It was the 65th time that European countries (and recently joined Australia) have gathered for the contest. It was held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands after a year-long break because on 7 May 2020, Dutch authorities prohibited all mass gatherings in the country until a COVID-19 vaccine became available. 2020 was the first year that Eurovision didn‘t happen since the first time it was held in 1956, but it is still considered the longest-running annual international televised music competition.
Even though Eurovision might seem like a silly contest to some, it actually has noble origins. It was an attempt by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to bring Europeans together after the trauma of World War II. And what better way is there to do that than through singing?
The song contest has evolved through the years, with more and more countries joining. The first time, only seven countries entered, and in modern times, about 40 countries compete. In total, 52 countries have entered the contest at least once. There were changes made to the rules and the songs adapt to the music styles that are popular at the time of the contest. But the thing that has never changed is the spirit of Eurovision and the anticipation of the contest every year.
So what caught people’s eyes that they thought were meme-worthy moments? Well, it varies greatly, from the unusual dress of the Russian artist Manizha to the fact that the United Kingdom received zero points yet again. People pointed out sometimes ridiculous outfits that Eurovision artists wear and loved the fact that Iceland’s jury vote announcer was the character from the movie Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, Olaf Yohansson. Of course, the winners, the Italian rock band Måneskin, also received their fair share of teasing.
This year‘s Eurovision contest was like no other because of the pandemic going on. Only about 3,500 people who had to have a negative test result for COVID-19 were allowed to watch the contest live in the Rotterdam Ahoy convention center, which has over 16,000 seats.
Artists too had to take tests, and unfortunately, one member each of the Polish and Icelandic delegations tested positive. As a result, those delegations were absent from the event, having gone into self-isolation. Later it turned out that that a member of the Icelandic group Daði og Gagnamagnið had tested positive, and the group couldn‘t perform live. The video of their rehearsal was showed instead.
There is a tradition that at the final of Eurovision, the winner of the previous year performs the winner song; however, Duncan Laurence, who was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, had also tested positive for COVID-19, so his performance was not live and a video filmed during rehearsals was showed instead.
It is so unfortunate that COVID-19 cases weren’t avoided and we only can wish for the artists to get better soon. But there are plenty of reasons to celebrate too. For example, did you notice that 10 of the 39 songs were not in English? And that the top 3 songs in the final were in French and Italian? It’s the first time that the top 3 songs have not been in English since 1995, so it’s actually amazing that artists are not afraid to sing in their own languages, and that people appreciate it.
Not only were there diverse languages, but music styles too. Six songs, which obtained more than half of the points combined from the viewers' vote, are indie folk (Russia and Ukraine), indie alternative (Iceland and Lithuania) and rock/metal (Finland and Italy), which shows that it’s truly a music competition, despite the discourse that comes up every year that there is a lot of politics going on.
Did you watch Eurovision? If so, tell us who were your favorites and what you think of the winner’s song Zitti E Buoni. Was there a song that you wish had qualified to the final, but didn’t? We are interested to hear all about it. Also, don’t forget to upvote the memes that cracked you up the most!
