The resounding removal of San Marino on the second Eurovision semi-final left the festival orphaned of one of the most amazing proposals in its history. Wearing a cowboy hat and clad in a transparent Gucci jumpsuit, Achille Lauro and his ‘Stripper’ He wowed the audience at the Pala Alpitour in Turin with his fiery kiss on the lips of guitarist Boss Doms and, above all, with his final dance on the back of a mechanical bull upholstered in red quilting. A monumental show of fire and brilli-brilli that, however, was left out of the final, as had happened in the first semifinal with the intimidating Rumella Hajatirepresentative of Albanianwhose resounding ‘Sekret’, full of folk rhythms and risqué gestures -hands to the crotch included- was deprived of success before its time to the monumental anger of its many eurofans.
Is Eurovision ceasing to be modern and daring, when it had always, or almost always, been the last paradise of a playful and unprejudiced way of living music? A review of the 20 finalists from the two semi-finals reveals a massive presence of ballads or songs with a high callingwhen not severe, headed by the exceptional ‘Brividi’, by Mahmood & Blanco (Italy), ‘Hold me closer’, by Cornelia Jakobs (Sweden), ‘Saudade, saudade’, by Maro (Portugal), ‘De diepte’ , by S10 (Netherlands) and ‘Not the same’, by Sheldon Riley (Australia), topics about heartbreak, absence, teen angst or bullying with little or no room for the frivolity, revelry and glitter that we usually associate with the Eurovision brand.
In a year that could seem predisposed to light and debauchery, after two long years of pandemic and the dark invasion of Ukraine in the next room, the 2022 edition has lost a good part of its most outrageous, refreshing and fun proposals along the way. In the first semi-final, in addition to the aforementioned Ronela Hajati, two songs with a refreshing disco-vintage style, ‘Eat your salade’, by City Zeni (Latvia) and ‘Disko’, by LPS (Slovenia); a tribute to old hard rock a la Michael Schenker, ‘Intention’, by Intelligent Music Project (Bulgaria); or a bouncy review of the best girl rock, ‘The show’, by Reddi (Denmark). Something similar would happen in the second semi-final, when the jury and the popular vote punished, in addition to Achille Lauro, the (very Eurovision) LGTBI anthem ‘IM’, by Michael Ben-David (Israel) and the luminous pop cannon shot ‘That’s rich ‘, from Brooke (Ireland). Neither better nor worse, but capable, at a given moment, of getting rid of the boredom if the ceremony on Saturday ends up getting thick based on hyperballads and great plot ambitions.
Goodbye to ‘fan divas’
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Of the 25 songs that will compete this Saturday in Turin to win the prized Crystal Microphone, barely eight (apart, of course, from the hectic ‘SloMo’, by Chanel) come out of the canon of the ballad or the slow-cooked rhythm: the rock anthem ‘Jezebel’ by The Rasmus (Finland), the smashing ‘Call Me’ by WRS (Romania), the infectious electro-pop ‘hit’ ‘Lights off’ by We Are Domi (Czech Republic) and the prankster toy disco-pop ‘Give that wolf a banana’, by Subwoolfer (Norway). Apart, of course, from the three proposals of marked folkloric character: (the favourite) ‘Stefania’, by Kalush Orchestra (Ukraine), ‘Fulenn’, by Alvan & Ahez (France) and ‘Trenulețul’, by Zdob și Zdub & Frații Advahov (Moldova), the latter being the only concession to the naive and endearing of the entire festival.
Another detail: after having become great icons of the festival in the last two decades, the so-called ‘fan divas’ seem to have sung the swan song at Eurovision-2022. You already know: women with spectacular voices and devastating attitude, scenic power, Mediterranean sound and, above all, long hair in the wind: the Cypriot Ivi Adamou, the Azerbaijani Safura, the Ukrainian Ani Lorak or the Greeks Kalomira or Helena Paparizou, to choose a player of stars from another time. This year the offer of divas was already going down, just Andromache (Cyprus), the aforementioned (again) Ronela Hajati, and, far from the ethnic outbursts, Emma Muscat (Malta). Which she leaves alone, in the subcategory of hip bump, a… Chanel.