(Liverpool) Sweden, represented by singer Loreen with her title Tattooswon the Eurovision Song Contest for a record seventh time on Saturday in the final hosted by the United Kingdom in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine.
Loreen, already first in the competition in 2012, is the second artist to win Eurovision twice after Johnny Logan for Ireland in the 1980s, and the first woman to achieve the double.
Twenty-six countries were competing for the final of the 67e edition of the contest. Sweden thus joins, 49 years after the victory of ABBA with WaterlooIreland leads the ranking of the countries with the most victories.
Finland, with the singer Käärijä, came in second, Israel in third and France, represented by Quebecer La Zarra, in the 16e place. France has not won since 1977 with Marie Myriam.
Excerpt from the performance of La Zarra
Loreen succeeds the Ukrainians of the Kalush Orchestra, who triumphed last year with Stefania, a song mixing hip-hop and traditional Ukrainian music. Eurovision was held in the UK, which came second last year, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This year, it was represented by the electro duo Tvorchi, who finished sixth with heart of steel (Heart of Steel), a song inspired by the resistance during a month-long siege at the Azovstal factory in Mariupol and received a standing ovation from the public.
PHOTO MARTIN MEISSNER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Ukrainian group Tvorchi
Minutes after their stage performance, Tvorchi posted on Instagram that Ternopil, their hometown, was attacked by Russia. Ternopil “was bombarded by Russia as we sang on the Eurovision stage about our strong hearts, our indomitability and our will”, they wrote. “Europe, united against evil for peace,” they added.
Several songs evoked, each in their own way, the war. As for Switzerland, the young singer Remo Forrer launched a message of peace in a serious tone with watergun.
Berber
The big winner, Loreen, performed with Tattoosa pop anthem about unconditional love.
PHOTO MARTIN MEISSNER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Swedish singer Loreen
The Swede was considered the favourite. However, this new participation was for her anything but obvious, until she listened to this song.
” When I heard Tattoos, even before someone told me about Melodifestivalen (the Swedish selection that determines the contribution to Eurovision), I felt a pleasure mixed with terror. I understood that something was happening, ”she confided to the daily Dagens Nyheter.
And she then bowed to an iron discipline to achieve the bombastic number one strand.
Real name Lorine Talhaoui, the 39-year-old artist was born in Sweden to parents of Moroccan Berber origin. The eldest of six children, she grew up in the suburbs of Stockholm, where she lives today. One of his sisters, Markiz Tainton, is a cook and regularly appears on television.
“I have nomadic origins, I am Berber, but I am also Swedish, I want my cheese grater and people to call me before arriving at my house”, added the singer, to this newspaper, while her origins have been repeatedly mocked by the far right.
Neon bolero
Finland was in a completely different niche with singer Käärijä’s frenetic “Cha Cha Cha” and his fluorescent green puffy bolero.
PHOTO OLI SCARFF, AGENCY FRANCE-PRESSE
The singer Käärijä and his team
Like last year, Russia was excluded from the competition.
This edition was organized in Liverpool but in the name of Ukraine. The colors of Ukraine, blue and yellow, were hoisted everywhere in the city of the Beatles.
This edition of Eurovision, “it’s theirs more than ours,” said AFP Jenny Birchett, a 70-year-old Briton, dressed in the colors of Ukraine.
“When I arrived yesterday” in Liverpool, “I cried” as blue and yellow are everywhere in the city, explained Lana Bilko, a Ukrainian who has been living in the United Kingdom for a long time.