Reuters World News - Everything you need to know about Eurovision

Episode Date: May 12, 2023

ABBA. Celine Dion. A turkey puppet? They’ve all represented their countries at the Eurovision Song Contest – the annual songfest that has more viewers than the Super Bowl. Join us in Liverpool, home of The Beatles, to find out all about the politics behind the power ballads and the tax breaks behind silk flares. "Tattoo" by Loreen courtesy of Universal Music. "Heart of Steel" clip courtesy of Tvorchi. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt-out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The passion, the politics, the pop bangers. We travel to the home of the Beatles to give you a backstage pass to the world's biggest party, the Eurovision Song Contest. We've got Norway! We've got Malta taken to the stage. It's Friday, May 12th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes. I'm Kim Vennel in London.

It's time to grab a 10. ticket to ride and head to Liverpool, this year's host city for Eurovision. It's quite the commitment with two semifinals and the grand final on Saturday, May 13th. So let's board the ferry across the Mersey with Reuters' very own Eurovision guru, Tara Oaks. Tara, why should I care about Eurovision? It is one of the largest watched spectacles on TV and has been for decades. It's got more viewers in the Super Bowl, an entrance from all over the world, from the UK to Ukraine, but also more perhaps borderline European nations like Israel and Australia.

Israel and Australia. Why are they in Eurovision? So geographically, there's a bunch of countries on the fringe of what some might describe as Europe. So not just Israel, but Azerbaijan, Armenia. Basically, if you're willing to pay, historically, you can be in the contest. Australia, obviously, geographically, is a little bit further out. And they've been allowed in for the past couple of years now, partly because they say if they ever win, they would host it within Europe. They wouldn't make all the crew and all the fans schlep out and pay the money to Australia.

I was surprised to learn that both Celine Dion and Abba got their big breaks at Eurovision. and actually there's an interesting story behind Abba, right? Yes, so Abba won here in the UK. They went in Brighton in the 70s. And the reason they're wearing such garish, brightly coloured outfits on stage for that performance is actually because of a tax law, which meant that if they were wearing something that is obviously fancy dress, then they wouldn't pay as much tax as wearing normal clothes.

Some people feel that the music of Eurovision is just straight up bad. What would you say to that? Well, everyone's taste is different. And there's a huge variety. There are some out-and-out rock songs like Manuskin winning for Italy a couple of years ago. There are songs which draw on national heritage. So Ukraine winning last year, they use traditional harmonies, traditional flute instruments. But there's a lot of sort of middle-of-the-road pops.

A lot of reliance on big staging, big wind machines, big beats. But I think that's part of why the fans of Eurovision are so passionate because you can enjoy whatever you want. And that's maybe why there's a strong overlap with the LGBTQ community, because same idea of what you like is what you like, who you love is who you love. There's a lot of acceptance there. What are the controversies this year? So this year, the most notable thing is that it's not the winners of last year's competition hosting it. Usually when you win, you win the right to host it.

Ukraine won. They offered to host it, but were turned down by Eurovision. So the UK, who came second, I've decided that they're going to host it. And that will be something to watch how much of Ukrainian culture is reflected here, how much of UK culture is reflected. But also, Ukraine are doing quite well this year. What if they win again? And what does that mean for hosting? Even though Eurovision is supposed to be strictly apolitical, its controversies often make the headlines. Special guest act Madonna caused a stir in 2019 when her dancers revealed Israeli and Palestinian flags and embraced. Azerbaijan spent $60 million and built a new stadium when they hosted in 2012, only to have their event eclipsed by alleged human rights abuses.

Ukraine's own former winner, Ruslana, became a voice of protest in 2013. He is her singing the national anthem at the National Press Club in Washington. Russia have been banned from entering since last year's invasion of Ukraine. The war hangs heavy over this year's edition. When we spoke to Ukraine's act Vouchi, producer Andrei Hutsulyak, grew emotional about the plight of children back home. So everyone who can do a donation can visit website United 24 and donate.

on people sorry they can at least hold their head up high with their song Heart of Steel pretty strong I'm sure you'll agree in the intro

you heard Sweden's entry Blurin she's won before and is hot tip to win again with the new song Tattoo courtesy of Universal Music

there's also some Croatians who might get but naked in the final and win the wrath of the organisers who would immediately disqualify them And there's Austria's pop ode to Edgar Allan Poe.

I also had to try to not fan girl over the UK's entry, May Muller. How would you describe Eurovision to somebody from the US or Venezuela or Niger who's never been to Eurovision, never seen it on the television, literally no idea what it is? I would say it's just like the biggest party on the planet. It's the biggest safe space on the planet. It's just fun and it's a celebration of everything unique and it's really inclusive and it's empowering, you know. So many different countries coming together.

Even though it's a competition, it's like we're actually all celebrating each other, which is really, really nice. Convinced yet, the global fans are, although Jan from the Netherlands threw down the gauntlet for Americans who might not be up for it. Stay at home, don't go, you will be. go, you will not understand it. It's a Euro thing. Luckily, Sharon from Virginia was in the fan zone to prove him wrong. It is wonderful. We absolutely had no idea that this even existed. Never even heard of it before, which our tour guide is in shock over, but we asked the front desk

and they gave us great instructions to come here and we're having a blast. It's fun. It's fun. And And there's a lot of vibrant energy. Really nice. And God save the king. Yeah, there you go. So your interest is peaked in the music and the massive spectacle of global democracy in action. So how do you get involved? Here's Tara.

So we're in the press center and rehearsals are taking place for the first semifinals. How does an act win? How does the voting work? Every country who has an act, you know, some sense. skin in the game. They both have a combined vote, half of which is a qualified jury, half of which is a public vote. And there have been scandals in recent years about national juries calling each other up and stitching it up to vote for each other. But this year, there's a whole other wild card in that the rest of the world, even if they don't have an act competing, also have a

vote to cast. So will that swing yet? We'll have to wait and see. What's to stop the country with the biggest population winning? Can't everyone just vote for themselves? No, but People cannot vote for themselves. So you've got to choose either your favourite neighbour or, more realistically, the best song going, of course. What about the cost of putting this event on? Because what happens if a country that maybe doesn't have so much money in the bank wins and therefore has to host the next year? So the Big Five, who are guaranteed to go through every year, the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, pay more than the other countries to enter.

So there's a certain cash pot, which is always available. but if you win, the idea is that you have to host it. So countries who can't afford to host it sometimes don't enter in the first place. Ireland had a big streak of winning back in the 90s, and it got so much so that rumour has it, that Ireland just didn't want to win anymore, but wanted to save face. So they didn't stop entering, but they started entering worse and worse acts so that they wouldn't win and they wouldn't have to have paid to host it.

These Irish acts, just to clarify, included a singing puppet of a Turkey. Sometimes, though, a country really want to win and just don't get the points. Not a problem for reigning champions Ukraine. They've racked up an impressive three wins since first entering in 2003. But that same contest 20 years ago was a dark day for British Eurovision fans. Their UK act Gemini got no points. or Nolpont, as they say around here, for the first time ever in UK history.

But back on the ferry, the band told us they were using this year's edition in their home city of Liverpool to reclaim their history. It was terrible. It was awful for us. We were really young, but, you know, it happens. And I think now, this is why I think we wanted

after the 20 years to come back out and enjoy it and for our family and friends to enjoy it, because they all went through that trauma. with us of that nice. So now it's just about like, yeah, we can enjoy it now. And I have like positive memories instead of that, you know, the negative one. It's celebratory and nostalgia. That's it for this edition of Reuters World News.

We'll be back this weekend with a deep dive on Turkey's elections. To get all our shows in your podcast feed, make sure to rate, review and follow us on your favorite podcast platform or download the Reuters app. Just like May Miller. Hey guys, it's May Muller and I am this year's UK entry to Eurovision, 2023, and you can listen to Reuters World News right now, like and subscribe.