By Sophie Robinson
The 67th Eurovision song contest took place on Saturday 13th May in Liverpool, UK, on behalf of Ukraine. The Kalush Orchestra won the contest in 2022, but they were unable to host the contest due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Therefore, the UK – which came runner up – hosted on behalf of Ukraine.
The contest saw 26 hopefuls representing their respective countries, and a wide range of music – from heavy metal to dance to ballads. In the end, Sweden won with Loreen, who sang ‘Tattoo’. She gained a total of 583 points, with Finland behind with 526 points. This was not Loreen’s first time on Eurovision – in fact it is her second. In 2012, she represented Sweden with ‘Euphoria’, and won. Her victory this year means Sweden will be hosting next year, which coincides with ABBA’s 50th anniversary of winning the contest.
Some fans on social media have expressed their views, with many saying they believe the scoring was rigged so Sweden could host on this monumental occasion in Eurovision history. This came out of Sweden winning the jury vote, yet Finland won the public vote by over double the points – yet this wasn’t quite enough to beat Sweden. Many people believe that Finland was the true winner, as Käärijä’s ‘Cha Cha Cha’ came in second place, and it was a fan favourite. Even when the scores were being announced, you could hear the audience chanting the song, displaying their hope for Finland to be the victor. Finland has only won the contest once before, with Lordi’s ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’, and so Käärijä hoped to bring it back home for the second time. His charismatic yet weird energy instantly won over the audience, and his signature green jacket was a fan favourite, with many in the audience re-creating the look. This is a contrast to Sweden, who has won the contest 7 times, and joins Ireland with being the most successful nations in the contest. Loreen’s ballad about being in love was a great song, yet was not as big of a success among the audience compared to the ‘Cha Cha Cha’.
The contest saw Germany in last place with 18 points, and the UK’s Mae Muller in the penultimate place with 24 points. Many were aghast by this result, seeing that Mae Muller’s energetic pop song was a very big fan favourite (along with Finland). However, Muller’s comments in the past have caused controversy, with her saying ‘I hate Britain’, referencing political issues of the country. Many argue that she shouldn’t have represented Britain with these comments, yet she argues that they have been ‘taken out of context’. Despite this situation, many fans were disappointed by her result in the contest, and hoped she had done better within the voting system.
Other striking performances
include Norway’s Alessandra, who sang the catchy ‘Queen of Kings’. Ukraine’s ‘Heart of Steel’ by Tvorchi caught the hearts of listeners, especially when it was reported that a Russian missile was launched onto their hometown, Ternopil, minutes before their performance. Australia came in a respectable 9th place, with their song ‘Promises’, performed by progressive metal band Voyager. Croatia gained 123 points, and were put in 13th place with their song ‘Mama šč’, where Let 3’s satirical comments on dictatorship entertained the audiences. Austria came in 15th place, and was another fan favourite with their song ‘Who the hell is Edgar?’. The song was based on the American writer Edgar Allan Poe, where Teya and Salena protest against the music industry, with Spotify only giving artists a $0.003 royalty rate per stream of their song. Albania came in 22nd place, where Albina made it a family affair and brought on her parents, two sisters and brother to perform the song ‘Duje’. Many commentators described this family as the Albanian Kardashians, which referenced the same amount of family members they have.
Below is a table of the country, song, singer and points in order of place in the contest:
| Place | Country | Song | Singer | Points |
| 1 | Sweden 🇸🇪 | ‘Tattoo’ | Loreen | 583 |
| 2 | Finland 🇫🇮 | ‘Cha Cha Cha’ | Käärijä | 526 |
| 3 | Israel 🇮🇱 | ‘Unicorn’ | Noa Kirel | 362 |
| 4 | Italy 🇮🇹 | ‘Due Vite’ | Marco Mengoni | 350 |
| 5 | Norway 🇳🇴 | ‘Queen of Kings’ | Alessandra | 268 |
| 6 | Ukraine 🇺🇦 | ‘Heart of Steel’ | Tvorchi | 243 |
| 7 | Belgium 🇧🇪 | ‘Because of You’ | Gustaph | 182 |
| 8 | Estonia 🇪🇪 | ‘Bridges’ | Alika | 168 |
| 9 | Australia 🇦🇺 | ‘Promises’ | Voyager | 151 |
| 10 | Czechia 🇨🇿 | ‘My Sisters Crown’ | Vesna | 129 |
| 11 | Lithuania 🇱🇹 | ‘Stay’ | Monika Linkytė | 127 |
| 12 | Cyprus 🇨🇾 | ‘Break a Broken Heart’ | Andrew Lambrou | 126 |
| 13 | Croatia 🇭🇷 | ‘Mama šč’ | Let 3 | 123 |
| 14 | Armenia 🇦🇲 | ‘Future Lover’ | Brunette | 122 |
| 15 | Austria 🇦🇹 | ‘Who the Hell is Edgar?’ | Teya and Salena | 120 |
| 16 | France 🇫🇷 | ‘Évidemment’ | La Zarra | 104 |
| 17 | Spain 🇪🇸 | ‘Eaea’ | Blanca Paloma | 100 |
| 18 | Moldova 🇲🇩 | ‘Soarele și luna’ | Pasha Parfeni | 96 |
| 19 | Poland 🇵🇱 | ‘Solo’ | Blanka | 93 |
| 20 | Switzerland 🇨🇭 | ‘Watergun’ | Remo Forrer | 92 |
| 21 | Slovenia 🇸🇮 | ‘Carpe Diem’ | Joker Out | 78 |
| 22 | Albania 🇦🇱 | ‘Duje’ | Albina Kelmendi and Familja Kelmendi | 76 |
| 23 | Portugal 🇵🇹 | ‘Ai coração’ | Mimicat | 59 |
| 24 | Serbia 🇷🇸 | ‘Samo mi se spava’ | Luke Black | 30 |
| 25 | UK 🇬🇧 | ‘I Wrote a Song’ | Mae Muller | 24 |
| 26 | Germany 🇩🇪 | ‘Blood & Glitter’ | Lord of the Lost | 18 |