Eurovision Song Contest 2023 - The Aftermath

 Hi everyone, and welcome to the Eurovision aftermath post, where I go into a little bit more detail about the show & results, and some of the production aspects of the show.

So first of all, I want to say that overall, the BBC did us really proud. The production was brilliant, and had a much more professional feel than last years contest in Italy did. I loved the colour scheme and designs, bar the graphic design on screen when introducing an entry, it felt too messy and confusing. In terms of the show, there was a nice feel and pace to it, we had very few awkward moments and pauses while we waited for things to be ready. Our hosts were all brilliant too, bringing an energy and good feeling vibe that I really enjoyed.

Probably my main complaint this year was what felt like a lack of Ukrainian involvement in a lot of it. There was Ukrainian elements in the semi finals, particularly the interval acts, but it felt almost like a regular hosting, almost like the UK had won last year. We had a fantastic interval act in the grand final, with several former Eurovision contestants coming back and performing, but not a single one from Ukraine. Arguably, Ukraine is one of the most successful countries in the competition, and should have at least had one person performing. It was a fantastic interval act, and one I think has set a standard.

I found the choice to have Rita Ora perform in the semi final an odd one, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason as to why she was there, and it felt like another attempt (like Madonna, Justin Timberlake & Mika in 2019, 2016  & 2022 respectively) of a star declining in popularity trying to use the contest as a springboard to a revitalised career.

Something else I did like was I think Hannah & Graham were the rare type of hosts to not only try to contain the audience, but actively called out bad behaviour. When booing started, Hannah was quick to say "there's no booing in our house" and actively managed the situation. Not many other hosts have ever called out the audience for it, and I think it's something that needs to continue.

The scoring every year baffles me, and this year was no exception. Jury favourites like Estonia, Australia, Spain & Austria all seemed to fail to resonate with votes, which seemed even more odd when you think Australia & Austria were the top in their televote only semi final. Televote favourites neglected by the jury included Moldova, Poland & Croatia. Overall, I don't think there was too much I disagreed with, the UK & Germany occupying the bottom positions made sense. Obviously I'm slightly biased because I loved the song, but I though Slovenia was going to do better, especially with the advantageous draw. I also found it interesting that particularly Italy, but also Cyprus & France to a lesser extent scored almost equally with the Juries & televote. I think Italy surprised me, because it came across as a very jury friendly song. But hey, you can never guess these things! 

The complaints about the winning song "Tattoo" also seemed out of place. There were many concerns & calls for the voting system to be reviewed, due to Finland not winning. I found this an odd thing to call for, several songs had won the show but not the televote before, and it seemed to be a personal attack on Loreen, rather than the contest. I think the fact that the song became a hit all across Europe proved a point that it was more popular outside the contest. Further, it seemed that a lot of criticism was further aimed at her, saying the contest was rigged to win. I don't quite know how that could have been planned, there are rigorous guards and procedures into place to stop things like this happening, and with occasional breaches being dealt with swiftly (such as the withdrawal of votes from six countries in the 2022 contest). Certainly Sweden winning and then hosting the contest 50 years after Abba won is interesting, but I can't say it's anything more than coincidence. Sweden is a country with a long line of success at the contest, and to claim there is some sort of sinister play at work seems rather far fetched.

Something that did surprise me was the relatively harmonious nature of mine and James's votes. We have very opposing tastes in music, so for there to be such a crossover, with us both featuring the same 6 countries in our scores was a new record.

Here's our votes, although a slightly easier way to see it is in the mini leader board below, made up of only our scores.

Sweden & Slovenia were tied on 20, both scoring a twelve & an eight points from us, with a close cluster formed of Moldova, France, Estonia & Cyprus further behind.

All in all, it was a really interesting and a great show overall. We head to Sweden for the 2024 contest, a country famed for its production values when hosting. I can't wait to see what sort of a show they put on for us. Watch this space!