The Eurovision Song Contest, following the flames of the Second World War, was created by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to show off cutting edge technology and unite a continent in song. It’s pretty certain the creators of the contest would be horrified to see our continent once again suffering so much due to war, a very sad backdrop to yet another contest.
Not only are the most ghastly events happening in Ukraine and the Middle East, there’s also the more forgotten conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Added to that, the contest’s inclusive nature has sent former entrants with less liberal governments like Türkiye, Hungary and even Slovakia running a mile from joining one of the most diverse and colourful spectacles in the world.
Eurovision 2024 marks two 50th anniversaries
Of the many memorable moments, it’s hard to think of a more significant contest than 1974. Held in Brighton, it is most famous for launching Abba onto the world stage. However, it’s also 50 years since the Portuguese entry heralded a new dawn for the country. When Paulo de Carvalho started singing ‘E depois de adeus’ (And After Goodbye), it was the signal that launched the Carnation Revolution ultimately ridding the country of its fascist regime. To quote Abba’s ‘Waterloo’ there are many who would like to see history repeating itself and toppling a few regimes the world currently endures.
Israel nearly didn’t compete
This year’s Israeli song was originally going to be called ‘October Rain’, alluding to the Hamas attacks and kidnappings that took place last October. It was seen to be too political by the EBU so was rewritten and retitled ‘Hurricane’. The rather haunting melody still has the major theme of feeling distressed by events with lyrics such as “promise you’ll hold me again” and “I’m still broken by this Hurricane”.
Israel’s participation this year is still controversial. Some venues have even chosen not to show the contest in solidarity with Palestine and it’s to be seen if they mute the Israeli entry on the night. In an unprecedented move, the EBU has even resorted to releasing a statement regarding the safety of the competitors.
I’m writing this article some weeks before the contest and hope that host city Malmö, with its large Muslim population, is capable of being a tolerant and safe place for all entrants and by the time of the contest, a solution for peace has been found with a cessation of hostilities and the release of the hostages held since October.
2024 almost a saw Palestinian entrant
Not being a member of the EBU, there is currently no possibility of a song from Palestine itself. However, it was widely expected that the winner of the Icelandic selection programme would be Palestinian singer, Bashar Murad. To the surprise of many pundits, he came second. I suspect he would have done very well with his song ‘Wild West’. Perhaps one day he will sing for his own country, although it’s to be seen whether a Palestinian state would be as accepting of a member of the LGBT+ community representing them as are their Israeli neighbours.
Who are the favourites this year?
The early favourite to win the contest was Croatia. Their entry ‘Rim Tim Tagi Dim’ by Baby Lasagna is probably what people think of as a stereotypical pastiche of a Eurovision nonsense song.
As I write this article, the Swiss song is the bookies’ favourite. Their song is entitled ‘The Code’, and by “their”, I’m referring to the singer, Nemo, who uses they as their preferred pronoun, rather than the country of Switzerland.
A dark horse to watch out for is the Dutch song ‘Europapa’ which may well appeal to a lot of our anti-Brexit readers – have a look and you’ll see what I mean!
For the first time in quite a while, the contest is a little more open and this year’s winner might well be a complete surprise.
Something for everyone
As always, there’s something for everyone, especially if you watch all three shows as some will fall by the wayside in the semi-finals.
Along with Croatia and the Netherlands, another load of nonsense comes from Finland. Ukraine unfortunately ruined a nice song by adding angry rap (although the Ukrainians obviously have every reason to be angry). The Spanish song will be lip-synched in Gran Canaria by drag queens for years to come and the French song is once again classy. It’s hard to describe the Irish song which, like Greece, doesn’t seem to be just one song, but a mishmash of ideas and a lot of shrieking.
One of my personal favourites, the Australian song, introduces us to a new language for Eurovision, Yankunytjatjara. The song translates to ‘One Blood’ and is a message of hope, more important than ever in this fractious world. Unfortunately, the bookies aren’t sure it’ll qualify for the grand final. Another possible non-qualifier also worth mentioning is five-times winner Luxembourg, as the country is back after 31 years. Let’s hope that it won’t take Russia as long to come back to the contest; after all, that would mean that Putin and his gang had gone and Russia – and hopefully Belarus – become more open and tolerant societies.
Eurovision UK entry
Unfortunately, the UK entry, as catchy as it might be, isn’t seen as one of the favourites. As one of the ‘Big 5’ countries, along with Spain, Italy, Germany and France, the song is guaranteed to be in the grand final on Saturday 11 May. In a break from recent years, the BBC has sent an internationally famous singer. Olly Alexander fronted Years and Years and had a worldwide hit with ‘King’ back in 2015. More recently, he is known for playing the lead role in the Channel 4 AIDS drama It’s A Sin. While it might not do too well in the contest, there is hope that the song will be a commercial success.
Whoever wins, let’s hope the contest is a triumphant celebration and somehow helps bring this horribly fractured world together in peace and harmony.
The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Malmö, Sweden. The semi-finals are on 7 and 9 May, with the Grand Final on 11 May. Several venues will show the contest live and full coverage will be on BBC. All songs can be viewed at the official Eurovision website: www.eurovision.tv
