After a Friday full of trying to keep up with my supervisor’s demands in the morning, volunteering in the afternoon, and getting together with a support group in the evening… and then spending all Saturday morning composing a blog entry, I spent Saturday afternoon camping in front of the TV set. And “camp” also meant “campy.”
Saturday (May 12) was Grand Final day of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. If you recall my write-up about the 2016 contest, Eurovision is part of a consortium of European television broadcasters that produces and distributes TV content throughout Europe. The Eurovision Song Contest is by far their biggest event, and this year it was held in Lisbon, capital and largest city of Portugal, whose entry in last year’s contest took home the title.
Eurovision (the contest, not the company) has long been known for throwing a lot of glitz and glam and kitch into the proceedings. We’re talking musical bombast, glamorous costumes, and truckloads of techno stuff, as the below tweet proves:
https://twitter.com/ThatPeterHayes/status/995430298786648064
The slogan for Eurovision 2018 was “All Aboard!” To the average American, the term suggests getting on a train before it leaves without you. To Eurovision (the company, not the song contest), the event’s slogan and related logos meant an allusion to Lisbon’s historic role as a sea port and its connection to the rest of Europe. As well, the slogan was meant to invite the rest of the world to “come together” in the Eurovision Song Contest’s long-held core values of diversity, respect and tolerance. Those values weren’t held by every network within the broadcast consortium (as I’ll explain below), but it certainly appeared to be held by the participants in the arena where Saturday’s grand final was held, if the presence of more than a few rainbow flags in the audience was any indication.
But, okay, I hear you: Enough about the talk. What about the performances? Well, I admit I didn’t get to watch every single performance of the Eurovision grand final, for reasons including one that was beyond my control. Here were some (though not all) of what piqued my interest on the afternoon:
“Under the Ladder” by Mélovin — The the first performance of the night, as done by the Ukranian entrant. Nothing too scintillating, but the performance did have a usual Eurovision hallmark: Pyrotechnics (i.e. flames shooting out from the edges of the stage). At least the song did receive a win (on one Eurovision-watching site, anyway) for top video going into the competition.
“Tu canción” by Amaia y Alfred and “When We’re Old” by Ieva Zasimauskaitė — Back-to-back performances of, respectively, the Spanish and Lithuanian entrants. Both were performed in elegant, low-key fashion, the former of the two a piano-backed duet in Spanish and the latter an ode to growing old together with a sweet moment near the end (as this official first rehearsal video displays). If you need any more convincing that these songs are beautiful, click on both of those song titles for their official videos, for they are beautiful in their own right.
“Nobody But You” by Cesár Sampson — What a scintillating performance by this entrant from Austria, although the lyrics suggest the singer is a guy just wanting to make love to some beautiful woman (and in the era of #MeToo, too). But then, Cesár Sampson looked pretty sexy in that shirt.
“La Forza” by Elina Nechayeva — What a great combination of vocals and visuals. Estonia’s entry in the competition, sung in Italian by a classically trained soprano, had great visual appeal with a combination of quick-cut blackouts from one camera to the next, plus a gown with moving LED images projected onto its train. But, oh, that voice. Elina Nechayeva knows how to hit the high notes, as you can see below in what I believe is the semi-final performance. But it wasn’t just during the performance that she exhibited her voice; she hit a few more high notes and displayed a positive personality during an interview break between performances.
“That’s How You Write a Song” by Alexander Rybak — And this is how you get a song with lyrics about writing a song over at Eurovision: Take one Norwegian songwriter, make sure he’s boyishly cute, let him sing alongside some dancers, allow him to play his violin during a break between lyrics, add a few musical-note graphics as TV embellishments, and hope for a good response from the audience.
“O Jardim” by Cláudia Pascoal — Host country Portugal’s entry and, unfortunately, the song that finished at the bottom of the vote totals in the grand final. Still, this was a sincere, low-key, beautifully-performed effort that really caught my eyes and ears, with the pink-haired Cláudia performing alongside the song’s composer, Isaura. (Not to make any suggestions here, but they did look cute together.) Understandably, the performance received a big hand from the home country crowd.
“Storm” by SuRie — And here’s where I need to complain about my cable company. Eurovision 2018 was broadcast by Logo, which is on a pretty unfavorable channel position on my cable TV package. (I won’t say who the company is, but I’m not above sharing the link to their website. *hint hint*) A big bugaboo I have with this cable service is that many of the lower-prestige channels tend to pixelate and break up. A lot. So it was on Saturday with Logo (a channel that used to be LGBT-oriented but is now just pretty much a rerun haven, but that’s neither here nor there). Almost right after SuRie was about to belt out her tune, the picture began breaking up, the cable box was unresponsive, and I became flustered. Again?! I thought. Yeah, I could have just unplugged the power outlet from the box and plug it back in again, but that would have just exacerbated the situation. So, I wound up missing all but the first few and last few seconds of this performance, which judging from the lyrics was likely a power ballad about staying strong and weathering storms, the type of song Great Britain has been (in)famous for in past Eurovision contests. Apparently, I also missed some guy storming the stage and ripping the microphone away from SuRie, who in a sign of being a true pro continued without a beat. The British have always known how to keep calm and carry on.
“You Let Me Walk Alone” by Michael Schulte — Germany’s entry, and the most obvious song to pull one’s heartstrings (the off-camera commentators on Logo appeared to love it). It’s a song about being from a loving family but missing the presence of a father (for some unknown reason, death perhaps). As if you didn’t need reminding, the stage showed projections of fathers and sons and added emphasis to the chorus. It’s a song tailor-made for the adult contemporary radio station in your town, or much more likely the Christian rock station. It also turned out to be pretty popular among several of the voting nations, though not enough to win Eurovision’s top spot.
“Mercy” by Madame Monsieur — France’s entry (performed in French, obviously), and a song ripped from today’s headlines (though not in a Law & Order kind of way). The song is inspired by an actual story of a baby girl named Mercy, who was born aboard a humanitarian rescue boat in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea during the European migrant crisis. At least one pundit points out the clear link between the song’s background and Eurovision’s promotion of humanism and open borders. The song is also a “thank you” (or “merci”) to those in Europe willing and able to accept and not shun the suffering and downtrodden from outside their borders.
“Lie to Me” by Mikolas Josef — The Czech Republic’s entrant was performed by a singer, pictured to your right (photo credit to Eurovision.tv), who had the appearance of a nerd but underneath those eyeglasses was as handsome as Leonardo DiCaprio, not to mention possessing the vocal stylings of Justin Timberlake. The song’s lyrics (some of which are dirty, I should advise you) sounded like something out of J.T.’s songbook as well (think “Rock Your Body”). Clear music video influence in this presentation’s visuals.
“Monsters” by Saara Aalto — The lyrics are about defying the demons in your life. The visuals in this performance seemed so apt, a combination of black and white lines and shadows that emphasized the color allusions in the lyrics, not to mention the fact that the Finnish singer (who, by the way, looks pretty gorgeous outside of this performance) spun around at the beginning on a wheel and flipped over at the very end (she delivered her “Thank you, Eurovision!” shout while being held upside down).
“My Lucky Day” by DoReDoS — This was a performance I really got a kick out of. The use of a white wall with multiple opening-and-closing doors, plus a liberal use of romantic innuendo behind those doors, gave this song (performed by a two-man, one-woman Moldovian trio) a visual feel reminiscent of those romantic comedies Rock Hudson and Doris Day starred in during the late 1950s/early 1960s. (You can see a hint of that playfully campy appeal in both this rehearsal clip and this behind-the-scenes clip.) The visuals in the performance befit the song’s lyrics of sexual attraction between two people. The song’s official music video has a different feel, however, though it’s just as visually appealing in its own right.
“Dance You Off” by Benjamin Ingrosso — Another performance with a techno-visual appeal, not to mention handsome moves and command of the camera by this Swedish performer. (Oh, he wore the coolest patent vinyl jacket.)
“Viszlát nyár” by AWS — A straight-up acid/grunge rock performance by this Hungarian band, complete with shooting flames from the stage and crowd surfing by the guitarist. Which is strange because, judging from the band’s image on their Wikipedia article, they look pretty clean-cut.
“Outlaw in ‘Em” by Waylon — The thing that ran through my mind when watching this performance of the Netherlands’ entry was this: How did “bro country” manage to sneak its way into Eurovision? Actually, this had more of an “outlaw country” feel to it, especially taking into consideration the fact that the singer takes his stage name from the American country singer, and “outlaw country” legend, the late Waylon Jennings. The song did manage to finish in the top half of jury voting, including getting favorable votes from the song experts of neighboring Belgium (the “televote” of viewers from across the continent, not so much). At least Waylon took a mostly diplomatic view of his song’s performance at Eurovision, not showing any hint of disappointment.
“Together” by Ryan O’Shaughnessy — Take a look at the two men you see in the above image (photo credit: Eurovision.tv). Neither of them are the Irish singer who co-wrote and performed the song at Eurovision on Saturday. However, these two dancers beautifully depicted the song’s melancholic lament about a couple falling out of love (“I thought we’d be together ’til we die,” goes the chorus’ lament). They did not touch or embrace or even kiss during the performance as I recall (and they only touch hands a couple of times in the song’s official video), but there is a clear impression that these men are (were?) a romantic couple. The Chinese broadcaster who aired Eurovision this week took that impression seriously, and excised this performance, one by Albania’s heavily tattooed entry, and images of rainbow flags from a Tuesday broadcast of the semifinal. Homosexuality may have been decriminalized in China decades ago, but the country’s authorities still crack down on TV content they deem “vulgar, immoral, and unhealthy.” The move disgusted Eurovision enough to immediately cut ties with the network before the grand final broadcast. Smart move, for an event that prides itself in embracing diversity should always walk the talk. Controversy aside, “Together” is quite a beautiful song, and its aural performance really emphasized the lament of love gone south.
“Fuego” by Eleni Foueira — With all due respect, Beyonce, you better make some room for extra fierceness on the stage. The Greek singer Eleni Foueira, who is pictured above (photo credit: Eurovision.tv), performed this Cypriot entry with a voice and stage command that rivals that of Beyonce. It was a song and a performance that ranked high in votes by not only the juries of song experts from each country but also by the viewers across Europe. Indeed, going into the final, “Fuego” was considered an odds-on favorite to take the Eurovision crown. However, there was also…
“Toy” by Netta — This Israeli entry was performed 5th to last in the Eurovision grand final (“Fuego” was performed 2nd to last). And, boy, did it make quite an impression lyrically, visually, and musically. The empowering lyrics first: The singer not only dares men to step back (“I’m not your toy, you stupid boy”) but also reminds women that they are stronger than they know (“Wonder Woman, don’t you ever forget/You’re divine and he’s about to regret”). Even the parts that sound nonsensical (“Ree, ouch, hey, hm, la”) and come across as chicken-clucking have a meaning of happiness, hurt, anger, frustration, and becoming stronger. You don’t believe me? Check out the lyrics here for yourself.
Then there was the visual appeal of “Toy’s” performance on Saturday: Clear influences from Japanese culture abounded, with Netta wearing buns in her hair and a pink/red/black kimono on her person. There were the backup dancers in equally unique attire. And there were rows of gold cat figurines waiving paws (or were they tails?) in the background, as if to emphasize the “toy” of the song’s title.
And there was the musicality of “Toy”: This is a song you can really, really dance to at the club. Seriously, this song that will get you on your feet. Oh, you still don’t believe me? Hit the “PLAY” button below and listen for yourself.
But while winning its semifinal round during the week and being another likely favorite to win the grand final of Eurovision 2018, “Toy” was not a sure thing going into the all-too-suspenseful, extremely topsy-turvy final vote. “Toy” was third in jury voting, and the votes of the general public was nip-and-tuck until… well, check out final moments for yourself in the below tweet:
Yep, “Toy” impressed enough to secure the most votes from the “televoting” half of the balloting to win Eurovision 2018. Is everyone happy with the result? Well, Netta herself was happy.
And for sure the folks in Israel are happy, too. But then there was the person who would hand the Eurovision 2018 trophy to Etta, 2017 winner Salvador Sobral of Portugal. Sobral’s winning song was a “jazz waltz” that explores heartbreak after breaking up with a true love. Sobral had hoped that winning Eurovision 2017 would remind audiences that “music is not fireworks,” i.e. it’s the beauty of a song and not the accompanying visual effects that matters. He voiced clear disdain for “Toy.”
Despite any criticism, though, audiences and juries across Europe liked what they heard in “Toy,” enough to give it Eurovision love. Is it because of the song’s dance feel? Is it because of the chicken-clucking hook? Is it because the lyrics make it an empowering new anthem of the #MeToo era? Is it all three? Whatever the case, it made for a cheerful capstone to an exciting evening in Lisbon, Europe, and even in my humble abode.
Allison M. 