Experts in the field of show business noted that in terms of organizing events and staggering performances of both participants and invited guests, the EUROVISION-2019 competition can rightfully be called the best in the history of its 65-year existence. However, it was not without some scandals. The review will acquaint with the brightest moments of the competition held in Israel.
1. Ukrainian teams refused to participate in the competition for financial and political reasons
After the national selection of participants applying for the right to represent Ukraine at the prestigious EUROVISION 2019 competition was held in Kiev at the beginning of 2019, a real scandal erupted. The first place was taken by the performer Maruv with the English-language "Song of the Siren", accompanied by a scandalous-sexual number. But representatives of the National Public TV and Radio Company of Ukraine (hereinafter - NOTU) immediately put forward the following conditions for the singer: in order to go to Israel to represent the country, she must refuse all tours on the territory of the Russian Federation. And then the singer refused to go to EUROVISION. After her refusal, NOTU was offered to represent the country on the same conditions to the teams that took the 2nd, 3rd and 4th places, but they all also refused, expressing solidarity, or, perhaps, like Maruv, deciding that the royalties from the tour in Russia are a tit in hands.
2. France was represented by a 19-year-old androgyne - a guy named Bilal Assani
The rising star of the French scene Bilal Assani cannot help but believe in the magic of numbers - he was born on 9.09.1999. Both of his parents are from Morocco, but Bilal was born in France. The young singer writes on his Instagram page: “When I went to school, I began to hear all the time something like:“you are too gay”,“you are too Arab”,“you are not courageous enough”. But I didn't really care. I had only one dream - to sing on stage. And I did it”. At the competition, Bilal presented the song "Queen", and a very plump dancer and a deaf dancer performed with him on the stage. These are not actors, but real people - bloggers. The song tells that you cannot give up if you are judged by your appearance, you need to go all the way to your dream, since nothing is impossible. Rumor has it that Assani did not take a very high place, as he once expressed himself politically incorrectly on social networks on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
3. Sergey Lazarev took 3rd place and said that he would not participate in the competition anymore
Sergey Lazarev, a representative of Russia, had one of the most spectacular numbers of the competition (if not the most). On the stage, several sections with mirrors, as if by magic, turned into monitors and … back into mirrors !!! Ironically, the singer took the honorable third place twice (last time - in 2016). It is interesting that the jury's vote would not have allowed Sergei to rise above 10-12 places, and as soon as the results of the audience vote were announced, Lazarev firmly took the third line. After the final, the singer announced that he did not want to perform at this competition anymore. “The main thing here is to stop in time. First, I don't want to bore you. Secondly, some kind of negative will come out here now. You just have to come here as a guest, this is how Verka Serduchka arrives. So I hope that next time I will be invited as a guest,”Sergey Lazarev told reporters.
4. Iceland struck with a bright number from the HATARI collective - the gay version of Rammstein
HATARI themselves describe themselves as "an anti-capitalist group of BDSM techno performers" and "a political multimedia project designed to expose all the rubbish that surrounds us every day." The project participants argue that the group's main goal is to dismantle capitalism. At the competition they presented the song "Hatred", the main message of which is that hatred will destroy everything if we don’t change our minds right now. In the member's profile, the group writes about themselves: “We cannot change everything, but we can throw off the veil from our society. We can dance here shoulder to shoulder and shout about our importance. Dance or die. We want to oppose despotism. " In its style, the band is very similar to the manner of performance of the cult German band RAMMSTЕIN, however, HATARI also clearly has notes of techno. Participants of the project dress on stage in scandalous clothes in the spirit of BDSM. Their performance is truly unforgettable. An interesting fact: although many find the group's image defiant and even intimidating, they are incredibly popular with children in Europe.
5. A cascade number with participants from previous years - the pearl of the show
The cascading act featuring iconic members of yesteryear was named the best of the show in three days by critics. Its principle was as follows. The winner in 2014, the drag diva from Austria Conchita Wurst sang the song “Heroes” by the Swedish singer Mons, which won in 2015. Then Mons took over the baton and sang the song of the participant of EUROVISION-2018 from Cyprus Elena Fureira. Then Fureira performed the famous "Lasha Tumbai" by Verka Serduchka, who took 2nd place in 2007, and Serduchka finished off the hit that won the competition last year - the incendiary "Toy" by the Israeli charismatic singer Netta. Then the Israeli pop star joined everyone, and they sang the all-time hit "Hallelujah" by five of them.
Verka Serduchka has not shown herself to the world community in her good old fashion for a long time. Therefore, her appearance became a real sensation. The highlight of the issue was Verka's violent reaction, when the Israeli presenter, who quietly crept up during the applause, put his head on her shoulder.
6. Madonna became the headliner of the final concert
Louise Ciccone, known all over the world under her stage name Madonna, has rightfully become the most famous female singer of all time. When you look at this fiery lady, you just can't believe that she is already 60 years old. At EUROVISION 2019, Madonna amazed many. First, the way she behaved during the interviews in the participants' waiting room. She looked like a real "girl from our yard". No pathos, simple speech, slang, absolute equality with the Israeli leading interviewer, light kissing at the end, after the interview. Secondly, the singer's physical form and state of her face in no way betrayed her age! On stage, she presented two compositions - one of her early works "Like a Prayer" and a completely new track "Future". Her new image, like the new album, is called Madame X. According to the image, she wears a glamorous black bandage over one eye, and the robe is a cross between the vestments of a pirate and a priest.
7. Iconic fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier became a guest of the show
The iconic French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier has long been partial to the main European song contest. This year, he not only provided costumes for the queen of the Israeli pop scene, Dana International, who won the competition in 1998, and for his longtime ward Madonna, who was headlining the final of the competition, but also commented on the competition for French TV broadcasters. “I have been watching Eurovision since childhood and it is a great pleasure for me to comment on this competition,” the fashion designer admitted.
8. The Belarusian jury was disqualified before the final and did not participate in the voting
The Belarusian jury of EUROVISION was disqualified before the final of the competition. The reason was an interview with the TUT. BY portal, in which the representatives of Belarus told who they voted for in the first semi-final, which for centuries has been contrary to the rules of the competition, which stipulate that the results of the semi-finals are not made public until the end of the final. As a result, TV viewers became the majority of those who voted from Belarus. But not only they sent Belarusian points to Israel. The fact is that especially for such cases, if this or that country is disqualified before the final vote, then the fate of the points will be decided by a special “voting basket”. This time, points from such countries as Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia were summed up in the reserve basket of Belarus. They were announced as the Belarusian presenter.
9. The winning singer from Holland hid his orientation for the sake of victory
A participant from Holland, Duncan Lawrence, on the eve of the final of the competition, admitted in an interview that he is bisexual. He said this as if by chance, listing his main qualities. However, the World Wide Web was immediately flooded with posts that the singer was a little deceitful. Tweets rained down: “Yeah, he decided to downplay it a bit!”, “He's not bisexual, he's gay, everyone knows about it here!” who are its main audience”. Various sources also report that the young man was simply strictly forbidden to talk about his homosexuality by his producers until the end of the final of the competition.
10. Russian producer Drobysh disgraced due to homophobic statements that incite genocide
A real shock and bolt from the blue was the post of Viktor Drobysh, in which he argued that if this competition was held in Brunei, where the death penalty for same-sex relationships was recently introduced, then show business would finally be cleansed. It's strange to hear such savagery in 2019. It is not surprising that later he spoke about the impeccability of his colleague in the workshop Sergei Lazarev, whom this statement, to put it mildly, directly affected. Eurobroadcast representatives asked the producer to delete the recording, which he did, but they managed to screen it all over the world.
“He thought a little shortsightedly, he is now producing a singer from Belarus who performs at a competition where, in fact, it is a celebration of gay culture. All the blogs of the European Union immediately reacted to this joke, and immediately the girl, from nothing undeservedly from the favorites of the competition, dropped to the last place only because the producer of such a homophobe turned out to be,”Philip Kirkorov said in an audio interview with Ksenia Sobchak. The king of the Russian stage, however, was thinking too narrowly in this case. As representatives of the Belarusian diaspora in Sweden told the author of Novate. Ru, the Europeans did not vote for Belarus in principle because of Drobysh's statements.
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