A widely announced victory for Sweden at the 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. As announced, it was head-to-head with Finland that won the televoting, coming second with Käärijä and the song Cha Cha Cha. To bring the event back to Scandinavia was Loreen, in her second victory, with the song Tattoo, given as favorite already from the eve.
In third place Israel with Noa Kirel and Unicorn. Marco Mengoni took fourth place. But he was still the protagonist of the evening. Not only did he excite the 12,000 at the Liverpool Arena with his intense and powerful performance of Due Vite, the song with which he won the Sanremo festival, and which here brought home the Marcel Bezençon Composer Award for best composition, assigned by the composers of the songs in competition, but also wanted to bring the LGBTQI flag designed by graphic designer Daniel Quasar to the stage to make the famous Rainbow Flag even more inclusive. Five more colours, white, pink, blue, brown and black, positioned to the side.
The new colored strips are dedicated to the black community, the transgender community, HIV patients and those who died carrying on the battle for rights. The evening opened in the name of Ukraine, which after the victory of the Kalusch Orchestra last year in Turin, should have hosted the event. But the current situation of the country, still at war, has not allowed it. And so, in an ideal connection between Kiev and Liverpool, chosen as an alternative venue for the event, the Kalush Orchestra, spokesperson for the Ukrainian drama, opened the final with Stefania, the piece that led them to victory a year ago, and with a film in which British artists such as Andrew Lloyd Webber and Joss Stone participated.
Princess of Wales Kate Middleton also cameos on piano. In support of Ukraine also the Czech Republic with Vesna, with the song My sister’s crown, a feminist anthem that invites you to never give up, but also a song with a political background with a humanitarian message of support for the Ukrainian population, underlined by the refrain sung in Ukrainian. Let3 Croatians also say no to dictatorships and war, remaining in their underwear and with fake missiles on stage. But Eurovision does not give up its dose of excessive show, trash, feathers and sequins, as per tradition. Likewise, he has not given up paying homage to the city that hosted him with the Liverpool Songbook, during which some artists who have been protagonists in past editions have retraced the history of the city’s music. Among these was also an excited Mahmood who performed in a revisited version of Imagine, the great classic by John Lennon. The artist, in his third Eurovision appearance after representing Italy in Tel Aviv 2019, finishing second with Soldi in Turin last year together with Blanco with a sixth place thanks to Chills, is the first Italian to be invited as a guest out of competition in an edition abroad.
Marco Mengoni on stage with the Italian and rainbow flags
Marco Mengoni, during the initial presentation of the 26 artists competing in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool, brought to the stage, in addition to the Italian flag, also the rainbow one, symbol of peace. Five more colours, white, pink, blue, brown and black, positioned to the side, almost like a badge, or perhaps as a reminder. It is the Lgbtqi flag that Marco Mengoni waved tonight on the stage of the Eurovision Song Contest. It was designed by graphic designer Daniel Quasar to make the famous Rainbow Flag even more inclusive. The new colored strips are dedicated to the black community, the transgender community, HIV patients and those who died carrying on the battle for rights.
In an ideal connection between Kiev, which should have hosted this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, and Liverpool, chosen as an alternative venue, the Kalush Orchestra, last year’s winner and spokesperson for Ukrainian drama, opens the 2023 final with the piece Stefania and with a film featuring British artists of the caliber of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sam Ryder and Joss Stone. Princess of Wales Kate Middleton also cameos on piano.
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