Chances of Ukraine repeating last year’s Eurovision win. The country that sings about Putin, the “psychopath crocodile” VIDEO

One of the most obviously politicized Eurovision finals in recent years takes place on Saturday evening, May 13, in Liverpool, against the background of the war in Ukraine that shows little sign of ending.

There will be rockets, soldiers and mustachioed men in underwear mocking Vladimir Putin as a “crocodile psychopath” – and that’s only in Croatia’s song.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request to give a live speech during the four-hour broadcast was rejected because organizers feared it risked politicizing the contest. However, there will not be much subtlety at the 67th edition of this event with a special ritual.

The competition will begin with a haunting performance by last year’s winners, Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra, who will perform their wartime hit, Stefania, against the painful backdrop of the dramas experienced by Ukrainian mothers.

The show, which will be broadcast live from the M&S Bank Arena on the banks of the River Mersey, has a global audience of over 160 million people.

Great Britain is hosting the contest for the first time in 25 years, on behalf of Ukraine, and Liverpool will be “the bittersweet host of the refugee guests of honor”.

“The Psychopath Crocodile”

One of the most politicized songs is that of the Croatian punk rock group Let 3, a surreal song that talks about the “psychopath crocodile” Putin and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The band, who appear on stage in soldier costumes and sporting Stalinist moustaches, before stripping down to their underwear and performing under two giant rockets, have been compared online to what would happen if ‘Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog and Boy George would have a baby.”

Switzerland’s show also features falling missiles and the lyrics: “I don’t want to be a soldier. I don’t want to have to play with real blood.”

Each number in the final will be presented with postcard-style videos featuring highlights from Ukraine and the UK, alongside those from the other 35 competing nations, a nod to this year’s slogan ‘Unite through Music’, which the presentation of the country under siege is added.

1994 performance

As far as it is concerned, Ukraine aims to become the first country, since Ireland in 1994, to win the Eurovision contest in two consecutive years. Electro duo Tvorchi, whose home rehearsals were interrupted by air raid sirens, hopes to win the solidarity vote with the song Heart of Steel, which warns of the threat of nuclear armageddon. The two representatives, who walked the turquoise Eurovision carpet this week in blazers emblazoned with the names and weights of babies born prematurely because of the war, are raising money to buy incubators for their country.

Jeffrey Kenny, the black vocalist, said they would consider auctioning off the famous microphone trophy if they won on Saturday, after the Kalush Orchestra sold last year’s prize raising $900,000 for the Ukrainian military. “If we win, that’s fine – we’ll sell the trophy. We’ll sell our kits, it doesn’t matter,” he said.

The Tvorchis never expected to be chosen to represent their country – they had bought train tickets home from Kiev on selection day. Their hometown, Ternopil, in western Ukraine, was reportedly bombed by Russian forces this week.

“Results don’t really matter in this case,” Kenny said. “The number one thing is to win the war, because that’s the only way we can be hosts,” he said.

The big favorite

Anyone who expects Ukraine to already enjoy the victory should think again, however, writes The Guardian. According to British journalists, Sweden is the big favourite, with a brilliant comeback for Loreen, who won the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Euphoria.

Finland’s Käärijä, who this week posed for selfies with fans in front of his own mobile sauna in Liverpool’s Albert Dock, is incredibly popular and Cha Cha Cha is one of this year’s biggest hits, with a performance on measure.

Britain’s Mae Muller, who wasn’t even born when Britain last hosted Eurovision, is tipped to finish in the top 10 with I Wrote a Song, which, after last year’s runner-up, would be the second most good ranking of the country since 2009.

Adrian Bradley, Eurovision expert, said that the standard of performance of this year’s contestants is a notch above that of previous years, helped by a “truly impressive” BBC production. On the other hand, it is one of the most politicized Eurovision editions in recent years, he says, despite the organizers’ attempts to be neutral.

“Politics enters the World Cup, it enters the Olympic Games, it enters Eurovision – but in general it is still a show for entertainment”, says Paul Bradley, who previously worked for Eurovision. “I think that’s the main thing, that it’s joyful. The pandemic has shown us that we need escapism, and Eurovision offers this in abundance,” he concluded.

Romania did not qualify for the Eurovision 2023 final, being the fourth time it misses the final show, after failures in 2018, 2019 and 2021.