2023-05-14 01:25:13
The bookmakers announced his victory as soon as his selection for Sweden was announced. One More Year, The Prediction Came True: With His Song Tattoo, Loreen wins the European Song Grand Prix for the second time, after her crowning in 2012 in Azerbaijan. Finland’s Kärijää is second with Cha Cha Cha, and Noa Kirel takes third place for Israel. France represented by La Zarra is content with a disappointing 16th place. It is better however than two other “big” countries, Germany and the United Kingdom, ranked last and penultimate.
At the end of a show lasting more than five hours, tens of millions of viewers were dizzy and red-eyed in front of a pyrotechnic debauchery which seems to outbid each year the previous one. In addition to the names of the artists, authors and composers of the songs, it should now be added who are the choreographers, costume designers, lighting designers, special effects or craftsmen of the machines, so much the visual has taken on importance in the most followed musical event on the planet. One wonders how 3-D hasn’t made an appearance on the live show yet.
visual deluge
This edition was celebrated in Liverpool by proxy, Ukraine winning in 2022, unable to host the event. The second lesson, after the visual deluge, is that we don’t make the same music everywhere in Europe, a Europe moreover enlarged to include Israel and Australia. Many countries have opted for the rock aesthetic this year, perhaps inspired by the victory of Italian glam band Måneskin in 2021. From the sympathetic power pop of the Slovenians Joker Out to the costumed and grimacing goths Lord of the Lost, representing Germany , via Voyager Australians.
Other candidates have relied on their traditions, at least in part. This is the case of the polyphonic songs presented by Albania or the Czech Republic. Or the Andalusian reminiscences of the Spaniard Blanca Paloma (“white dove”), accompanied by palmas (claps) of flamenco. The electro-ethno mix of Moldavian Pasha Parfény, with the look of a yoga teacher, had only one flaw: resembling a bit too much the Ukrainian song crowned last year.
La Zarra, Louboutin?
The imagination of the dressers was there, but not always for the best. Unless you have a little imagination. The Italian Marco Mengoni wore a not very successful pearl gray lamé tank top and the Finn Kärijää just two sleeves in apple green leatherette topped with a collar. By combining the two, we would have obtained a nice whole. Other details have gone unnoticed. Was the Zarra worn by Louboutin? You could believe it when you saw the creator, behind the scenes, rejoicing at the passage of the tricolor representative. But her long dress hid her shoes.
High heels were perhaps not recommended for the interpreter of Obviously : she was perched on a reduced platform which went up and down and limited her freedom of movement. His performance seemed static, which may have harmed him when it came to the votes of the national juries and the public. Other machines were deployed: that of the winner Loreen, dressed as Barbarella, was composed of two sheets of luminous plexiglass that threatened to flatten her like a waffle. As for the candidate from Armenia, she walked squarely on a vertical wall. Compared to these installations, some stagings paled in comparison. Like these two athletes who trained on the trampoline, indifferent to the emotional torrent poured out by the Italian candidate.
Royal metaphors
The LGBTI family in all its forms was of course present, to the point that we no longer pay attention to it. Diversity has entered into habits, which is a great achievement. More unusual was the literary touch of the Austrian song, dedicated to Edgar Allan Poe.
Is it related to the recent coronation of the monarch of England? Two songs used the metaphor of royalty, both with a feminist approach: queen of kings (Norway) and my sister’s crown (Czech Republic). The second was more convincing than the first with Vesna, six singers wearing long braids that turned into a whip, probably against sexism and patriarchy… Beautiful song, superb voices, original staging: one of the good surprises of this Eurovision 2023 .
#Sweden #winning #France #sixteenth #Liberation