2016: An Overview
"COME TOGETHER" IN STOCKHOLM
The show returns to Sweden, this time hosted in the nation's capital in what would be the most slickly produced, funniest, best hosted shows in years. The Friend's arena is a gigantic arena that hosts the final of their national Eurovision selection show, Melodifestivalen. But for Eurovision, they chose the Globe Arena the largest spherical arena in the world.
The first semi final opens in the most classic of fashions, with a reprise of the song that brought the show to Sweden. Måns Zelmerlöw sings "Heroes" joined this time by a chorus of children, before he joins Petra Mede to host the show. These two are magical together, with impeccable chemistry and professionalism. They really knew how to make the audience laugh, cheer and "come together" echoing this year's theme. The first interval act was a stunning interpretive dance that tells the story of the current immigrant crisis in Europe. This Eurovision had heart too, with many calls for compassion, love and camaraderie.
This was one of the most skit filled and fun Eurovisions. Most notably, the "Nerd Nation" videos in each show that poked fun at the Eurovision obsessed Swedish nation. The hosts were able to make this one of the least clumsy shows in history, with true humor and perfect English. They opened the second semi-final with the hosts presenting an almost Broadway revue explanation of the Eurovision Song Contest. These two did a lot of song dance throughout the three shows. It was fantastic. Even the songs in the competition were amazing, and the yield of tunes that went through to the final were varied and interesting.
The Grand Final opened in an extravagant avant-garde fashion show to the music of Swedish EDM hits. It's probably for that reason that a video of the opening is sadly not on-line. Each country is introduced by a model, dressed in white shapes, where the colors of the nation they represent are flashed over them. At the same time the artists would appear on stage. The show begins and the postcards are also in the classic model, the artists enjoying their home towns. A classic grand final for an incredible slew of songs. For the first year ever, the Eurovision Song Contest was actually broadcast live in the United States, but sadly on the premium cable channel "Logo" only. For the first time, I'm going to discuss the commentary, and I'll say this - the American commentators were awful. They had such little knowledge of Europe, the history of Eurovision and even the contestants - they obviously did not do any research before the show. Very disappointing. I'll stick to watching the British feed with Graham Norton.
Back to the competition, as it really had an amazing mix of songs, and the show was so well produced from end to end. The graphics were incredible from country to country, and they were even introduced well. From the longest pause in Eurovision history, a prat fall, and the first appearance of Czechia in the Grand final. I honestly find this Grand Final to be one of the most re-watchable Eurovisions ever. The interval acts are class, so much so that I wrote an entire entry about Måns and Petra's song and dance number "Love Love, Peace Peace." The biggest highlight, and the other reason to watch the British feed as they did not broadcast this interval in the states, was the appearance of Justin Timberlake. It was the first performance of his Swedish penned hit "Can't Stop the Feeling." It's important to note that Timberlake's success is mainly due to his history of working in Europe. Many of *N'Sync's biggest hits were penned by Sweden's pop maestro Max Martin, and his group was famous in Europe long before they were in the States. As such, his appearance on the Eurovision stage is not that bizarre.
Another first for this Eurovision was the voting system. For the first time ever, the jury votes and the televote were presented separately. First, the jury vote which is done in the old fashion. Each country presents their vote via a spokesperson calling from their capital. Australia was the clear winner of the jury, with Ukraine nearly 100 points behind. It seemed like Australia was primed to win. Then the televote began. As more countries began to get points, one country seemed to be left behind. Poland remained on the right side of the scoreboard, second to bottom. I knew Australia and Ukraine would get a lot of points, but Poland was rarely popular and their song this year was ok at best. However, as we got to the top five and Poland had still not received any points it became clear I had underestimated the song. Poland comes third in the televote, bringing the song up from 25th place to 9th. Next Ukraine overtakes Australia on the vote, evening their scores by just 23 points. However, Russia wins the televote but is unable to overtake Ukraine, ironic, and Australia. Ukraine wins, by a small margin in a very decisive and emotional win. A sincere, beautiful song about dictatorships and the plight of a displaced people resonated with the European people and takes the competition back to Kyiv.
The Picks of 2016
2016: The Best (Georgia)
2016: The Worst (San Marino)
2016: The Guilty (Azerbaijan)
2016: The Weird (Belarus)
2016: The Hilarious (Sweden)
2016: The Honorable (Italy)
2016: The Winner (Ukraine)
Semi-Final One Song Recap May 10, 2016:
Semi-Final Two Song Recap May 12, 2016:
Grand Final Song Recap May 14, 2016: