Eurovision to focus on music, not glitz
Elegant performances
LISBON, Portugal, May 12, (Agencies): The kitsch is conspicuously absent this year and the usual extravagant stage effects are nowhere to be seen. Could the Eurovision Song Contest finally be focusing on the music?
The annual Euro-pop fest has long been the glittery home of outlandish costumes, high-voltage stage effects, forgettable tunes and kitschy acts like last year’s dancing gorilla.
But Portugal — which hosting this year’s event because its entry, Salvador Sobral, won with a restrained solo ballad last year in Ukraine — is putting on a show with stylish, elegant performances by a strong field of competitors. And it’s doing that with a $23.8 million budget that officials say is the most restrained since 2008.
That means the 63rd Eurovision Song Contest is heading to what many predict will be an exceptional year.
The hugely popular international event is organized by the European Broadcasting Union, an alliance of public service broadcasters.
Every year, more than 40 countries select, through national competitions, the act that each of them they will send to the Eurovision Song Contest. The host country is the winner of the previous year’s event.
Portugal won last year in Kiev with an intimate solo ballad by Salvador Sobral, the country’s first victory since it started competing in 1964. The Altice Arena, a riverside concert venue in the capital, Lisbon, was chosen to host the 2018 competition.
Sobral, 28, had a heart transplant in December and has limited his activities, but he is expected to make a guest appearance at the Grand Final in a duet with legendary Brazilian musician Caetano Veloso.
Sobral
Return
This year saw the return to competition of Russia, a traditional favorite, after missing last year’s event amid a diplomatic spat with host Ukraine. But it was a short return: Russia’s contestant Julia Samoylova went out in the semifinals, while Ukraine singer Melovin advanced to the Grand Final.
The Eurovision Song Contest was widely rebuked last year for picking three men to host the show in Kiev.
The organizers’ response for Lisbon: four female presenters.
The four are Daniela Ruah, who grew up in Portugal and is a star on the hit television show “NCIS: Los Angeles”, and three women known for their TV work in Portugal: Filomena Cautela, Silvia Alberto and Catarina Furtado.
Six countries automatically qualify for the Grand Final: the so-called “Big Five” of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, as well as the host country.
Two semifinals last week cut the overall field from 43 to the 26 who will compete on Saturday night.
The bookmakers’ favorites this year are: Israel’s Netta Barzilai, with her playful song “Toy”, Cypriot singer Eleni Foureira, with her fiery performance of “Fuego”, and France’s Madame Monsieur with the politically charged “Mercy”, about migrants who risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean on unsafe boats hoping for a better life in Europe.
Portuguese winner Sobral last year wore a casual jacket and shirt and gave a soulful, restrained performance that went against the show’s gaudy, Europop orthodoxy. This year Claudia Pascoal also keeps things simple with “O Jardim” (“The Garden”).
History suggests the winner is unlikely to become a household name. Some have gone on to bigger things, however: ABBA, the Swedish winners in 1974; Spanish singer Julio Iglesias, who came out on top four years earlier; and Celine Dion of Switzerland in 1988.
Famous
The Eurovision Song Contest is famous for its excesses, especially in staging and costumes, but this year producers are keeping a close eye on their spending.
Goncalo Reis, head of host broadcaster Radiotelevisao Portuguesa, has promised this will be the most inexpensive Eurovision Song Contest of recent times. That has translated into fewer stage fireworks and elaborate props, allowing a greater focus on the music — just as Sobral urged when he was crowned winner.
With media companies feeling a financial pinch, Reis says RTP will spend around 20 million euros ($23.8 million) putting on the show, including security and other associated items. RTP will have to pay 4 million euros of that, with the rest coming from the EBU.
Reis reckons Portugal’s revenue from tourism and sponsorship deals will amount to more than the sum spent.
After all the acts have performed, the tense, drawnout collating of votes begins. The live coverage jumps to each participating country, where a jury and viewers award between one and a maximum 12 points to their favorite songs. Those votes are combined to give each country a single score.
The magic words: “douze points” (12 points) are like hitting a home run in baseball and elicit loud cheers from flag-waving supporters at the show.
No country can vote for its own contestant. By tradition, each announcement is made in English or French. Ending up with “nul points” (zero points) is deeply embarrassing.
Eurovision was first held in 1956 with the aim of uniting Europe after World War II.
Today it has a combined global audience of around 200 million people — more than the Super Bowl in the United States — and has served as a global launching pad for the likes of ABBA and Celine Dion. This year’s final won’t be seen in China though. The European Broadcast Union has barred a Chinese video service, Mango TV, from airing the event after it edited out a romantic dance sequence.
Despite an ever-increasing number of TV music contests such as Pop Idol, fans say the show — the longest-running international TV competition according to Guinness World Records — is in a category of its own.
“I like the mix of flags, and the singing in the local languages and the mix of people”, Lorenzo Formento, a 40-year-old Italian logistic manager who lives in Madrid and came to Lisbon for the final, told AFP.
“I think it is very cheerful, it is more about this than the songs. Everyone knows the songs are not that good.”
This year’s contest will cost around 20 million euros ($24 million) to stage, the lowest amount since 2008 when it started to have two semifinals.