Eurovision provides Unity

Published by Josh Banks, May 17th, 2018

What is it?

The Eurovision Song Contest, is an international singing competition. It was created by Marcel Bezençon in 1956 making it the longest-running annual international television contest as well as one of the world's longest-running television programme. Despite its name Eurovision isn't just for european countries, countries such as Australlia, Israel and many others take part.

What happened this year?

This years contest was held in Lisbon, and the theme they chose was 'All Aboard!'. It was chosen because of the city's historical background of connecting Europe through the ocean. This theme inspired not one but twelve logos, to portray the key themes of diversity, respect and tolerance.

The hostesses of the evenings were Filomena Cautela, Sílvia Alberto, Daniela Ruah and Catarina Furtado. The EBU (which stands for European Broadcasting Union) said it was "The best Eurovision ever!". Some of this years highlights include:

The singer-song writer Kostyantn Mykolayvch who represented Ukraine had everyone convinced that vampires are real.
Graham Norton proved that he ws the ultimate sass master, especially when he said "Give it a month" in reference to the couple who sang a duet for Spain.
The Estonian singer Elina Nechayeva blew everyone away not only with her impecable operatic singing but her phenomenal dress was jaw-dropping.
Incase you didn't notice Örs Siklósi (the lead singer of AWS the band which represented Hungrary this year) preformed barefoot.
During SueRie's performance of Storm for the Uk the stage was invaded by a man, who snatched the microphone and said "Nazis of the Uk media, we demand freedom"
Ireland's performance of Together - Ryan O'Shaghnessy featured same-sex dancers.

The Winner

Israel's Netta won the competition with Toy. Although it may seem like a weird version of the chicken dance the song's message is that it's okay to be different. Netta's performance is the most watched eurovision song on YouTube. Despite the many who are over-joyed by Israel winning, others are outraged that next years contest will be held in Jerusalem. This is due to the fact that Israel is not from the war zone of Iraq.

Despite the controversy that can arise from Eurovision, it strives to unite whilst also expressing the importance of diversity. Which are aims we should all strive to follow, in a time where we are divided, it is vital we stick together whilst remembering to stay true to ourselves and be an individual.

Will post soon - Josh :)