Eurovision 2026 Final review

 

I am gutted. Sick as a parrot etc. The two best songs in my opinion were eliminated in the semi’s. Latvia’s `Ena` and Switzerland’s `Alice` are no more which is a big disappointment though maybe not too surprising. Both are quite serious songs, perhaps not the tone required for the party atmosphere of the Final but I hope they are recognised beyond the competition. I really like both of them anyway. Of the others eliminated at this stage, I was also quite sorry to see Armenia, Georgia and Luxembourg go. These exits definitely cut back on the variety of music on display, however as last night’s Final demonstrated there were still plenty of bold performances to savour.

 

By default then Moldova, third on my original top five, became my favourite as I must admit it’s the one song that has lodged in my head all week. I was still rooting for the UK entry of course- as this time I felt it was good enough to support on its own merit rather than national pride plus I was hoping those Cypriot oranges would do well. Then again as they always say in football, its what happens on the pitch that counts so it was that we once again had over two hours of back to back performances. Its actually impressive if you think that the turnaround between each act is around a minute.

Moldova finished eighth (though for about thirty seconds were at the top!), Cyprus ended up nineteenth and the Uk ended up last with one paltry point, for the third year in a row winning no points from the public vote. At least it happened to a few others and the hosts were kind enough to clarify more than once that this does not mean nobody voted for them. It just means they didn’t make the top ten in any country.  Cue the usual debate over whether the UK should continue to participate (I’m sure if we didn’t automatically quality we would only have made one final in about twenty years) or whether the problem really is the way the song is chosen. At the moment a song `arrives` in the public domain chosen behind closed music industry doors. I reckon we should go back to the idea of a UK competition to pick our entry getting the public to vote on six songs. Its still not a foolproof method but at least it road tests songs to see which ones connect with people. At the moment the first time our entry is voted on publicly is at the Final.

Vienna’s final began with a paper boat (Eurovision loves bizarre symbolism) which bobbed around all participating countries having seemingly been dropped by last years winner JJ. Once this sequence was out of the way though, the show was one of the slicker ones of recent vintage with any technical delays well hidden. JJ ‘s operatic `Wasted Love`, performed in a gold suit was interspersed with the flag parade before we met the hosts; Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski proved personable and professional enough. I quite liked banter which still had cringe moments but became efficient when it needed to be. Michael arrived wearing what looked like Abba cosplay and proceeded to channel Jeff Goldblum. Victoria, given she is the heir to the Swarovski empire wore a dress encrusted with crystals and was wryly amusing at times. 

Having not watched the semi finals, I had only seen the official videos so was surprised that some of the songs worked better in live performance but the reverse was also true. Opener Denmark for example made their Perspex box much more interesting than it seemed on the video. Germany’s Sarah Engels was better performing live giving it energy to which the crowd responded. The staging throughout was impeccable ; highlights included epic clouds for Albania, Greece’s colourful video game aesthetic and Leleka from Ukraine’s twenty eight second note which really impressed the audience. Australia’s Delta Goodrem’s equally strong vocals were supported by her elevation atop a pole that emerged from a piano. Only in Eurovision will you see something like that! Serbia’s Lavinia- a performance with some terrible screaming - earned one of several on the mark comments from commentator Graham Norton ; “I think it was those prawns they had last night!”

Sometimes simple staging works best as Malta’s black and white bandstand proved. Sometimes though more complex staging can go wrong as happened for the unlucky Daniel Zizka from Czechia whose powerful performance inside some mirrors was adversely affected when a cameraman fell over and the picture froze for several seconds. I do feel there was a case for a second go given the error was not with the performer. Apparently its up to the delegation to request a second go which was rejected. They finished sixteenth in the end and deserved a higher place.

Bulgaria followed them with what turned out to be the winning song `Bangaranga` . Described by me as “a bit of a mish mash” when I reviewed the songs, I have to say it grew on me a lot thanks to Dara’s charismatic, lively performance which made the tempo changes seem less odd. In the end I liked it and am quite happy for it to have won though initially during the results it wasn’t clear that it would do so well. While I liked the UK song- it was in my pre semis top five- I must admit that the staging was too fussy though Sam Battle himself gave an admirable, energetic performance. On the night the song just didn’t hit the right vibe.

I made notes throughout which become briefer with each song as there were twenty five to get through though I must say it didn’t seem to take as long this time. Moldova, my pre Final favourite didn’t come over quite as well with just six back up people- in the video the larger cast and dancers help better convey the sense of nationality at the heat of the song but I still think it was worthy of a higher place than eighth. The arena audience loved it. There seemed to be fewer outright bizarre performances this year though Lithuania’s giant cowl and silver paint definitely counted. Italy was another country whose stage performance was a little too busy but then pulled off a visual coup when the inside of the bride’s dress unfurled into the Italian flag. I liked Austria’s metal animal masks as well.

Surprisingly soon it was over and the voting began with multiple replays of clips from each performance plus some interval entertainment. This year marks the seventieth anniversary of Eurovision so a number of illustrious (though not always obvious) former winners were deployed to perform snippets from other people’s winning songs. It was a clever idea though done in quite a rushed manner but if you’ve ever pondered what Lordy would sound like performing `Save Your Kisses For Me` then this was your chance to find out!

Eurovision voting fires a debate every year and what is exercising minds today it seems is the issue of Israel. Like last year the public vote completely overturned the jury table with acts catapulted halfway up the results highlighting how differently the wider public saw these songs. At the end Israel were in top place with 343 points, a hefty total which other popular songs seemed unable to match. Several counties vaulted close but could not catch them and it was down to the final award to Bulgaria which was actually enough to send them soaring to the top on 516 points. The sigh of relief was audible.

Eurovision officials were probably already wondering what would happen had Israel won. Would it even be feasible to hold a contest in a country under frequent attack? Would most others boycott an event actually held there? Would it be a repeat of Ukraine, deemed to be unsafe hence the second place hosted? Even if Eurovision is above politics as they keep stating, there do seem to be some double standards going on. Russia was banned several years back after their invasion of Ukraine so it would be interesting to see why Israel do not fall under the same criteria? The rules need to be the same for all – either reinstate Russia or ban Israel.

Finally, the real burning question is what Bangaranga actually means. Dara herself described it as “a special energy that everyone has got in themselves, a feeling that everything is possible.” A fitting sentiment then for the winning song. Maybe we’ll all be bangaranging this summer!