The 66th Eurovision was held last Saturday in Turin, Italy, and ever since then I’ve been playing Mika on repeat.
There were some amazing performances from contestants, and of course last year’s winners Maneskin performed - but in my opinion, Mika was the highlight of the night!
Performing a medley of some of his greatest hits, many viewers were reminded of how much they love him after he rapidly rose to mainstream fame in 2007 with a string of hits from his album Life In Cartoon Motion.
I loved that album as a kid, but as an adult I am more aware of some of the meanings I originally missed.
He’s released a few albums since then, and none of them have quite reached the same calibre. But his new album No Place in Heaven is set to be released on June 15 in the UK, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it went straight to number 1 after his Eurovision triumph.
Another triumph of the night was Kalush Orchestra, this year’s winner and Ukraine’s entry, who brought something completely different and were deserving of the win.
The blend of traditional Ukrainian music and rap, a modern twist, was well done and acted as a creative way to pay homage to their home country.
Their song, Stefania, was written before the Russian invasion of Ukraine but has taken on a new meaning for Ukranians in recent months.
However, regardless of whether they were the best act, even though I think they were, the win is still an important gesture of solidarity and shows that Europe is standing with Ukraine, and in dark times it’s good to have something to celebrate.
It was also a good night for the UK, the best they’ve seen for over two decades, with Sam Ryder’s song Space Man earning the nation their best result since Imaani came second in 1998. It also surpassed Katrina and the Waves’ Love Shine a Light to become the highest-scoring UK Eurovision entry.
The UK has become well accustomed to poor Eurovision scores - having come last in both 2019 and 2021 - but this year, Sam Ryder topped the jury vote.
Despite claims that Eurovision is political, I think the UK’s poor scores come down to one reason - the songs we’ve submitted in previous years have been terrible. This year, amongst forgettable ballads, Ryder’s powerhouse anthem managed to turn it all around and leave a good impression of the UK’s music scene for once.
Edited by Hannah Youds
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