Singer Loreen from Sweden wins the Eurovision Song Contest – Germany comes last again
Loreen from Sweden sings at the final of the Eurovision Song Contest
Source: REUTERS
At the final of the 67th Eurovision Song Contest, the singer Loreen from Sweden prevailed against her competitors. The German band Lord of the Lost could not convince the audience.
ZFor the second time since 2012, singer Loreen has won the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden. Her song “Tattoo” received a total of 583 points. Finland (526 points) with singer Käärijä and the metal-pop-electro song “Cha Cha Cha” came second in the world’s largest music show on Sunday night. Israel took third place in Liverpool, followed by Italy and Norway.
Germany only reached last place with the rock band Lord Of The Lost (“Blood & Glitter”) – like last year. The band Lord of the Lost heated up the 6,000 spectators in Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena with rocking e-guitars and the sombre singing of frontman Chris Harms. For their song “Blood & Glitter”, the dark rock band from the Hamburg district of St. Pauli wore spectacular outfits in red and gold and made-up faces. Harms said after the final that it was “really hard to be last”. But: “We gave everything, really everything.”
The German ESC bankruptcy series since 2015 with only the penultimate or last places has only been interrupted in recent years by Michael Schulte, who finished fourth in 2018. For the last time, 75-year-old Peter Urban commented on the show on ARD.
The Nordic showdown between Sweden and Finland had already been hinted at before the Liverpool final: Sweden’s Loreen and Finland’s Käärijä had been identified by experts and betting shops as the two biggest favorites at this year’s ESC.
Loreen from Sweden
Source: dpa/Peter Kneffel
Loreen, who won the music competition eleven years ago in the Azerbaijani capital Baku with the song “Euphoria”, was considered the top favorite early on – even before she had even won the Swedish ESC preliminary round in March. “This is overwhelming. I’m so happy and so grateful,” Loreen said in tears when she accepted the ESC trophy.
Loreen is 39 years old and comes from Stockholm. With “Euphoria” she not only scooped the ESC title in 2012, but also stormed to the top of the charts in Germany and other countries. Since then, things had calmed down around the Swede again internationally – until she hit a similar sound with “Tattoo” as with her hit eleven years ago.
Sweden wins ESC for the seventh time
The pop nation Sweden has now also won the ESC seven times – and is thus the record holder on a par with Ireland. The previous Swedish winner was the singer Måns Zelmerlöw with “Heroes” in Vienna in 2015.
According to ESC tradition, Ukraine would normally have held the 67th Eurovision Song Contest as last year’s winner. Because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Great Britain, as the second-placed country in the previous year, took on this task.
In a BBC interview, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would have preferred it if the competition had been moved to a neighboring country like Poland or Slovakia. Then it would have been easier for Ukrainians to travel there or feel close. The moderation quartet in Liverpool included the Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina, who expressly thanked the British hosts on the show.
Alongside her, actress Hannah Waddingham (“Game of Thrones”), “Britain’s Got Talent” judge Alesha Dixon and talk show host and author Graham Norton, who is one of the most well-known television personalities in the English-speaking world and has been hosting the ESC for the BBC for years, moderated commented.
Germany ends up in last place
26 songs competed in the final. A total of 37 countries took part in the ESC this year. 11 entries were eliminated in the two semi-finals, including entries from the Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark and Iceland.
France, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and also Germany are automatically set for the final as big sponsors, as is last year’s winner, this time Ukraine. As always, the spectators could vote for the winner, but not for their own country. Your voting was supplemented by jurors.
The German band Lord of the Lost
Source: AP/Martin Meissner
In 2023, the announcement of points by the expert jury and the audience was separated for the seventh time. First, the jury vote was queried by switching to all 37 participating countries, which Sweden won with 340 votes – Germany came last with only three points. Then the moderators read the televote (the audience voices).
The jury points from Germany (this time in the jury including Katja Ebstein and the Frida Gold front woman Alina Süggeler) were announced for the first time by the moderator Elton, after Barbara Schöneberger had done this for years. He was connected live from Hamburg. The highest score of 12 went to Sweden. The German viewers, on the other hand, gave Finland the highest number of points.
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