wrapper – “Cha Cha Cha”
Beginning of the end of the juries?
The discrepancy between the jury and audience ratings is not new and has been the subject of debate for years. While the five national experts selected by the stations like to prefer very classic songs suitable for radio, the audience always gets involved with the unusual.
As a reaction to the ongoing criticism and in an attempt to make the competition more exciting, the juries in the semi-final shows have already been abolished this year. In the final, the two ratings not only differed noticeably in Finland. Belgium’s singer Gustaph, for example, didn’t get much from the audience, but thanks to the jury he finished seventh, similar to the eighth-placed Estonian Alika with the ballad “Bridges” in eighth place, and the Australian band Voyager with “Promise” in ninth place.
Estland: Alika – „Bridges“
Large width, thin tip
Like every year, the quality of the entire Song Contest year will be debated again this year. In any case, the musical breadth of the field was striking: the genres, which otherwise appear in inflationary masses (singers in highly equipped textiles with dramatic smashing ballads, dance songs in run-of-the-mill format, etc.), were pleasantly sparse this time.
Conversely, however, the number of outstanding acts with real chances for the top spots was more limited than usual. This can also be seen in the voting results: only seven acts received more than 100 points from the audience, eight from the juries. In recent years, these numbers have not been overly significant, but have been significantly higher. And that can not only be explained by the slightly smaller starting field this year.
Purposeful Scandinavia
With Loreen and “Tattoo”, a genre has prevailed that has always had a chance of winning for several years: radio-friendly pop that doesn’t really offend. Sweden is also the great specialist for this, it is not for nothing that songwriters also supply all US music stars with Swedish-style songs. And what is not needed there is sold to other song contest participating countries.
The Scandinavian neighbors Norway and Finland have developed their own, not entirely dissimilar, strategies. Violent productions like Subwoofer in the previous year or slightly trashy but very effective clichés like this year’s Alessandra with “Queen of Kings” come from Norway. Finland traditionally adds a dash of madness, which sometimes goes haywire, but sometimes – and the example of Käärijä this year shows it – you hit the bull’s eye.
Norway: Alessandra – “Queen of Kings”
The three Scandinavian countries and Italy also prove from year to year that they also have the goal of winning the competition and are prepared to hold it the following year. For many other countries, the question arises as to whether it is sheer inability or whether they are going into the song contest adventure with the handbrake on.
Maneskin effect too unprofessional
A delayed Maneskin effect was also clearly visible this year: After the Italians won in 2021, more countries sent bands to Liverpool. That may have been good for the musical diversity, but the respective songs were not consistently competitive. It remains to be seen whether there will be a learning curve or whether bands will have to stay at home in the years to come based on the principle of trial and error.
It was clear again this year that successful titles from previous years cannot simply be copied. Sad men like 2019 winner Duncan Laurence are now getting as little with their ballads as ethnodance hits.
Dancing instead of singing
Speaking of dance: three participants, Noa Kirel from Israel, Blanka from Poland and Brunette from Azerbaijan, took a break from singing in their performances and devoted themselves to a rather long dance interlude. In Kirel’s case, it turned into an impressive floor exercise, which was actually more impressive than the sung part. Maybe that’s exactly why she came third, but the juries might have to sharpen the rules a bit. After all, it’s called the Song Contest and not Dancing Stars.
Unique selling points work
Acts like Serbia and the Czech Republic showed that sometimes a single original idea is enough to make them stand out – even if they don’t immediately reach the top. The show itself was good for that. The highlight in this regard was the Croatian band Let 3, which was responsible for the most gaudy minutes of the evening with rock cabaret and political satire – and was at least rewarded for it by the audience.
Serbia: Luke Black – “I’m just sleepy”
Teya & Salena as a basis for the future
That’s exactly what one could have wished for the Austrians Teya & Salena, who ultimately ended up being beaten under value with 15th place. And that is the prevailing international opinion and not a patriotic whitewash. Whether it was because of the unfavorable start number one, the weak competition in semi-final two or, as some people have heard, the unusual outfits: It’s all waste.
Teya & Salena – „Who the Hell Is Edgar?“
Their song “Who the Hell Is Edgar?” rightly caused plenty of conversation, the two offered a likeable and professional show and were above all satisfied with their performance. Wanting to score with originality without embarrassment is certainly the right approach, with which you can learn lessons from this year and which you should build on in the years to come.
German-British spiral of suffering
The German shambles, on the other hand, became even bigger. It doesn’t matter if you take it with you Klamauk like 2021, a solid one anyway Radio pop number as in 2022 or brutally tried with irony-free provocation as this year, the result is always the same last place. The reaction also returns every year: you feel misunderstood. Germany will have to think twice before escaping this spiral.
Deutschland: Lord Of The Lost – „Blood & Glitter“
It’s a similar story for Great Britain, for whom Sam Ryder’s second place finish last year was just a positive outlier. This year Mae Muller made some serious vocal blunders, her song seemed nice at first, but turned out to be too cheap.
Celebrated host countries
Great Britain, which voluntarily took over the hosting from the Ukraine as the runner-up last year, presented itself completely differently in the role of host. The integration of the Unkraine succeeded from the supporting program away from the stage events to the joint moderation, left a lot of space for Ukrainian artists and also provided goosebump moments and surprises away from the competition.
The Kalush Orchestra kicked off the opening with a remix version of their winning hit “Stefania” and a flag parade rarely seen so enthusiastically, accompanied by other former Ukrainian song contest stars of the past few years. Next year it will be difficult for Sweden to hold a candle to the British, stage, shows and moderation team set very high standards.
Small fly in the ointment
If you are looking for discrepancies in this year’s competition, you will most likely find them at the organizer, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). This tries to make the competition interesting for an even wider audience – and relies, among other things, on an exclusive deal with the Chinese platform TikTok.
For this purpose, bloggers and media were locked out in the first trial week, and insights were only granted via TikTok. This also caused trouble for the participating countries, which are co-financing the spectacle. And whether the TikTokization of music, which has already reached otherworldly proportions, should be further boosted by public law, of all things, is very questionable.
