The final of the Eurovision musical competition, with its rhinestones, its sequins, its extravagant costumes and its popular songs, marks its comeback on Saturday, May 22 in the evening in Rotterdam (Netherlands), under the eyes of a small audience due to health constraints. Italy and France, which have not won since 1977, are the two favorites of the bookmakers, followed by Malta.
Thousands of fans, emblematic of the colorful contest, traditionally waving country flags in front of television cameras, have been denied travel due to travel restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. Sanitary conditions forced the event, followed each year by several million viewers, to reinvent itself after its cancellation in 2020, a first in the history of the competition.
Pre-tested, 3,500 spectators were allowed to attend the semi-finals, the final and the six dress rehearsals. This represents 20% of the capacity of the performance hall. For their part, the candidates are locked in a “Special bubble” and screened daily since the start of the competition. Despite this, cases of Covid-19 have been reported among several delegations, including that of Iceland, which was forced to leave and is participating thanks to recorded videos.
The winner of the last edition, the Dutchman Duncan Laurence, who, as tradition dictates, was to sing his victorious ballad Arcade on stage during the final, is also deprived of the live show. He has tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and is expected to participate in the video show.
Striking songs, extravagant characters
The Italian group Maneskin prances ahead of the predictions. The group, which professes to do something new with old, is made up of four musicians, a girl and three boys, born with the century and fed on the banks saturated with rock.
They are followed by the French representative. Often compared to Edith Piaf, Barbara Pravi, 28, could allow France to achieve its first victory in forty-four years with its title here, song about self-assertion, a piece that is both a diary and a business card launched to an audience to be won over. “What I find wonderful is that it’s a song in French, which is part of a French tradition and that bookmakers – people from all over the world, therefore – put it very high in their ranking”, rejoiced the singer a few days before the final of the competition.
Malta could also snatch victory thanks to 18-year-old Destiny Chukunyere with her song I break, which has already caught the attention of Sony Music, with whom she signed a contract in April.
True to tradition, the 2021 edition also includes its share of striking songs performed by extravagant characters, artists representing a minority or wishing to convey a message to the public. The Cypriot song tells the story of a woman falling in love with the devil, while the feminist title of the Russian singer of Tajik origin Manija has been castigated by conservatives in Russia.
Under the theme “Let’s open! “, The 2021 edition of Eurovision offers – despite the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic – a breath of fresh air for Rotterdam residents. At the entrance to the central station, fans pose in front of a reproduction of the emblematic competition trophy. Buildings and monuments of the city, such as the iconic Erasme Bridge, have been decorated with unforgettable words from winning titles from previous editions such as Waterloo or Lalala.