The grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 took place on Saturday 14 May live from Pala Olimpico, Turin. In total, 25 artists performed in the Grand Final.
Representatives from 25 countries participated in the competition. 20 of them were determined based on the results of two semi-finals held on May 10 and 12. The UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and France automatically qualify as finalists as the biggest donors to the European Broadcasting Union (Eurovision host).
According to the voting results of the international jury and the audience, the Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra scored the most points with the song “Stefania”.
The United Kingdom, represented by Sam Ryder with the song “Space Man”, scored the most points from the jury.
The Ukrainian rap group from the Carpathian region, Kalush Orchestra, won a triumphant victory in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. A group of young and ambitious artists with their latest presentation, along with elements of the Ukrainian ethnic group, received 631 points.
In total, all the voices brought the musicians worldwide recognition and popularization of their work on all music platforms.
After his country’s Eurovision victory, Ukraine’s recalcitrant President Volodymyr Zelensky promised to hold the song contest in the city of Mariupol, which is almost entirely in Russian hands, except for a staunch group of a few hundred Ukrainian fighters who continue to hold out in a steel mill.
The Ukrainian Kalush Orchestra won a popular competition with their song “Stefania”, which became a popular anthem among Ukrainians during the war, and his victory was a moral boost.
“Our courage impresses the world, our music conquers Europe,” Zelensky wrote on Facebook. “Next year Ukraine will host Eurovision!”
During the show, the group passionately pleaded for help to the fighters still at the Azovstal steel plant in the port city, with Zelenskiy saying that “one day” the competition would take place “in Mariupol, Ukraine.”
Ukrainian troops fought off a fierce Russian push into the country’s east on Sunday, after the Eurovision victory gave the country a much-needed morale boost.
But as the conflict, which has displaced millions of people, dragged on into its third month, a much-needed boost of optimism was offered by Ukrainians as a rap lullaby fusing folk and contemporary hip-hop rhythms won the Eurovision Song Contest.
“Stefania,” which has scored a slew of incredible performances at the quirky annual music event, was written by frontman Oleg Psyuk as a tribute to his pre-war mother, but its nostalgic lyrics have taken on undue prominence due to the conflict.
“Please help Ukraine and Mariupol! Help Azovstal right now,” Psyuk said in English from the stage, referring to the port city’s underground steel plant where Ukrainian soldiers are surrounded by Russian troops.
There was also optimism from Kyiv’s head of military intelligence, who said the war could reach a “tipping point” by August and end in Russia’s defeat before the end of the year.
Chanel impressed the audience with dance and dress
Beauty Chanel from Spain in a sexy costume blew up the hall with a hot dance. The Spanish actress, singer and dancer from Spain Chanel amazed Eurofans with a seductive choreographic number and a brilliant outfit. Talented Spaniard sang SloMo.
Eurovision 2022 participant from Spain, actress, singer and dancer Chanel performed in the grand final with an incendiary dance and energized the audience. After the performance of the SloMo song, the betting odds on Spain’s chance to win went up.
The country came fourth in the rankings, with a 5 % chance of winning at the time of writing, pushing Italy, duo Mahmood and BLANCO, to fifth place. This is evidenced by the rates of bookmakers on the official website of Eurovision.
Chanel wowed audiences with her sparkly outfit and candid choreography. The audience in Turin applauded the singer after the performance.
Spain took third place at the Eurovision festival, marked by a popular vote for Ukraine.
The talented beauty Monica Liu from Lithuania has released 3 albums, and in her native country she regularly receives awards in the nominations “Artist of the Year” and “Song of the Year”. At Eurovision, the star sang the seductive song Sentimentai.
The Kalush Orchestra with the song “Stefania” once again set the hall on fire with a professional mix of ethnicity and modernity. All 6 members of the team adequately presented Ukraine and caused crazy applause in the hall. Oleg Psyuk unexpectedly asked to help Mariupol and Azovstal soldiers immediately. Eurovision is an apolitical contest, so the artists risked getting in trouble talking about the war. The heroes of Azovstal thanked the Kalush Orchestra for their powerful support on the world stage.
The director of the Kalush Orchestra, Nikolai Kucheryavy, said that initially the competition number was supposed to be different. However, the group was banned from showing a patriotic production about the war in Ukraine. The organizers of Eurovision 2022 considered this politicization. Kalush Orchestra turned to many Eurovision 2022 participants with a request for help in the war with the Russian Federation. The response of competitors was unexpected – many of them helped with funds for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Belarus was removed from it in 2021 due to violation of the rules. The lyrics of the song from this country did not meet the requirements of the competition, which prohibits political messages. Russia was excluded from participating in Eurovision due to the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
TV companies of these countries do not broadcast the contest, but it can be watched live on the official Eurovision website.
Where will Eurovision 2023 take place?
The winning country gets the right to host the next competition. But the European Broadcasting Union can transfer Eurovision to another country if there are no conditions for its holding. In an interview, the soloist of the Kalush Orchestra Oleg Psyuk expressed his hope that Eurovision 2023 will be held in Ukraine. The European Broadcasting Union has not made official statements about the possibility of holding Eurovision in a country subjected to Russian aggression. Despite the annexation of Crimea and hostilities in the Donbass, in 2017 the competition was held in Kyiv.
In the history of Eurovision (the contest was first held in 1956) there were cases when the winning country could not hold it. So, in 1980, Israel renounced this right, as it was not able to hold the competition twice in a row after two victories. Eurovision then took place in The Hague, in the Netherlands.
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