Eurovision: Europe Shine A Light

Netherlands mulls host city for Eurovision 2020

France24 – AFP, 19 May 2019

Netherlands' Duncan Laurence beat 25 other Eurovision finalists with his stirring
power ballad "Arcade" (AFP)

The Hague (AFP) - Several Dutch cities threw their hat in the ring Sunday to host Eurovision 2020 after the Netherlands won this year's glitzy song contest with a stirring power ballad about heartache.

Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Maastricht have all volunteered to organise the famously kitsch event, which draws millions of viewers with its extravagant performances and over-the-top stage sets.

Bookies' favourite Duncan Laurence handed his home country its first victory in 44 years when he beat 25 other finalists at the latest edition held in Tel Aviv on Saturday night.

The 25-year-old, who came out as bisexual in 2016 and has used his new high profile to advocate more tolerance, wooed audiences with his ballad "Arcade" about a romantic breakup.

Italy finished second and Russia third in the results that combined votes from juries from participating countries as well as viewers at home.

'Proud' monarchs

"We are proud of Duncan Lawrence who has conquered Europe with musical class... and is bringing Eurovision home next year," Dutch King Willem-Alexander and his wife Queen Maxima said in a tweet shortly after the winner was announced.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte joined the chorus of praise, hailing the performance as "sublime and powerful".

Relatively unknown before being chosen to represent his country, Laurence was visibly moved by his success.

"My dream has come true, it really has come true," he told journalists following his victory -- the Netherlands' first since 1975.

More than 5.3 million Dutch viewers watched the live show, according to Dutch broadcaster Avrotros.

The largely European competition, which gifted the Swedish supergroup ABBA to the world, dates back to the 1950s.

Over the years, it has widened to include channels subscribing to the European Broadcasting Union, and now spreads as far as Australia.

While Eurovision organisers take care to note that the event is meant to be non-political, it is frequently punctured by some controversy.

The Tel Aviv edition was no exception. Two backup dancers for Madonna appeared on stage wearing Israeli and Palestinian flags on their backs.

Icelandic group Hatari meanwhile displayed scarfs with Palestinian flags when results were being announced.

Israel won the right to host the extravaganza thanks to last year's victory by Israeli singer Netta Barzilai, who opened the show on Saturday night.

“Duncan’s song is a winning game! Wij zijn trots op Duncan Laurence die Europa met muzikale klasse heeft veroverd, Nederland voor het eerst in 44 jaar weer winst heeft bezorgd en het Songfestival volgend jaar naar Nederland haalt!” - WA en Máxima. #songfestival #eurovision pic.twitter.com/esSgL9ulB2

— Koninklijk Huis (@koninklijkhuis) 18 mei 2019

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King and prime minister praise Duncan Laurence for Eurovision win

Portuguese Crooner Wins Eurovision as Conflict Mars Kiev's Party

Yahoo – AFP, May 14, 2017

Kiev (AFP) - Portugal won the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time ever early Sunday with a melancholy ballad performed by a singer who suffers from a serious heart condition.

The fado-tinged song "Amar Pelos Dois" was performed by 27-year-old Salvador Sobral, who is awaiting a heart transplant.

It scored a crushing victory, winning top marks both from the televoters and the countries' professional juries.

The black-clad singer took to a small separate stage for his minimalist performance of the song written by his sister.

But the glitzy contest was marred by the ongoing fighting with Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko opted not to attend after four civilian deaths.

The ceremony in the capital of ex-Soviet Ukraine began with a glittering light show as the contestants took bows on a stage lit up in the colours of their respective national flags.

"Say hello to the world!" shouted co-presenter Volodymyr Ostapchuk.

The annual celebration of catchy europop, ludicrous costumes and glittering divas watched by some 200 million TV viewers was being hosted by Ukraine for the second time.

Another favorite with the bookmakers was Bulgaria's big-voiced 17-year-old singer Kristian Kostov who gave a confident performance of "Beautiful Mess".

During the contest, it emerged that Kostov had performed in Crimea soon after its annexation by Moscow -- the reason Ukraine banned Russia's singer.

But Ukraine let Kostov stay because he was just 14 at the time.

The latest edition of the contest, that began in 1956 with just seven countries, offered the usual wacky stage acts and cheesy beats.

Italian Francesco Gabbani invoked Hamlet and Desmond Morris's anthropology book "The Naked Ape" in his song, while a gorilla-costumed dancer boogied alongside him.

Azerbaijan's act featured a man wearing a horse's head on a stepladder while Romania presented an unlikely combination of yodeling and rap with two giant cannons on stage for no apparent reason.

Macedonia's contestant Jana Burceska failed to make the final but received a televised marriage proposal during a semi-final, screaming "Yes!" as her boyfriend knelt down with a ring.

Britain may be experiencing a post-Brexit vote chill in Europe, but pulled out all the stops with a big ballad performed by Lucie Jones.

Ahead of the show, fans streamed into the venue, an exhibition centre outside the city centre, wearing flower garlands and draped in national flags while some waved rainbow gay pride flags.

"It's just so great. Everyone loves it. And you just wanna be here!" shouted Jasmine from Britain, wearing a garland of ribbons and flowers.

For the contest, Kiev's main Kreshchatyk Street was transformed into a Eurovision fan zone with a large stage, beanbags and European Union flags.

Fans with flags painted on their faces snapped selfies, danced, sang and drank beer.

Amid heightened security, some 10,000 police were deployed on the streets, some carrying semi-automatic weapons.

Ukraine is hosting Eurovision amid a continuing armed conflict with pro-Russian separatists in the country's industrial east that has now killed more than 10,000.

A top Ukrainian official said Saturday that "Russian invading forces" had killed four civilians in shelling hours before the contest started.

And that news led President Poroshenko to cancel his appearance at Eurovision.

He wrote on Facebook that "due to the shelling of Avdiivka and the death of peaceful civilians, I took a decision to cancel my presence at the Eurovision final."

Russia was also conspicuously absent.

Kiev barred Russia's Yuliya Samoilova because she had illegally entered Crimea to perform there after Moscow's disputed annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine.

Russia responded by refusing to air the contest and viewers in separatist eastern Ukraine were also unable to watch.

Russia has vowed that Samoilova will compete in 2018, placing Ukraine in a tricky dilemma over whether to participate alongside her.

Ukraine first hosted Eurovision in 2005 when the contest symbolised the country's quest to open up to Europe after the 2004 pro-Western Orange Revolution.

Last year its contestant Jamala won with a song called "1944," referring to the Stalin-era deportation of her Crimean Tatar ethnic group from the Black Sea peninsula.

Jamala took to the stage during voting and in an unintended moment, a man wrapped in the Australian flag mooned in front of her.

This year, Ukraine has used the contest to take tentative steps to soften the climate of homophobia prevalent in the ex-Soviet Union.

The authorities handed out a map of gay-friendly venues to fans of the contest with a massive gay following.

Ukraine stuns Russia to win politically-charged Eurovision

Yahoo – AFP, Hugues Honore, May 15, 2016

After a tense vote count Jamala representing Ukraine was declared Eurovision
 2016 winner after a heart-felt performance of "1944", about the deportations
of Crimean Tatars during World War II (AFP Photo/Jonathan Nackstrand)

Stockholm (AFP) - Ukrainian singer Jamala snatched victory from arch-rival Russia to win the Eurovision song contest, adding a touch of political drama to the annual kitsch extravaganza.

After a tense vote count, during which it seemed Australia was going to run away with the crown until the audience votes came in, Jamala was declared the winner in Stockholm after a heart-felt performance of "1944", a song about the deportations of Crimean Tatars during World War II.

Jamala's entry -- which stirred controversy over perceived veiled criticism of Russia's recent annexation of Crimea -- scored 534 points, closely followed by Australia's Dami Im with 511 points, the juries' favourite.

The hotly tipped former Russian child star Sergey Lazarev came in third with 491 points.

In Moscow, public TV channel Rossiya 1's commentators congratulated Jamala on her win, without mentioning the Crimean Tatars.

They said Jamala's song was "about her family members", without offering further details.

Jamala herself described the win as "amazing".

"I was sure that if you sing, if you talk about truth it really could touch people," the 32-year-old said at the winner's press conference.

The stunning turnaround in the final minutes of the show capped an eventful 61st edition of the love-it-or-hate-it kitsch fest, which was expected to be the most-watched Eurovision since the event was first staged in 1956.

Scores were decided by national juries as well as viewers. In an attempt to give the outcome a more democratic feel this year, fans were given the final say -- adding some last-minute suspense to the contest.

Among the evening's other highlights was a guest appearance by US pop star Justin Timberlake, who entertained the crowd with his hit "Rock Your Body" before performing his new single, the upbeat "Can't Stop the Feeling", which itself wouldn't have sounded out of place in the Eurovision line-up.

In another sign of the contest's growing appeal, Eurovision was for the first time broadcast live in the United States on the Logo channel, which is aimed at the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community.

The show was also live-streamed on YouTube, giving Google a piece of a pie once reserved for European public broadcasters.

"The Eurovision Song Contest is now a truly global phenomenon," producer Jon Ola Sand said, amid expectations that the show will push last year's record of 197 million viewers worldwide.

Ukraine's Jamala performs the song '1944' as the wins the first place during the

 Eurovision Song Contest final in Stockholm, Sweden, Saturday, May 14, 2016. 

(AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

'In my blood'

Characterised by critics as a potpourri of bizarre performance antics, special effects and cheese, the light-hearted contest usually tries to avoid controversy and steer clear of geopolitics but this year was always going to be different.

Political leaders in Moscow and Crimea had initially sought to get Jamala's song disqualified, arguing that it criticised Russia's annexation of the Black Sea peninsula in March 2014.

The jury approved the lyrics nonetheless, setting the stage for a monumental confrontation.

Inspired by Jamala's great-grandmother's story, "1944" recounts the deportation of the Crimean Tatars by Soviet strongman Joseph Stalin, and she sings it partly in the Tatar language, she says, because "it's in my blood."

The song has resonance for contemporary Ukraine, where memories of that horror were revived by Russia's seizure of Crimea, and Jamala's poignant lyrics tell the story of a people with a history of persecution that continues to this day.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was among the first to congratulate Jamala on her victory.

"Yes!!!" Poroshenko tweeted. "An unbelievable performance and victory! All of Ukraine gives you its heartfelt thanks, Jamala."

Ahead of showtime, bookies had tipped Russia's Lazarev and his catchy "You Are the Only One" tune to win the contest between 26 finalists -- 25 Europeans and one Australian.

Lazarev, popular in his own country and eastern European nations, has built an eventful career as a singer, actor and TV host.

He has also drawn admiration from gay rights campaigners for speaking out against his country's climate of homophobia.

Earlier this month he told Sweden's QX gay magazine that he was happy for fans to wave rainbow flags at his performance, saying he respects his gay fans and they respect him.

Guest competitor Australia also lived up to its billing as a frontrunner, cementing its reputation as a country to be reckoned with in its second year of competition after first being invited to last year's anniversary edition.

South Korean-born Dami Im, 27, a classically trained pianist and former X-factor winner, won over the national juries with her slick performance of "Sound of Silence", but in the end it was the viewers who decided it wasn't quite enough to beat Jamala's performance.

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Bearded Eurovision drag queen draws controversy

Bearded Eurovision drag queen draws controversy

Yahoo – AFP, Soren Billing, 8 May 2014

Austrian Eurovision contender Conchita Wurst performs for her fans in
Copenhagen on May 1, 2014

Copenhagen (AFP) - Austria's bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst has hogged the limelight ahead of Saturday's Eurovision Song Contest final, but things have gotten hairy for her among socially conservative Europeans, including some gays.

"I created this bearded lady to show the world that you can do whatever you want," said Wurst, the drag persona of 25-year-old Austrian singer Tom Neuwirth, at a recent press conference in Copenhagen.

"If you're not hurting anyone you can do whatever you like with your life and, it's so cheesy, but we've only got one (life)," she added.

Austrian Eurovision contender Conchita

 Wurst (C) pictured with fans in

 Copenhagen on May 1, 2014 (AFP

Photo/Betina Garcia)

Wurst's James Bond theme-like ballad "Rise Like a Phoenix" is widely expected to make it through Thursday's semi-final in the Danish capital, but few pundits believe she will take the Eurovision crown.

However, comments by Armenian Eurovision hopeful Aram MP3 -- one of the bookies' favourites this year -- that Wurst's lifestyle was "not natural" have boosted her profile, even though the stand-up comedian later claimed his comments were a joke.

"He apologised by saying his comments were a joke and badly translated," Wurst said.

"I have to say that if it's a joke it's not funny ... but he apologised and that's fine for me," she added.

There have also been petitions to have her removed from the competition in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, where a law banning "gay propaganda" was signed by President Vladimir Putin last year.

St Petersburg lawmaker Vitaly Milonov reportedly asked his country's Eurovision selection committee not to send any Russian musicians to the event, which he accused of being "blatant propaganda of homosexuality and spiritual decay".

Cultural divide

The outrage highlights a cultural divide between eastern Europe and the countries of the west, where the camp spectacle's large gay following is often acknowledged by organisers, local businesses and performers.

Conchita Wurst, Austrian Eurovision

contender, at the contest's opening

ceremony in Copenhagen on May 4,

2014 (AFP Photo/Martin Sylvest)

The city of Copenhagen has said three gay couples from Russia will get married there in the days leading up to Eurovision as part of an event celebrating 25 years of same-sex unions in Denmark.

Last year, Finnish singer Krista Siegfrids courted the pink vote by entering a gay marriage anthem.

Wurst said her own song reflected the experience of growing up as an outsider in rural Austria.

"It's a story of going through bad times and struggling through difficult things, and growing out of it and hopefully becoming a better person," she said.

"For me of course it's so close to my life ... emotionally, growing up," she added.

Her creator, Tom Neuwirth, rose to fame after finishing second on Austrian talent show Starmania in 2006, after which he joined a short-lived boyband.

Conchita Wurst first appeared in 2011, when she made it to the final of another reality show. The following year she came second in the TV programme that selects the central European country's Eurovision entry.

Although much of the controversy over her appearance has centred on eastern Europe, it hasn't always been smooth sailing in her home country.

The leader of the right-wing FPOe party, Heinz-Christian Strache, called her "ridiculous" and threw his support behind another singer, Alf Poier, who suggested she needed psychiatric help.

"If someone doesn't know if they're a man or a woman, they should go to a psychotherapist rather than to the song contest," Poier was quoted by Austrian media as saying.

Armenian Eurovision hopeful Aram MP3

 sings "Not Alone" at the first semifinal in 

Copenhagen on May 6, 2014 (AFP Photo/

Bax Lindhardt)

A German-language Facebook page protesting the decision to send her to Copenhagen has garnered over 38,500 "likes".

There has also been concern among some members of the gay community that her hirsute drag persona could "scare" people coming to terms with their own sexuality.

"A lot of people say: 'I'm also gay but I don't need a beard and a dress to express that,'" she said.

"I can just say to those who don't really realise yet if they are gay or not, you know, and a bit scared of this change: I don't want to scare them.

"I just want to show them that they can be accepted in any way. They are allowed to do anything," she added.

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Bearded Austrian drag queen wins Eurovision Song Contest 2014

РПЦ категорически против бородатых мужиков в платьях! pic.twitter.com/b1TLmsRI4s
— Рустем Адагамов (@adagamov) 14 mei 2014