Eurovision 2016

6:52 PM

Last weekend, I used the power of the internet to watch the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time. It was amazing. If you're not familiar with the concept, Eurovision is an annual song contest in which each country in Europe (and a few from other places) sends a singer or band to perform a song in front of an audience and a panel of judges. It's broadcast live, without commercials, all over the world. Here are a few facts you should know based on my own confusion and my favorite performances of the weekend!

1) Eurovision is self-deprecating:

If you just hear the songs out of context, it seems like this is just super cheesy. But when you realize that everyone is in on the joke, it becomes a lot more charming. Look no further than the song the hosts performed while the phone lines were open for votes - they create the perfect Eurovision song!

2) The voting is slightly complicated.

50% of the final vote is based on audience calls/texts, 50% is based on a professional jury from each country. Where it gets complicated is the vote breakdown. Audience votes are given out by country, with 12 votes going to the most popular, 10 to the second most popular, and the next 8 given 8-1 points. The same goes for the professional juries.

Look at the final results here - it's quite interesting.

3) Voting can be seen as political.

Russia is upset because its song got the most audience votes, but wasn't popular enough with the professional jury to win. Here are some news stories on the outrage from The Guardian and Deutsche Welle

Additionally, the votes are public, so some countries may vote for their friends to avoid conflict.

4) Songs can be political, too.

The winner, Ukraine's Jamala, sang a song about her family's treatment under the Soviet Union, which many saw as a commentary on the Russian occupation of Crimea. She starts singing at the 2:30 mark in the video below.

Here's a Deutsche Welle post about the political nature of this year's contest.