Ukraine aims for repeat victory in most political Eurovision in years

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There will be rockets, soldiers and moustachioed men in their underpants lampooning Vladimir Putin as a “crocodile psychopath” – and that’s just the Croatian act.

One of the most stridently political Eurovision grand finals in years takes place in Liverpool on Saturday night against a backdrop of a war in Ukraine that shows little sign of ending.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s request to make a live address during the four-hour broadcast was denied as organisers were concerned it risked politicising the contest. There will be little subtlety, however, in the 67th edition of this ritually outre event.

It will open with a haunting performance by last year’s winners, Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra, singing their wartime hit Stefania against a looming backdrop of a pained-looking matriarch.

The spectacle will be beamed live to a global television audience of more than 160 million people from the M&S Bank Arena on the banks of the Mersey.

The UK is hosting the contest for the first time in 25 years on behalf of Ukraine, with Liverpool cast as “bittersweet caretakers of displaced guests of honour” in Thursday’s semi-final.

One of the most political songs is by Croatia’s surrealist punk rockers Let 3, about the “crocodile psychopath” Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The band, who appear on stage in soldier outfits and cartoon moustaches before stripping off to their underwear and unveiling huge rockets, have been likened online to what would result “if Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog and Boy George had a baby”.

Switzerland’s performance features falling missiles and the lyrics: “I don?t wanna be a soldier, soldier. I don’t wanna have to play with real blood.”

Each act will be introduced with “postcard” videos featuring landmarks in Ukraine and Britain alongside the 35 other competing nations, a nod to this year’s slogan “united by music” and a showcase for a country under siege.

There will be tears, too. The co-host Hannah Waddingham, the Ted Lasso star, appeared emotional during a rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone in rehearsals on Friday. The song, which has become a Liverpool football club anthem, will be performed by Duncan Laurence of the Netherlands during the voting rounds and there will be live footage of Ukrainians singing along in Kyiv.

Ukraine is aiming to become the first country since Ireland in 1994 to win in two consecutive years. The electro duo Tvorchi, whose rehearsals at home were interrupted by air raid sirens, will hope to win the solidarity vote with their bass-driven stomper Heart of Steel, which warns of the threat of nuclear armageddon.

The pair, who walked the Eurovision turquoise carpet this week in blazers engraved with the names and weights of babies who had been born prematurely due to the war, are raising money to buy neonatal incubators for their country.

Jeffrey Kenny, the vocalist, said they would consider auctioning the famous microphone-shaped trophy if they won on Saturday, after Kalush Orchestra sold last year’s award to raise $900,000 (?713,000) for the Ukrainian army. “If we win, it’s OK – we’ll sell the trophy. We’ll sell our outfits, it doesn’t matter,” he said.

Tvorchi never expected to be chosen to represent their country – they had bought train tickets home from Kyiv on the day of the selection. Their home city, Ternopil in western Ukraine, was reportedly shelled by Russian forces this week.

“The results don’t really matter in this case,” Kenny said. “The number one thing is to win the war because that’s the only way we can host.”

Anyone who expects Ukraine to coast to victory should think again, however. Sweden is the runaway favourite with a shimmering return for Loreen, who won the 2012 contest with the anthemic Euphoria.

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Finland’s K??rij?, who posed for selfies this week with fans outside his own mobile sauna in Liverpool’s Albert Dock, is incredibly popular and his Cha Cha Cha is one of this year’s biggest earworms, with a performance to match.

The UK’s Mae Muller, who was not yet born when Britain last hosted Eurovision, is tipped to finish in the top 10 with I Wrote a Song, which after last year’s runner-up spot would be the country’s second highest placing since 2009.

Adrian Bradley, a Eurovision expert, said the standard of performance of this year’s contestants was a notch above previous years, helped by a “really impressive” BBC production. It was also one of the most political Eurovisions in years, he said, despite the organisers’ attempts to be studiously neutral.

“It’s very much: this is what is happening to Ukrainians – the air raid sirens, the song Ordinary World and how that was presented [in the first semi-final], right down to the colours of the Ukrainian flag draped around the whole performance,” he said.

“I think the show’s producers are pushing it absolutely as far as they can go and doing a good job of making the point.”

Paul Bradley, an avid fan who previously worked for Eurovision, said the BBC and the European Broadcasting Union, which owns the contest, had not shied away from the war despite the rules about the nonpolitical nature of the contest.

“Politics comes into the World Cup, it comes into the Olympic Games, and Eurovision too – but overall it’s still a fun show,” he said. “I think that’s the main thing is that it’s joyous. The pandemic has shown us we need escapism, and Eurovision offers that in abundance.”