WITH the final taking place this Saturday at 8pm on BBC Three, Eurovision 2022 is officially in full swing.
Taking place in Turin after Italy’s Maneskin won last year in Rotterdam with Ziti e Buoni, the competition has been whittled down from 40 acts to just 25 across the semifinals that took place this week. From the good, to the so-bad-it's-good, let’s look at 10 potential reasons to be excited for Turin 2022!
If you're backing the UK, the entry is actually good this year
After getting the dreaded nil points last year with James Newman’s underwhelming entry, Embers, seeing the UK shoot up to second place in the odds garners reactions such as “really?!” and “are you joking?!” ... but after listening to Sam Ryder’s incredible entry Spaceman, it’s clear to see why. Let’s see if the public and judges agree with the hype surrounding the most followed person from the UK on TikTok on the night.
Latvia made environmentalism sexy
Going viral on TikTok is a great way to gain attention ahead of the vote, but while the UK’s Sam Ryder went viral for his vocals, Latvia’s entry Eat Your Veggies by Citi Zeni has gone viral for its provocative take on environmentalism. With lyrics that unfortunately cannot be quoted here, Eat Your Salad was not well digested by voters on Tuesday night and didn’t make it to the final, much to the chagrin of fans and presumably to the audience, who screamed the song’s explicit lyrics at the band in a move likely not lapped up by juries of the allegedly family friendly show. But while fans can mourn the loss of one of the year’s funniest tracks, at least their performance in semi-final 1 is now preserved on YouTube forever.
Could Italy score another win?
With Italy fighting the UK for second place in the odds, it’s possible that the host country could win yet again. This would make 2022 the first time a country has won two years in a row since 1994! The emotional ballad, Brividi, is performed by Mahmood and Blanco and won Italy’s coveted competition Sanremo back in February. Fans of Eurovision might recognize Mahmood as the singer of Soldi which came in second place in 2019.
Tradition never gets old!
Traditional music is arriving in full force with Moldova bringing “folklore and rock and roll” music to the stage and Ukraine offering a fresh take on flute music. The former’s song is inspired by a train journey from Chisinau to Bucharest and sounds as hectic as you could image that trip to be. Meanwhile, Ukraine is giving hip-hop a traditional twist with the flautist from its entry last year, GoA, returning with Kalush Orchestra to perform the song Stefania, a moving tribute to the rapper’s mother.
Yellow wolves from space are descending on the stage
It wouldn’t be Eurovision without some outright absurdity, right? Well Norway’s elusive entry Subwoolfer will provide just that as they’ll be performing their song Give That Wolf A Banana in bright yellow full-body costumes, suits and wolf-like headgear. The duo, who claim to be from outer space, have yet to be seen without their costumes on and will not partake in any interviews without a translator to interpret their hand signals so as to not reveal their voices.
J-Lo will be making a subtle appearance
Well, not really (but I guess who can really rule it out after Flo Rida’s appearance with San Marino’s Senhit last year), but Spain’s Chanel will be singing Slo Mo, which was originally written for the one and only J-Lo. The Latin pop song has Chanel boasting about her “hypnotic” booty (which makes sense given the song’s history) and performing sensual choreography that includes her doing the splits while standing up. It’s near impossible to not want to dance along and with the song sitting at number five in the odds, it’s definitely not to be ruled out as a potential winner.
Chanel’s silver matador outfit is VERY sparkly, and 'booty hypnotic’ is very much the theme of the day. 🇪🇸 #Eurovision
— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) May 5, 2022
✍️ https://t.co/4ovGSvTuxv pic.twitter.com/hAPlcbbz56
Maneskin will be returning to the stage to perform new song Supermodel
Winning the competition by gaining a whopping 524 points in the 2021 competition in Rotterdam with their song Zitti e Buoni (Shut Up and Behave) and shooting to worldwide fame, hard rockers Maneskin will return to the Eurovision stage in their home country of Italy to perform their new single Supermodel. If you want some spoilers before their big performance, the song will have its world premiere on Friday night, a day ahead of the final.
France says non to the French language
With France giving us its first entry in Breton since 1996 and the competition's second-ever entry in the language, 2022 will be the first contest where no songs will be sung in French or even have a French title! In what must be a big day for haters of the French language, France’s Alvan & Ahez will perform Fulenn during the competition after winning the national selection, Eurovision France: C’est Vous Qui Décidez, by 50 points.
Serbia’s Konstrakta’s performance will be ultra clean
Giving the public some socially conscious art pop with lyrics about society’s obsession with bodies and, in particular, women’s bodies, Konstrakta will be singing In Corpre Sano, which translates from Latin to “in good health”. With a performance complete with towel-centric choreography and washing hands in buckets, Konstrakta’s stage has been likened to the work of fellow Serbian, conceptual and performance artist Marina Abramović. Whether you’ll love it or hate it, you definitely won’t forget it.
Everybody's Gonna Love Today
Famed 2000s hit-maker Mika is set to host the show alongside Laura Pausini (an Italian singer) and Alessandro Cattelan (Italy's equivalent of Dermot O'Leary). Mika's duty as a host might seem surprising to some due to the fact he's not Italian and was born in Lebanon and raised in France and England. However, he has been active in Italy for almost a decade, judging X Factor Italia in 2013, 2014, 2015 and again in 2020 and 2021. He's also hosted his variety show, Stasera Casa Mika, since 2017. Being able to speak English, Italian, French and Spanish fluently also gives him a great case for hosting the multi-lingual show. However, we can't forget his comments on the Eurovision Song Contest, telling French journalists in 2015 that "most of the songs sent to the competition are shameful, they are pure s**t!" Judging from his current state of employment, he seems to have changed his tune.
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