Final thoughts

Wait. Final as in last or final as in Grand Final? Yes! (90)

OK, I admit it. I’m smitten. I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole and I can’t get out. I’m not sure I want to get out. I started this Eurovision journey as an intellectual exercise. A glimpse into a world I’d only been dimly aware existed. One of those curious things they did across the pond. Now I’m convinced it’s something America needs more of.

Eurovision brings people together. Across neighborhoods and cities, cultures and borders, races and religions, people tune in to watch this competition. Over 160 million people viewed the Grand Final live on Saturday¹ – that’s pretty close to half the population of the USA. During Tuesday’s semi-final, 80% of the televisions in use in the country of Finland were tuned to the proceedings in Liverpool.

A few weeks ago in church we sat next to a tourist who was visiting Lisbon from Finland. She and Amy have stayed in touch and naturally when Eurovision heated up, Amy asked her what she thought of Cha Cha Cha. Interestingly she hadn't bothered to tune in yet. Her first listen netted the same reaction as Amy's: Huh? Now naturally, she's a fan ;-) She recently passed along this photo she took at Helsinki’s Central Station, where their famous Lantern Carriers were decked out to support Käärijä’s performance.

I don’t know that we can get 80% of Americans to agree there are three colors in the US flag (is white even a color?), much less watch the same television show. (Heck, I’m not sure we can even get 80% of Americans to agree on which flag we should be flying if all of the standards present during the attempted coup on January 6 is any indication.)

The theme of this year’s broadcast was United by Music. In a world that appears more and more divided every day, why aren’t we looking for ways to unite? I wouldn’t call myself a big fan of popular music. I appreciate music of many genres and admire the power of music: it transcends boundaries, it moves people emotionally, it expresses the inexpressible. But I don’t routinely listen to music around the house or when out and about. And I usually find myself recoiling at sounds I don’t immediately appreciate and sticking to my own personal sonic safe zone.²

One of the many things that surprised me about Eurovision was the range of acts that competed. There were a couple of teenagers and at least two dudes who were older than I am, according to Redditor AffectionateAngle779.

At 16, Greece’s Victor Vernicos was this year’s youngest competitor. Photo from Eurovision.tv

One of the members of Croatian band Let 3 is 58, another 61. Photo from Eurovision.tv. (Be glad I didn’t post a picture of them in their tighty whiteys. That’s what they were wearing at the end of their performance.)

There were puffy pop pieces, power ballads, amazing dance breaks, some classic rock, and a screaming heavy metal number from Germany. Then there was crowd favorite Käärijä (who I can’t stop referencing in my Eurovision posts because he’s just so visible) who opted for ‘both and more’ as opposed to ‘either or’ with his (still weird) entry, Cha Cha Cha saying: “Finland is a party country, a heavy metal country and a pop country – this song brings all of those together.”³

There was a thinky, winky, inside-the-music nod; some biting satire; and plenty of songs about love and other universal human experiences, including mental health issues and other acknowledgements that things have been and continue to be rough in the world at large.

There were also a few anti-war messages, and some people believe Croatia may have put a toe (or a foot) over the “no politics in Eurovision” line. But, really, when so many countries are involved in a cooperative venture like this one, there’s no way around politics.⁴ The difference here was that everyone got over it and the show went on. There was no grousing about favoritism or “the elites” who are weaponizing the process. There was no re-litigating results from years past, no presentation of “alternative facts” to change the narrative, no effort to alter the rules to benefit the wealthier countries.⁵ Though there was a major rule change put into effect after several juries were caught cheating last year, this one put more power rather than less into the hands of the ordinary fans and viewers.⁶

I was also surprised by the results. In retrospect, should I be surprised that a middle-aged American who just confessed to not being a big fan of popular music saw four of his predicted top ten songs actually finish 15th or lower? Not really. But I was.⁷ (Worth noting that while there were at least two dudes who are older than I am on Saturday's stage, only four of the remaining 53 artists listed are over 40.)

Another thing I was surprised by was how much I came to appreciate (almost) every act (sorry, Greece) even if my first impression was, um, less-than-favorable. My first exposure to Germany’s Blood and Glitter fell into that category. I didn’t even make it all the way through the song.

Seeing it in the Grand Final, though, I found myself appreciating it more for what it is. It’s still not my taste in music, but an entire freakin’ country voted this song into the competition so it must mean something to someone.

Once I started to see the entries in this light, they took on new meaning for me.⁸ Every act on stage was vetted somehow. Each had already passed through a number of hoops just to get to Liverpool. In the vast majority of cases, the general public played a role in the process of choosing the entry from a given country.

So who am I to say “that shouldn’t be allowed” or “that’s wrong” about anything I see on a Eurovision stage? I may not like it. I may not choose to watch or listen to it again. But I don’t have the right to say it shouldn’t exist. I don’t have the right to make it unavailable to other people.

And that’s probably the biggest takeaway for me from my Eurovision journey: the world is a mosaic of different people. Different people have different experiences throughout their lives. These different experiences shape their thoughts and opinions, which, inevitably, differ from those of others.

And that’s OK.

The United States could use more of the “that’s OK” these days.

That’s all for now.⁹

Love from Lisbon,

Scott (& Amy)

P.S. I'm curious (yes, yes, we know, what’s new) … Eurovision has occupied so much of my brain space the last couple of weeks, what do you all think? Did anyone watch it this year?

P.P.S. If I’ve managed to convince anyone to check it out, the entire Grand Final is available for you to watch on YouTube anytime (you can skip over the nonsense and just watch the performances and results), just click here:

1. Amy took Josie for a walk during the broadcast (Scott was glued to his computer). There was no one out. None. Zip. Through an open window she heard wild cheering.

2. Which occupies space along the spectrum between (and inclusive of) Ella Fitzgerald and Phil Collins. Which is to say not very wide.

3. Spoiler alert if you haven’t seen the Grand Final yet: this song ran away with the popular vote but that wasn’t quite enough to overcome the huge lead Sweden’s Loreen had built up from the jury results. Cha Cha Cha finished second overall.

4. Not really sure where to put this but I did want to mention two things: 1) British security services were more concerned about the ESC than they were about the coronation. And 2) Russia bombed Ternopil, the home city of the Ukrainian performers, moments before they took the stage in Liverpool.

5. If anything, I think the free pass into the Grand Final for the Big Five countries who pay the most to support the European Broadcast Union has the potential to do more harm than good for the entries from these nations. So many of these songs need room to grow on the audience. Not performing in the semi-finals deprives these acts of their single biggest opportunity to make an impression before people vote on the overall champion.

6. Juries no longer play a role in deciding which acts advance from the semi-finals to the Grand Final. It’s all a popular vote now.

7. There’s a chance I went a little overboard on Saturday. I created a three-column table of my personal list of favorites ranked from 1-26, my predicted list of how they would finish, and the actual results.

As you can see, not a lot of overlap between the three 😁. But I did manage to avoid making a spreadsheet, so there’s that.

8. Amy here: I watched the first night of the semi-finals while trying to pick out a dining room table online, so I wouldn't say I was glued to it. That said when those songs came around in the final, I felt very differently about them. They felt like actual songs to me this time.

9. And the last you’ll hear from me about Eurovision. Until the next competition heats up.