KALUSH ORCHESTRA are the winners of Eurovision 2002!
Ukraine take their third title!
In a way, there was a certain inevitability about the final result to come out of Turin and winning the televote by a landslide was a huge boost for this nation. TWENTY-EIGHT top marks from the public of the 40 nations who were voting with the lowest score being an 8. Solidarity across borders and a small message from each voter of the support for Ukraine, through a vote for KALUSH ORCHESTRA. When those 439 televotes were announced for Ukraine, it was obvious that none of Serbia, Sweden or UK were going to have a big enough slice of what was left to challenge for the top spot again - 4th place and 91 points behind the UK's Sam Ryder after the Jury vote was close enough. Personally I had Ukraine as my #7 after their performance in the televised Final but I have seen the staging so many times now that some of that initial impact has long gone. The winning moment itself was truly emotional for everyone and especially any Ukrainians watching from wherever they were in the world - I do not begrudge this nation their moment through the wonder and beauty of the Eurovision Song Contest. Where next year's Contest will be staged is anyone's guess at the moment...
Sixth...Twelfth...Seventh - not quite Johnny Logan but all their own performances and the other televote wow of 2022. Zdob şi Zdub & Advahov Brothers appeared after that group of four slow songs in the middle of the Contest and blasted the Turin crowd apart with their polka, their "Hey Ho, Let's Go" and their wonderfully fun attitude to life. That in turn transmitted itself to the televoters and the second best public score was theirs - seventh overall was a brilliant result (the third highest placing for Moldova ever, along with the second) and if we never see ZSZ again at Eurovision, at least we have three incredible performances to remember and some of the biggest earworms too! Well done guys, you did indeed bring the most enjoyable song to Turin...
Winner of the Marcel Bezençon Press Award (first time a UK artist has won any of those), the Jury Winner at Eurovision 2022 and the first UK artist for at least eleven years that has kept us interested in the voting process from beginning to end!
Both run throughs of "SPACE MAN" were truly amazing and yet I feel that Sam sung within himself just to be sure that the performances were perfect. Having heard him go for it a few times now live, even that consideration shows what a true professional he is. The opening shot and sound of a small lit area by his feet, showing the insignificance of him against space itself, was beautiful and set up the whole performance - lights up and the star himself just shows off his charisma and that voice lets rip. Even the cages that mimicked the surrounds for a rocket before it sets off (yes, it took my partner Ellen to say that to me last night to actually make me realise that is what they were) and then dropping to the floor (well done stage hands for doing that and not really being noticed on screen) gave the long shots that contrasted with those close-ups of Sam. That guitar solo worked too and set up the quiet close - all together a wonderful staging. Was that really the UK performing?
Yes it was and the 12s came rolling in, plus lots of high marks too - top of the leaderboard for us after the Jury votes was on a believability level as North Macedonian fans must have had in Tel Aviv.
We all suspected that maybe it wasn't going to be enough to win but finish SECOND? I didn't expect that to happen but I'll take it! 16 times now - so much praise not only for Sam but also for TaP Music and the BBC for effectively approaching one of the biggest artists in the TikTok world and making that work for Sam, for Eurovision and especially the UK Eurovision fans who have gone so long without a strong entry to support. Well done to the UK delegation too and it has been a pleasure to be part of the UK accredited press team too.
Best result for us in the 21st Century, highest finish since 1998, and of course our biggest points total ever.
Onwards and upwards for the UK now - it is how we move on from here that matters, hopefully not another false dawn...
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The seven acts above are, for me at least, the big winners of Eurovision 2022
The other 33 of course have made it to Turin, have performed their entry to the world and increased their exposure to national and international markets in a way that they could only dream of, so well done to all of them too.
I have enjoyed reporting on all the artists, their entries and staging all through the fortnight for the third time. As I stayed in the UK as accredited press for the UK (thank you to Lucy Waller for that privilege again after Rotterdam 2021), I did not experience Turin personally, instead watching all the rehearsals and Meet & Greets, plus all the Jury/Public shows via the livestream of the Online Press Centre. The mood was distinctly very relaxed and I got the feeling that is the Italian way - I had no issue with that and any problems that happened with the Press Centre were quickly resolved. Yes, that black arch will be the one thing that sticks in the mind of most Eurovision fans and definitely a few delegations, but in the end it did not ruin anything as far as viewers were concerned.
We still had a Contest that worked, we still had a spectacle over a week's worth of shows and I still had loads of material to be able to write plenty of articles and produce several radio shows!
I suspect that most Italians will go back to Sanremo being the musical highlight of their year but so what? At least Italy has had its reward for being one of the strongest nations at Eurovision over the past ten years - thank you RAI and thank you Turin for 2022.
That is why Ukraine winning Eurovision 2022 is such a big deal - the band have represented their nation in a time of crisis that most of us will never fully understand and hopefully will not have to ever experience.
The one truth is that 631 points for "Stefania" was enough for Ukraine to claim their third ever Eurovision victory.
Congratulations to KALUSH ORCHESTRA on their win in Turin!
Hopefully Eurovision 2023 will give them their chance to host in peace and normality.