Glitter, glamour, politics: the ESC before the final
Ten more countries made it to the final round of the Eurovision Song Contest on Thursday evening in the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, including Israeli singer Yuval Raphael. She is a survivor of the Hamas terror attacks in October 2022 and, despite all the protests against Israel , is one of the favorites. Other countries that advanced alongside Israel were Lithuania, Armenia, Denmark, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Latvia, Malta, and Greece. However, Australia, Montenegro, Ireland, Georgia, the Czech Republic, and Serbia will have to return home. This did not dampen the party mood. Already at the first ESC semi-final on Tuesday, the pop audience showed a longing for exuberance, in cheerful contrast to a world full of bad news.
For Germany, the Viennese siblings Abor & Tynna competed for the first time – initially out of competition. Abor & Tynna's real names are Attila (26) and Tünde (24) Bornemisza. Germany, along with Italy, England, France, and Spain, is seeded for the final because it is one of the Eurovision Song Contest donor countries. Abor & Tynna performed their electronic hit "Baller," enriched with staccato "vocal chops" [short excerpts from other popular songs, editor's note] . Stroboscopic effects illuminated the performance. Abor performed an LED-lit cello.
How successful "Baller" will be on Saturday evening remains to be seen, however: bookmakers have so far placed Baller in the middle of the pack. The Baller effect seems to be in general favor at this year's Eurovision Song Contest, along with some ambiguity: "I'm coming," for example, elated Finnish singer Erika Vikman, accompanied by erotically charged contortions. Australian Go-Jo, whose Gaga song "Milkshake Man" certainly wasn't about cow's milk products, played a shrill eccentric. Also competing were a Latvian elf sextet that looked like they were carved from a tree trunk, a locksmith from Armenia posing as "Survivor," and, not to be forgotten, three Disney Barbies from Great Britain, the Greek singer Klavdia with large glasses, and finally, a female Dracula from Georgia. The Swedes will be competing with a fun trio from Finland. The band KAJ indulges in just that with their fun song "Bara bada bastu" (Just Go to the Sauna ). So, is Sweden a hot favorite?
Israeli singer Yuval Raphael could have a chance of winning Saturday's final. Her anthem of reconciliation, "New Day Will Rise," is celebrated in Israel as a song of redemption. It is about loss and hope. During a rehearsal in front of an audience on Thursday, there were reportedly disruptions by Israel critics with whistles and Palestinian flags. However, there have been no major incidents so far, unlike in Malmö in 2024. Singer Yuval Raphael (24) survived the attacks in Israel by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, as a visitor to the Nova music festival, reportedly hiding for hours under corpses.
The Eurovision Song Contest is the most-watched music spectacle in the world, with 160 million TV viewers. This year, it's coming from Basel . 37 countries will compete for the victory trophy at the St. Jakobshalle on Saturday evening, starting at 9:00 p.m. The Swiss city, right on the German border, has been buzzing for days, with live stages, quiz and TV shows broadcast directly from the pedestrian zone, and ESC selfie booths for quirky photos with lots of glitter. With the weather being perfect, ESC fans will dance the night away.
Basel is expecting half a million visitors, even though only around 60,000 will be able to attend the nine shows live. Last year, the non-binary person Nemo brought the ECS Cup to Switzerland in Malmö.
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