Tag: Kalush Orchestra

Eurovision 2023

This week the 67th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest took place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, as Ukraine, the winner of the 2022 contest with the song Stefania by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to host the event due to the Russian invasion of the country. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) acting as host broadcaster on behalf of the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC). The contest was held at Liverpool Arena, and consisted of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May and a final on 13 May 2023. The three live shows were presented by British singer Alesha Dixon, British actress Hannah Waddingham, and Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina, with Irish television presenter Graham Norton joining for the final.

Thirty-seven countries participated in the contest, with Bulgaria, Montenegro, and North Macedonia ceasing their participation, mainly due to the economic impact of the global energy crisis.

The winner was Sweden with the song Tattoo, performed by Loreen and written by her along with Jimmy Thörnfeldt, Jimmy Jansson, Moa Carlebecker, Peter Boström, and Thomas G:son. Finland, Israel, Italy, and Norway rounded out the top five. Sweden won the combined vote and jury vote, and came second to Finland in the televote. Loreen became the second performer to win the contest twice, after Irish singer Johnny Logan; it was also the seventh win for Sweden, tying Ireland’s record for the most Eurovision victories.

The EBU reported that the contest had a television audience of 162 million viewers in 38 European markets, an increase of a million viewers from the previous edition. A total of 15.6 million viewers watched the contest online on YouTube and TikTok.

Eurovision 2022

This week the 66th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest took place in Turin, Italy, following the country’s victory at the 2021 contest with the song Zitti e buoni by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI), the contest was held at the PalaOlimpico, and consisted of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May, and a final on 14 May 2022. The three live shows were presented by Italian television presenter Alessandro Cattelan, Italian singer Laura Pausini and Lebanese-born British-French singer Mika.

Forty countries participated in the contest, with Armenia and Montenegro returning after their absence from the previous edition. Russia had originally planned to participate, but was excluded due to its invasion of Ukraine.

The winner was Ukraine with the song Stefania, performed by Kalush Orchestra and written by the group’s members Ihor Didenchuk, Oleh Psiuk, Tymofii Muzychuk and Vitalii Duzhyk, along with Ivan Klymenko. The United Kingdom finished in second place for a record-extending sixteenth time, also achieving its best result since 1998. Spain, Sweden and Serbia rounded out the top five, with Spain achieving its best result since 1995. Ukraine won the televote with 439 points, the most received in the contest’s history to date, and came fourth in the jury vote behind the United Kingdom, Sweden and Spain. “Stefania” is the first song sung entirely in Ukrainian and the first song with hip-hop elements to win the contest.

The EBU reported that the contest had a television audience of 161 million viewers in 34 European markets, a decrease of 22 million viewers from the previous edition, however, it is noted that this is due to the exclusion of Russia and the lack of audience figures from Ukraine, with the overall figures up by 7 million viewers in a comparable market from 2021. An increase of three per cent in the 15–24 year old age range was also reported. A total of 18 million viewers watched the contest online on YouTube and TikTok.