The most anticipated event of the year.
A European annual music war.
A song contest that connects Europeans just for three days.
The most political event of them all...
The Eurovision Song Contest.
The month of May is graced by the eccentricity of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). Representatives of forty two nations assemble and compete for three days. However the Eurovision is not JUST about singing, it's about the props, the costumes, the pyrotechnics, the on stage theatrics, love, peace, a bit of politics, and glitter. The countries have two sets of points from 1-8, 10, and 12, to award to their favorite song. The ultimate form of betrayal in the contest is when your neighboring country does not give you any points, possibly because you invaded them decades ago... but regardless, the European nations seems to have come together to prevent new members like Australia and politically active countries like Russia from taking home the win...
THE START
Eurovision started out in 1956 and has been getting better ever since. It was originally based off of the Sanremo Music Festival, an Italian song contest that is still active today, but now has clearly overshadowed it. During the three days Eurovision is on, every bit of the internet explodes and the number one trending topic on various social media websites becomes Eurovision.
The rules are simple, each participating country sends a representative and submits an ORIGINAL song to the jury, that will be performed on live television during the three day contest. The viewers will be casting votes for countries to determine the most popular song and the winning artist will get to have a temporary boost in their music career, while their home country gets to host the contest next year. Some of the notable winners of Eurovision whose career has taken off is Celine Dion (representing Switzerland in 1988) and ABBA (representing Sweden and giving it their first win in the contest).
- One of the biggest controversies of Eurovision is the rather recent "bearded lady from Austria". The winner of the Eurovision in 2014 was Conchita Wurst with her song "Rise Like A Phoenix". The drag persona of Austria's entry challenged traditional ideas about gender, ideas of beauty, and of conformity. Countries like Russia and Serbia have complained about the performance and Russian politician Vitaly Milonov described the Eurovision as a "Europe-wide gay parade".
"The first time I came across her, was when I was listening to her Eurovision song about the phoenix and how it is about being reborn, I thought it was amazing and I don't care about the beard I think she looks pretty hot in it... most men can't pull it off. I think she's really cool and a strong icon." - Nana, a long time fan of the Eurovision who discovered it several years ago and has been watching it since.
- This year the winner was Jamala, representing Ukraine. She sang a song titled 1944 which is about the Crimean Tatars and the annexation of Crimea. The singer claims that her family's history in Crimea inspired her to write the song and that Ukraine did not want to make a political jab at Russia. However viewers around the world believe that this song should not have won because of its inherently political nature, but the judges allowed it because the lyrics do not address the annexation directly. Of course Russian officials accused Ukraine of offending Russia, and to add more politics into the mix, The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) congratulated Jamala for her win by posting a YouTube video on their channel.
The story behind Jamala's song is rather dark. On the night she was to perform, the Eurovision Song Contest turned from happy to serious as she sang the words: "when strangers are coming, they come to your house, they kill you all and say, 'we're not guilty, not guilty'". The song refers to the deportation of Tatars from Crimea during WWII under Joseph Stalins orders. The Tatars were sent to remote regions of the Soviet Union, and almost half of them died within a couple of months due to starvation or disease. Jamala said that she was inspired by her great-grandmothers stories, who was one of the deportees of that time. She also stated that though she did not mean this song to be about modern Crimean politics, the fact that the Crimean Tatars still can't feel at home, as they are on occupied territory, makes the song even more emotional for her. The Ukrainian government recently declared this tragedy as a genocide.
Thoughts on Jamala's 1944:
"I think that something on such a great scale, that is important to be heard, has to be heard by everyone and if Eurovision is the way to get the message so be it; even if its against the rules" - Taisia, someone who does not watch the Eurovision, but due to the contest's strong online presence, is in the loop about what is happening.
"I think that something on such a great scale, that is important to be heard, has to be heard by everyone and if Eurovision is the way to get the message so be it; even if its against the rules" - Taisia, someone who does not watch the Eurovision, but due to the contest's strong online presence, is in the loop about what is happening.
- The next online criticism was directed at Australia. Australia was initially invited as a special guest to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the ESC, but came back this year. Some avid fans took to the internet to whine about the performance, saying that if they had won they wouldn't have flown or stayed up till 5:00am to watch the Eurovision show in 2017.
- Another minor event that angered viewers was Justin Timberlake's performance during one of the intermissions of the concert. He debuted his new single Can't Stop the Feeling, and though the crowd loved it, many started wondering that since Eurovision invited Justin Timberlake, maybe their next step would be inviting the United States, which no one wants because then the Eurovision would have to be renamed to Globalvision.
To put it in perspective, if Russia won, then at least two countries - Ukraine and Georgia - would get furious, because of Russia's bad foreign and gay rights policies. If Australia had won everyone would get angry because they are not in Europe (and were only invited as a guest entrant). If Sweden had won, they would be accused of monopolizing the competition. In the end, the Eurovision will never have an uncontroversial winner or performance.
QSI STUDENTS' FAVORITE PERFORMANCES
"Love Love Peace Peace" by the Swedish Hosts - AM
"Hard Rock Hallelujah" - Marie
"Phoenix", Conchita Wurst - Camelia
"Party For Everybody", Russian Babushkas - Cami
Politics aside, Jamala sang a beautiful song and congratulations to UkREIGN on winning.
Here's to hoping that Verka Serduchka - a comedian who represented Ukraine in 2007 - will host the 2017 Eurovision, he may not have won, but he left a lasting impression on Eurovision fans everywhere.
By Annemarie
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