The Daily Telegraph - Features
Eurovision at its weird, wonderful, nail-biting best
With Space Man, Sam Ryder soared towards the stars but, ultimately, a huge public vote for eventual winners Ukraine brought the UK’s Eurovision frontrunner back down to Earth.
At the end of a weird, wonderful and, ultimately, breathlessly tense final – broadcast from Turin’s Pala Alpitour arena – Kalush Orchestra claimed a widely expected victory at this 66th Eurovision Song Contest. It helped that their entry, Stefania, was a classic Eurovision bopper – mixing pop, rap and traditional woodwind. However, with Space Man having held pole position at the end of the national jury voting, Ryder’s eventual second-place finish carried the tiniest whiff of anti-climax.
His performance – surrounded by moving metal girders, Ryder looked as if he was singing on a razzmatazz building site – was a highlight of the first half of a nearly four-hour-long broadcast, in which the 25 finalists soared, swooped, crooned or, in the case of Serbia’s Konstrakta, sat at a bowl washing their hands (a dig at the inequities of the country’s health insurance system, as I’m sure you’ve already guessed).
Graham Norton, tucked away in his commentary box, held viewers’ hands throughout with his typically wry voiceover. Or at least he did until it became clear that Ryder was in with a shout – at which point all that Nortonian cynicism evaporated.
Presenting Eurovision is never an easy gig and this year’s trio – Lebanese-British pop star Mika, X Factor Italy host Alessandro Cattelan and superstar Italian singer Laura Pausini – each drew their own particular short straw. Pausini was required to don a latex orange jacket for the big musical number with which she opened the evening. Cattelan squeezed into a lurid green body-stocking for a groan-worthy “green screen” stunt (the biggest special effect was the sock he appeared to have wedged down his crotch). And Mika was seemingly under orders to change outfit every 20 minutes.
He did, however, redeem himself with a stunning medley of greatest hits, delivered while standing on a piano, framed by a huge mechanical heart, his torso covered in stickers. If that isn’t peak Eurovision, I don’t know what is.
And then to the main event, as the votes started to come in. First the national juries brought a deluge of douze points for Ryder which swept him into first place, ahead of Sweden’s Cornelia Jakob. (At the same point last year, the UK entrant, James Newman was hanging his head with nul points). But then the viewer ballot saw Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra come roaring through to victory.
Given the political circumstances, the night was always going to belong to them. The band had concluded their performance with a plea: “Please help Ukraine... please help Mariupol… right now.” And, as they accepted their trophy, they looked more stoic than ecstatic. “Thank you for supporting Ukraine,” they said. “This victory is for every Ukrainian.” Who could possibly begrudge them that?