What includes a Swedish diva, a Finnish rapper who loves pina coladas, a band of Croatian agit-rockers and an Austrian duo possessed by a long-dead writer? It could only be the Eurovision Song Contest.
The grand final of the pan-continental pop music competition takes place Saturday in Liverpool. This year’s theme is “united by music,” and the event fuses the soul of English port city that birthed The Beatles with the spirit of war-battered Ukraine.
As contestants from finalist nations enter in an Olympics-style flag parade there will be live performances from Ukrainian acts including Jamala, Tina Karol and Verka Serduchka — all past Eurovision competitors. Britain’s Sam Ryder, who came in second place last year, is also scheduled to perform, and a clutch of past Eurovision greats will perform a set of classic Liverpool songs.
Rock is unusually well represented at a contest that tends to favor perky pop. Slovenia’s Joker Out, Germany’s Lord of the Lost and Australia’s Voyager are all guitar-crunching entries. Amid the musical celebration, viewers will be reminded of the brutal cost of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, though organizers say they turned down a request by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make a video address. The European Broadcasting Union said that would breach “the nonpolitical nature of the event.”
In recent years, it has once again become a platform that can launch stars. Italian rock band Måneskin, who won in 2021, have played major U.S. festivals and opened for the Rolling Stones on tour. Ryder has had a No. 1 album and played the Glastonbury festival.
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