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How to win Eurovision?  Classic variant or “pure madness” option

How to win Eurovision? Classic variant or “pure madness” option

Poland has no luck at Eurovision. Edyta Górniak proudly made her debut in 1994 and was close to winning. The boring Irish won, because the jury was convinced that as a country after political transformation, we would not be able to organize the final. Since then, none of our representatives has come close to its high position. And just look at history. Please!

2023 is formally the 67th edition of the song contest, which keeps Poles awake at night, because we have not won it even once. As if to wipe tears, we have two wins in a row in Junior Eurovision, but let’s make an appointment – something still doesn’t work out in the adult competition. We started with such a high C that he can’t even repeat his legendary performance. After analyzing all the winning songs since 1956, only one thing can be said – the girl was as close to the ideal as anyone. It is all the more scandalous that the victory in 1994 went to two Irish musicians without an ounce of charisma. First things first. (The text was first published in 2021 and was supplemented with data from the following years)

How to win at Eurovision? Recipes for success

The Eurovision Song Contest has been organized for almost 70 years, so it naturally evolves and changes a bit every year. Despite this, some elements remain unchanged. The most useful for victory is, of course, the ability to sing and hit the sounds, but each “performance” is also accompanied by stage circumstances. Eurovision is famous for its crazy stagings, it is often called a festival of kitsch, but a cursory analysis of all the winning songs shows that stage madness, even if it is part of the nature of this event, is not the golden mean for victory.

After creating a table in which we took into account such factors as the nationality of the performers, their gender, size (soloists versus bands), color of hair or costumes, as well as the theme of the winning songs, language of their performance and stage setting, it was possible to distinguish two basic paths to success. We have a safe formula and a more flamboyant variant, which seem to work alternately since ABBA’s victory. Graphics are included for your convenience.

A variant of a safe victory

Final No. 67, but there are more winning performers. And it’s not even because teams win once in a while. The year 1969 was a sensation, when thanks to the same number of points from the jury, four singers won (Great Britain, Spain, the Netherlands and France), increasing the statistical effectiveness of soloists at Eurovision. Such a case never happened again after that, but in terms of frequency, Eurovision has so far been won most often by women. In recent years some magical power seems to care about parity of gender equality, making it alternate between singers and female singers.

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Once in a while a band will appear like a comet that will win the hearts of European audiences – ABBA set this trend back in 1974, and over the next few years, by 1981 or so, quartets, or at least triple backing singers, were seen to be gaining more favour. Later, however, it was again individual performers who had a better chance of success. Basically, nearly half of the winners are singers – music groups account for less than 15 percent, soloists – about 16 percent, and duets – less than 9 percent. award-winning performances.

The winners of 2021 and 2022, i.e. the Italian band Maneskin and the Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra, show a turn towards the group tendency and the need for community – in the case of feisty Italians it was associated with youthful rebellion, in the case of musically proficient and very interspecies Ukrainians it was definitely about a sense of support and mutual concern in the face of aggressive military conflict.

In the light of the data, the reflection on the winners’ hair colors is surprising – it turns out that contrary to Hollywood stereotypes Europeans like dark-haired performers the most. Out of about 70 people, nearly 45 of them are dark-haired, brown-haired, brown-haired and brown-haired. Blondes and blondes are much less likely to win the top spot, and redheads won during Ireland’s golden streak in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

What and how to sing?

Now that we know that it’s statistically most profitable to perform solo and have dark hair at Eurovision, it’s time to move on to the main issue: what and how to sing about. The basic thing is, of course, a good voice and the ability to hit the notes, although there are exceptions to this rule, which assume a minimum of embracing musical harmony for charisma and stage personality.

When it comes to language issues, the statistics clearly show that it is best to bet on the message in English – in recent years, this has been the case with as many as 33 winning songs. In second place is the French language, which has been dethroned in its universal character. An interesting fact is that for the last time a song in this beautiful language won Eurovision, when Switzerland was represented by young Celine Dion. It was 1988, and she herself was a brunette with a perm at the time. Since then, the advantage of English has definitely grown. We will discuss exceptions to this linguistic rule later.

What to sing about? Here the answer is simple: preferably about love in every possible form. Lyrics about unhappy love, broken hearts, texts about youthful feelings, considering the subject of incompatibility, toxic relationships, good intentions and lack of experience are moving. On the other hand, there are paeans to fulfilled and happy love, timid confessions of feelings or texts about how overwhelming this feeling is. Similar conclusions were reached 11 years ago by the BBC, which made its own analysis of the winning lyrics, counting in addition the most popular words from the lines – “love” definitely leads the way. Additionally it is worth, for example in the chorus, to add a prolonged phrase like “oooo”, “aaaaaa”, “uuuuuu” or something like “lalalala”, “ding dong” or “boom bang” for the audience to sing along to.

Even if the words are not extremely optimistic, the melody should rather be more energetic and charismatic – this is what almost 50% of the songs sounded like. winning songs (of course, you also have to take into account that not everyone can define the character of specific melodies in the same way). The second most effective good patent for winning is pathetic, sublime and monumental work. Extremely joyful or melancholy songs are rarely rewarded extremes when it comes to victories. Maneskin with his rock’n’roll piece clearly entered the first formula, and the Kalush Orchestra cleverly combined sublimity and reverie with energetic rap insertions and folk preludes – it was a successful mix of modernity and tradition.

As for the musical side, it is worth mentioning what tigers like the most, i.e. the chance for bonuses. It is to the performer’s advantage that he can play an attractive instrument and he presents it during his Eurovision show. The most noble looks with the piano, a lot of chic is also added by the violin, in the worst case, you can bet on the guitar. However, one should avoid tagging the playing of the instrument – falsehood can be seen, the audience does not like it.

The last element of a safe victory are costumes. Here, less is more – the price includes costumes in pastel, white, beige or simple colors from the opposite shore: dark navy blue or black. Generally: nothing too provocative.

EUROVISION IN STATISTICSEUROVISION IN STATISTICS Gazeta.pl

Eurovision is governed by its own rules – once in a while you need a dose of madness. And just as after a long string of romantic chansons, ABBA appeared on the stage with glam rock costumes and a conductor dressed as Napoleon, so the contest still happens to be won by a colorful bird with a catchy piece (in the last 20 years, quite often). However, it is important to remember that even if you choose to be extravagant, you cannot overdo it.

In this case, the color of the hair is not important (Michał Wiśniewski really did a good job) – it is better to bet on a musical group instead of a soloist. He is very helpful not very complicated, but expressive dance arrangement with funny movements. The text may be about love, but it is also worth considering social activism and singing about the current problem consuming most of the continent. In the package “we put everything on one card” they also work well songs sung in mixed language arrangements – you can combine your native language with English, but a piece only in the national language or in English will also work.

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The scenery can be rich here, but it’s better to avoid exaggeration – viewers may not follow or understand some elements. To this day, many people wonder what a gorilla did almost a decade ago during the performance of the Italians on stage. At Eurovision (and regardless of the variant) more than sex appeal sells an original idea within the limits of common man’s reason (Conchita Wurst, Lordi) or youthful innocence (Salvador Sobral, Alexander Rybak, Duncan Laurence).

It is also good to intertwine popular music with elements of folk music, but in a proportion that allows it to be considered something contemporary. Colorful costumes will work; and if we do not want to go for folk or military motifs, it is worth thinking about sequins, glitter or other artificial crystals. Practice shows that winners have well-planned outfits.

With all this, keep in mind that no calculation can replace a performer with a good voice, or the fact that the audience will know that a given song does not suit someone. And sometimes we can all just be surprised that it’s not the coolest song that wins, but one that is neutral and technically correct. There is no denying that there is nothing more boring then – after all, we all want the most interesting memories! We will find out who will take the gold this year on Saturday evening. Look for live coverage and the latest news from Eurovision on Gazeta.pl.

Source: Gazeta

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