After last year’s unexpected victory by monster-rock group Lordi, controversy and fantasy return to the Eurovision song contest this weekend — but have no doubt about it, glamour is back on centre stage.
Low-cut dresses and high-cut skirts, pink glitter drag queens, swarthy Latin singers and lots of big hair: 42 acts will compete on Saturday evening in Helsinki when about 120-million television viewers across Europe are expected to tune in to vote for their favourites.
Serbia, Sweden and Belarus top European bookies’ lists of likely winners.
Serbia’s entry is entitled Molitva, a love song about the uncertainties between God and man, performed by Marija Serifovic (23).
Plenty of charm and deep décolletages are common features for Moldova’s entry, Natalia Barbu with her song Fight; Dutch Edsilia Romley with On Top of the World; Portugal’s Sabrina and her entry Danca Comigo; Macedonian singer Karolina with Mojot Svet; and Norwegian Guri Schanke with her Latino entry Ven A Bailar Conmigo.
Israel, Switzerland, Iceland and Croatia bring a bit of rock to the competition, while Belarus, Denmark, Poland, Sweden and Ukraine are banking on radio-friendly pop.
Denmark and Ukraine will undoubtedly put on the most colourful shows as both are represented by drag queens with eye-catching outfits. The Danish entry, Drama Queen, features singer DQ with cabaret-style fuchsia plumage on his/her head, while Ukraine’s Verka Serduchka appears in a metallic outfit topped with a star on his/hers.
Fred Bronson, a journalist for United States weekly Billboard, tipped Serbia as his favourite, but said Switzerland and Andorra could be other possible winners. ”Serbia is very strong this year, but Andorra is coming fast,” Bronson said.
He said he was pleased with the line-up this year. ”We have good quality and very different styles, New Age, pop and even swing with the German band,” he said.
Finland unexpectedly won the competition for the first time last year with its heavy-metal act Lordi. The band were dressed as blood-thirsty monsters as they performed their winning song, Hard Rock Hallelujah.
Swiss singer DJ Bobo, who in 2003 had a summer hit with Chihuahua, hopes to follow in Lordi’s monster footsteps with the song Vampires Are Alive. The entry has, however, been condemned by thousands of right-wing Christians who have branded the song satanist. The Swiss Evangelical Alliance said the song sends out dark messages driving young people to suicide.
And Israel, which made the headlines in 1998 when it chose transsexual artist Dana International to compete in the event, has again sparked a debate this year with its political song with an anti-nuclear message.
In the song Push the Button, the group Teapacks warn of ”tactical advances, fanatical regimes”. Some observers have interpreted the song as referring to Iran’s nuclear programme, but the group have denied it is about any particular country.
”We thought this was a natural song for these times we live in with terror,” lead singer Kobi Oz said.
France is represented this year by the group Fatals Picards dressed in outfits by Jean-Paul Gaultier. The song L’amour àla Française is performed in ”Frenglish” and according to the songwriters it represents ”French romance” and ”punk for beginners”.
The final on Saturday will feature the four founding countries — Germany, Spain, France and Britain; top-10 finishers from 2006; and the top six countries from Thursday’s semifinal.
The contest, founded in 1956, has been won by Ireland seven times, making the island the most successful participant. France, Luxemburg and Britain have won five times each.
Upcoming artists who enter the competition often hope for a boost to their careers, but the contest has also appealed to many international stars such as Olivia Newton-John and Julio Iglesias, neither of whom won.
Swedish superstars ABBA made their international breakthrough after winning in 1974 with the hit Waterloo; Italian Toto Cutugno won in 1990; and pop diva Celine Dion won in 1988. — AFP
