A Field Guide to the Eurovision Song Contest
On Saturday, May 11th all of Europe will be watching the "Olympics of music", in Malmö, Sweden, along with a growing number of fans in the United States and elsewhere, thanks in part to a Will Ferrell comedy produced for Netflix, and the short-lived "American Song Contest".
In a few days I will publish a guide to some of the best and most notable songs of 2024, but first I wanted to provide some context for newcomers.
This is the history of Eurovision as I know it; my knowledge & perspective really starts in 2016 when it became more easily accessible in the US. And to be honest, I didn't listen to a lot of pop music before I got into Eurovision. I came for the pageantry and the folk music and the cultural differences on display, but the more I listened the more I learned to pick apart song structures, harmonies, and instrumentation.
I forced myself to question my own prejudices and biases and think more critically about what I was liking and disliking. I learned to appreciate more styles of music and broadened my horizons. I hope, if you dip your toe in the electrified pool that is Eurovision, the same might happen for you.
EARLY HISTORY
After WWII, the European Brodcasting System was established to promote cultural exchange and lasting peace across Europe. Since sports and auto racing were increasingly popular for expressing national pride and competition between countries, a songwriting contest was proposed to boost the radio network's listeners.
The song contest in these early days was a miracle of early-modern telecommunication. Not only did multiple broadcasts have to be coordinated so that announcers who spoke local languages could provide commentary in between each song, but listeners in each country were then invited to call in to their local networks to cast votes for their favorite song! No one was allowed to vote for their own country (this had the unfortunate side effect that for decades most songs were either in English or French). Each country then had a delegate call in to Eurovision headquarters to announce live on-air which songs received their votes.
The contest quickly proved itself a boon for the music industry. The 1958 Italian song "Volare" sold over 18 million copies all over Europe, even though it only placed 3rd in the contest.
ITALY 1958 - Domenico Modugno - "Nel blu dipinto di blu (Volare)" - 3rd place
But the contest would not have survived for 70 years if it didn't continue to be a cultural touchstone. And it made its biggest mark in 1978, when Sweden introduced ABBA to the world.
SWEDEN 1974 - ABBA - "Waterloo" - 1st place
Céline Dion's star rose in the '80s after competing for Switzerland (whether you have to be from a country to represent it is entirely up to the country).
SWITZERLAND 1988 - Céline Dion - "Ne partez pas sans moi" - 1st place
And Riverdance was essentially invented for Ireland's Eurovision broadcast (it was presented as an "interval act" to fill the time while the votes are being cast and counted).
IRELAND 1994 Interval Act - Riverdance
NATIONAL SONG SELECTION
Because of the varying budgets of countries who are eligible for Eurovision, each country's affiliate broadcaster can decide how their song is chosen. Sweden, like many countries, prides itself on a large contest with televised, audience-voted semi-finals and finals. Some countries, like Azerbaijan, have awarded their Eurovision spot to the winner of their local version of "Idol" or "The Voice", commissioning a song to suit their best singer's voice and style. Other countries just internally select an artist. It's a necessity for small countries like Cyprus or Montenegro, but it can also be a good strategy for the largest countries. The UK and France made their 2024 selections internally; they can attract a much more well-known artist, if they don't have to go through the rigmarole and uncertainty of a contest.
THE IMPORTANCE OF STAGING
Initially a "songwriting" contest, in the TV-era the quality of the live performance became equally important. The size of the "Finals" has also increased to a marathon of 26 songs.
Music is subjective, but there are many ways performers can try to be memorable for the audience's vote, and one of the joys of modern Eurovision is the cutting-edge stage productions. Sweden's 2015 entry has nonsensical lyrics but was elevated by Måns Zelmerlöw's incredible voice along with a memorable use of projections.
SWEDEN 2015 - Måns Zelmerlöw - "Heroes" - 1st place
Russia tried to take this concept to the next level the following year with a jaw-dropping "how did he do that?" coup de théâtre (at 1:40), but the song itself was not a winner.
RUSSIA 2016 - Sergey Lazarev - "You Are the Only One" - 3rd place
Norway won the competition in 2006 by doing something that NOBODY else was doing; they sent a rock band. And not just any rock band...
NORWAY 2006 - Lordi - "Hard Rock Hallelujah" - 1st place
HOW WEIRD DOES EUROVISION GET?
Weirdness is so subjective... But let's just say sometimes Eurovision has...
>DANCING<
UKRAINE 2007 - Verka Serduchka - "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" - 2nd place
And sometimes Eurovision has grannies baking bread in a real oven on stage while singing their song.
RUSSIA 2012 - Buranovskiye Babushki - "Party for Everybody" - 2nd place
RECENT ICONS OF EUROVISION
Since each country still has a delegate "call in" with the results of their voting, a Eurovision fan had better know some of the past icons, as they might make an appearance. Verka Serduchka (seen dancing above) often appears to represent Ukraine.
Alexander Rybak won the prize for Norway with his folk fiddling. This video was in the Top 50 videos of 2009 on a young website called Youtube:
NORWAY 2009 - Alexander Rybak - "Fairytale" - 1st place
(Live instrument performances are currently not allowed for considerations of logistics & fairness. Singers are really singing, but instrumentalists on stage are miming to a pre-recorded track.)
Loreen is the current champion for Sweden, and the first performer to ever win Eurovision twice. Born to Moroccan immigrants, she was Sweden's first ever "Idol" winner in 2004 and has been beloved there ever since.
SWEDEN 2012 - Loreen - "Euphoria" - 1st place
Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst caused a wave of public homophobia around Europe with her gender norm-shattering appearance. It only strengthened the queer-friendly Eurovision audience's connection to her as a symbol of bravery.
AUSTRIA 2014 - Conchita Wurst - "Rise Like a Phoenix" - 1st place
And Portugal's Salvador Sobral was recovering from painful surgery when he stepped into the crowd to deliver his soothing moment of Old World zen, a song written by his sister. The fact that this is the highest scoring song of all time is widely seen as a testament to the underlying good taste of Eurovision's obstinately silly audiences.
PORTUGAL 2017 - Salvador Sobral - "Amar pelos dois" - 1st place
2020: THE GREATEST CONTEST THAT NEVER WAS
The Pandemic stole from us a competition between many great acts. Here are just a few of my personal favorites.
Youtuber Daði Freyr wrote a Napoleon Dynamite-core love song to his newborn child. He would end up competing in 2021, but by rule had to submit a new song (which couldn't quite recapture the magic). For backup singers, he invited other Icelandic musicians to join him, just to share the exposure.
ICELAND 2020 - Daði Freyr - "Think About Things"
The Roop was forced to compete again in National Finals if they wanted to represent Lithuania in 2021. But they did and they won again! Their 2020 song was superior:
LITHUANIA 2020 - The Roop - "On Fire"
And Go_A - like many Ukrainian acts - blend folk melodies and instruments with contemporary electronica. Their lead singer Kateryna Pavlenko sings with a traditional "white voice" style of singing, and the folk-style song about a jilted lover has a dark edge that bursts into anger at the end.
UKRAINE 2020 - Go_A - "Solovey"
POLITICS
Officially, politics is banned from Eurovision. However, Ukraine's recent wins have both come after invasions by Russia, which provided emotional context for songs with lyrics vague enough to squeak by the official censors. Russia is no longer part of the EBU or the contest.
With events in Gaza, many Swedish people are protesting Eurovision's inclusion of Israel this year. I hope the crowd does not boo the singer from Israel, but I reckon someone will smuggle a Palestinian flag into the broadcast at some point (before quickly having them confiscated).
RECENT TRENDS
While countries are not allowed to vote for themselves, neighbors tend to have similar tastes (and sometimes vote for each other in illegal voting "bloc" schemes). Ireland won 7 times in 8 years in part because their powerhouse neighbor had an outsized influence on the vote. The scoring rules have been changed several times since then.
With subtitles on Youtube, a country's native language is no longer a hurdle, but a badge of "authenticity" (although it still helps if there's a chorus that everyone can easily learn to sing along with). The last time France used a National Final to select their entrant, they sent a song in the regional Breton language rather than French!
The 2021 contest was won handily by Italy's rock band Måneskin, and since then rock acts have become increasingly common.
ITALY 2021 - Måneskin - "Zitti e buoni" - 1st place
Finland's 2023 unusual entry (also rock... until it's not) was such a popular hit that there was huge disappointment when the jury swung the final points total in favor of Loreen. When I rewatch this performance now, it's very clear that this is one of the greatest stagings I've ever seen: the apotheosis of Eurovision excess. But to anyone unfamiliar with Eurovision, it must be utterly baffling! (The man had a rough day at the office, and he just wants a pina colada, okay?)
FINLAND 2023 - Käärijä - "Cha Cha Cha" - 2nd place
THE VOTING
The voting rarely makes everyone happy in the end. Do we really still need juries? I think it all balances out. Even popular songs like "Cha Cha Cha" and Loreen's "Tattoo" win with around 10-13% of the votes cast. We will always cherish the runner-ups.
The jury actually votes ahead of time based on a separate performance, the final dress rehearsal. With both the Jury vote and the Televote, every country awards points not just to one country, but 10 countries in ranked choice. Their #1 choice is given 12 points, #2 earns 10 points, #3 earns 8 points, and so on down to 1 point for last place.
Now, this is going to sound crazy, but the drawn-out process through which all of these points are announced one-by-one is one of the most exciting aspects of Eurovision. One of the things they truly get right is building suspense right up until the end.
First, each country "phones in" to award their jury points. They don't announce all 10 winners, only the song that they are giving douze points! ("12 points" in French.) The rest of their points are also shown on the screen. All throughout, songs shift around on the leaderboard, but still only half of the points have been given out.
For the Televote, they start at the bottom of leaderboard and announce how many audience points each country has been awarded from the entire world. It's a lump sum that can send songs at the bottom of the board to the very top, but usually only briefly as the best songs are left until last. Literally, everything rides on the final announcement: how many audience votes will be awarded to the jury winner?
IN CONCLUSION
It's easy to be cynical about the Eurovision Song Contest. It has been a force for the commodification of the music-making process. But year-after-year, there are always inspiring stories, unknown misfits becoming international sensations, and a whole lot of authenticity, global camaraderie, and fun.
So, if you like, enjoy the interval act from the second-to-last time Eurovision was held in Sweden. If you've watched all of the above, you will now understand most of the references!
SWEDEN 2016 Interval Act - "Love, Love, Peace, Peace"