Eurovision 2024: scandals and openings of the national finals

Bright, colorful, sometimes scandalous, but generally meaningful and creatively rich national qualifying finals in Spain and Ukraine began the hottest month of elections for future participants in the 68th continental Eurovision Song Contest 2024, which will be held in early May in Malmö, Sweden. Two duets: pop-rap Alyona & Heil from Ukraine and synth-pop Nebulossa from Spain seem ready to decorate the palette of the competition with very bright songs and numbers.

Thanks to Laureen’s win last year with Tatoo, Sweden will host Eurovision for the seventh time and its third-largest city Malmö for the third time. In this European roulette, the country hit a real musical jackpot, since in the year of the 50th anniversary of the victory at the competition (in 1974 in Brighton, England) of the legendary Swedish group ABBA with the song “Waterloo” (after which, in fact, ABBAmania began around the world) It is probably difficult to imagine a more suitable place for holding the competition than the homeland of this group.

In addition, after decades of indigestion by Agnetha Faltskog (the fair one) of the rest of the trinity of ex-colleagues: Björn Ulvaeus (Agnetha’s former boyfriend), Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (the dark one), the curses were lifted, the legendary four not only came out in full line-up for the first time in 40 years, but also released a new album, Voyage, in 2021, staged a mega-technological show of the same name with computer-based but incredibly real “abbots” at the specially built ABBA Arena in London, and again became part of the current musical process. For now, however, it remains a big intrigue and mystery – whether ABBA herself will appear at Eurovision, how and on what scale the anniversary celebrations will take place at the competition, but of course there is no doubt that they will take place, despite the official deathly silence. Otherwise the sky will fall to Earth…

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Meanwhile, the European competition race is gaining momentum. Since the beginning of the year, national qualifying rounds have been held in six countries – Norway, Luxembourg, Ireland, Malta, Spain and Ukraine. Albania, the Czech Republic, Austria, Great Britain, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Georgia, the Netherlands, Greece, Slovenia also chose their European delegates, somewhere – at open competitions, somewhere – the so-called. “internal selection” of television broadcasting companies. In some countries, the artist has been decided, but the song will be chosen later. For example, in the UK, 33-year-old Olly Alexander, a popular pop artist who has been storming the charts not only with solo tracks, but also with high-profile collabs with megastars like Kylie Minogue or the Pet Shop Boys, has been “appointed” to conquer Eurovision.

Qualifying competitions in Spain and Ukraine, as well as the competition that has not yet been completed in Sweden, are considered one of the largest, most vibrant and expressive in the line of national selections. Eurovision has changed dramatically in recent years, becoming an arena where artists enthusiastically take risks and experiment, and the musical and stylistic range of songs has all but destroyed the old clichés of the notorious Eurovision format.

The Spanish duo Nebulossa, based on the melodic and rhythmic synth-pop of the 80s, with a rather aged and very colorful frontwoman Maria Bas (even if you cut it, the persistent analogy with Tatyana Markova itches, if anyone remembers the picturesque pop diva of the 90s) won the ticket at Eurovision with the dance song “Zorra”. The artists delighted the public, jury and television viewers not only with the song and charisma of the soloist, but also with a colorful production in the titillating style of drag cabaret. True, in what form all this will reach Eurovision is not yet clear.

The elections in the Ukrainian competition, in turn, became a record in terms of the number of television viewers who voted (more than 1 million 100 thousand), and according to the good Ukrainian tradition, it was not without a loud scandal – this time with “stuck” online voting. According to the organizers, it was precisely this unexpected (almost 1 million more than last year!) influx of “concerned citizens” that led to computer system failures, as a result of which it was not possible to announce the result on the day the competition was broadcast on February 3. Voting was extended for a day, and its results were announced in a special broadcast on February 4. All this caused a predictable fuss, a scandal and a flurry of suspicions and accusations of fraud, deception, and “twisting,” but the organizers and auditors, with numbers and certificates in their hands, fought back as best they could, proving the opposite.

As a result, by the almost unanimous opinion of the jury (2nd place) and television viewers (1st place), the mandate of the European delegate based on the sum of points went to the duo of rapper Alyona Alyona and pop singer with the creative pseudonym Jerry Heil. Their song with a trail no less provocative than that of the Spaniards – now because of the name “Teresa & Maria” with lyrics where images of saints (the mythical Virgin Mary and the completely earthly Mother Teresa) are used as symbols of perseverance, overcoming and unity – in the musical plan represents a very juicy, well-composed fusion of modern pop music, rap and folk vibe with an expressive arrangement, precise musical drama, sensual performance and captivating energy.

What the outcome of the current competition will be can only be assumed with a very cautious imagination, given that out of 37 participating countries, only 17 have so far decided on performers, and even fewer have decided on songs. Russia, as you know, withdrew from the competition in 2022. Now, after 30 years of abstinence and an obstinate boycott, Luxembourg is returning, having once abandoned the competition due to an “unprofessional jury”. The step is more than risky, given that the Grand Duchy chose the 23-year-old singer Tali, who was very modest in her singing and artistic abilities, for the epoch-making comeback. If only it all didn’t end in a grumpy scandal and lips pursed in resentment. In preliminary forecasts, Luxembourg is still in 32nd place…

Several countries (Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia) also abstained from participating this year, but not from grievances, real or imagined, but mainly for financial reasons – there is no money, but they are still are holding on, and “ZD” continues to keep its finger on the European competition pulse…

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29211 dated February 7, 2024

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Eurovision 2024: scandals and openings of the national finals