LIVERPOOL, England — Liverpool wiped clean up from the Eurovision Song Contest on Sunday, as Sweden celebrated victory and Ukraine remained defiant after an evening of Russian bombardment, together with a strike on the hometown of the rustic’s competition.
Electronic duo Tvorchi represented Ukraine on the impressive pan-continental pop festival on Saturday night time, coming 6th of the 26 finalists with “Heart of Steel,” an anthem to the rustic’s resilience impressed by way of the siege of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.
Air raid sirens sounded throughout Ukraine as the competition used to be underway in Liverpool, and Ukraine’s army mentioned a barrage of Russian drones and missile moves left dozens wounded. One strike hit Ternopil, house town of Tvorchi in western Ukraine.
Ternopil used to be attacked once more on Sunday morning, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service mentioned. Civilian constructions and automobiles had been broken; there used to be no instant information on sufferers.
“Ternopil is the name of our hometown, which was bombed by Russia while we sang on the Eurovision stage about our steel hearts, indomitability and will,” the duo of Andrii Hutsuliak and Jeffery Kenny posted on Instagram overdue Saturday.
“This is a message for all cities of Ukraine that are shelled every day. Kharkiv, Dnipro, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Uman, Sumy, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Kherson and all others. Europe, unite against evil for the sake of peace! GLORY TO UKRAINE!”
Russia, an established Eurovision player, used to be banned from the competition final 12 months over its invasion of Ukraine.
Swedish singer Loreen gained the competition along with her energy ballad “Tattoo,” at a colourful, eclectic song festival clouded for a moment 12 months by way of the battle in Europe. Britain hosted Eurovision on behalf of Ukraine, which gained final 12 months however couldn’t absorb its proper to carry the competition as a result of the battle.
The points of interest and sounds of Ukraine ran in the course of the display, beginning with a gap movie that confirmed 2022 Eurovision winners Kalush Orchestra making a song and dancing within the Kyiv subway, with the song picked up by way of musicians within the U.Ok. — together with Kate, Princess of Wales, proven taking part in the piano.
The folk-rap band itself then emerged onstage within the Liverpool Arena on an enormous pair of outstretched fingers, accompanied by way of massed drummers. It used to be one in every of a number of Ukrainian acts to accomplish all the way through the just about four-hour display.
Now in its 67th 12 months, Eurovision expenses itself as the sector’s greatest song contest — an Olympiad of party-friendly pop. Competitors each and every have 3 mins to meld catchy tunes and eye-popping spectacle into performances able to successful the hearts of thousands and thousands of audience.
Loreen’s anthem of intense love have been the bookies’ favourite. She confronted a robust problem from Finnish singer Käärijä, a wildly full of life performer whose rap-pop celebration anthem “Cha Cha Cha” got here moment.
Loreen, 39. who up to now gained Eurovision in 2012, mentioned changing into handiest the second one particular person to take the crown two times left her “seriously overwhelmed.” Ireland’s Johnny Logan used to be the primary double winner, within the Eighties. Sweden’s victory is the rustic’s 7th, matching Ireland’s report.
The win provides Sweden the fitting to host subsequent 12 months, the fiftieth anniversary of Sweden’s first Eurovision triumph — ABBA’s 1974 victory with “Waterloo.”
The contest got here all the way down to a nail-biting end between Loreen, who gained the jury vote of song pros throughout Europe, and Käärijä, who used to be the runaway winner in vote casting by way of the viewing public.
The Finn said that he used to be dissatisfied.
“Of course, to be honest, it feels bad. What I was looking for was a win,” Käärijä advised Finnish media shops in Liverpool. “You of course have to be proud of this performance. A cool performance with a Finnish song. I’ve got a slightly sad feeling. But life goes on. It’s not that serious. You’ve got to move on with life.”
Käärijä used to be the undoubted big name of Eurovision, and the insistent refrain of “Cha Cha Cha” might be heard on dancefloors throughout Europe this summer time.
Mae Muller, representing host nation Britain, got here second-last — a a ways cry from 2022, when the U.Ok.’s Sam Ryder completed moment in the back of Ukraine.
Liverpool, which gained a contest amongst U.Ok. towns to host the development, embraced each Eurovision and Ukraine with open hands and hearts. Businesses around the town flew Ukrainian flags and a program of cultural occasions presented locals to the artwork, song and meals of the jap European nation.
However, organizers mentioned they became down a request by way of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make a video cope with. The European Broadcasting Union mentioned that will breach “the nonpolitical nature of the event.”
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Associated Press creator Jari Tanner in Helsinki contributed to this tale.
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For extra AP protection of Eurovision, seek advice from https://apnews.com/hub/eurovision-song-contest
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