Recap / Eurovision Song Contest 2023

United by Music

The 2023 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the M&S Bank Arena^note informally known as the "Liverpool Arena" for branding reasons in Liverpool, England, United Kingdom from 9 May 2023 to 13 May 2023, following Ukraine's win in Turin the previous year with "Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra. Due to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war, however, it was decided that Ukraine would not be able to host the following year's edition as most reigning winners do, and the United Kingdom (who'd finished second with "Space Man" by Sam Ryder) stepped in to host on Ukraine's behalf. This was the UK's ninth time hosting the contest, and the fifth time they hosted it instead of the previous winner.

The three live shows were hosted by actress Hannah Waddingham, singer/rapper/television personality Alesha Dixon, and Ukranian singer Julia Sanina, with comedian (and regular UK commentator) Graham Norton pulling double duty alongside them for the final. The branding for this edition, "United by Music", reflects the contest's dual Ukraine/UK hosting and incorporates colors from both their flags in the visual design, as well as a riff on the iconic Eurovision heart logo.

37 countries competed in this edition, with North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Bulgaria all dropping out from the previous year due to their respective financial difficulties. As with the preceding post-COVID editions of the contest, prerecorded vocals are allowed for live performances. This edition also allowed non-participating countries to vote for the first time in Eurovision history, with those points being presented as catch-all "Rest of the World" tally alongside the 37 participating nations.

The edition was eventually won by returning Baku 2012 winner Loreen of Sweden with the soaring anthem "Tattoo," making history both for Sweden, which now ties Ireland for most victories at seven, as well as on a personal level, being just the second returning winner (after Johnny Logan of Ireland, in The Hague 1980 and Brussels 1987) to go for a double and the first woman to do so, and the second jury leader in the split-results era to take the trophy (after Portugal 2017).

Entries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023

1. Albania — Albina & Familja Kelmendi, "Duje" ^note "Love it"
2. Armenia — Brunette, "Future Lover"
3. Australia — Voyager, "Promise"
4. Austria — Teya & Salena, "Who the Hell is Edgar?"
5. Azerbaijan — TuralTuranX, "Tell Me More"
6. Belgium — Gustaph, "Because of You"
7. Croatia — Let 3, "Mama SČ!" ^note "Mama shh!"
8. Czechia — Vesna, "My Sister's Crown"
9. Denmark — Reiley, "Breaking My Heart"
10. Cyprus — Andrew Lambrou, "Break a Broken Heart"
11. Estonia — Alika, "Bridges"
12. Finland — Käärija, "Cha Cha Cha"
13. France — La Zarra, "Évidemment" ^note "Evidently"
14. Georgia — Iru, "Echo"
15. Germany — Lord of the Lost, "Blood & Glitter"
16. Greece — Victor Vernicos, "What They Say"
17. Iceland — Diljá, "Power"
18. Ireland – Wild Youth, "We Are One"
19. Israel — Noa Kirel, "Unicorn"
20. Italy — Marco Mengoni, "Due Vite" ^note "Two Lives"
21. Latvia — Sudden Lights, "Aijā" ^note "Lullaby"
22. Lithuania — Monika Linkytė, "Stay"
23. Malta — The Busker, "Dance (Our Own Party)"
24. Moldova — Pasha Parfeni, "Soarele şi Luna" ^note "The Sun and the Moon"
25. Netherlands — Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper, "Burning Daylight"
26. Norway — Alessandra, "Queen of Kings"
27. Poland — Blanka, "Solo"
28. Portugal — Mimicat, "Ai coraçao" ^note "Oh heart"
29. Romania — Theodor Andrei, "D.G.T. (Off & On)"
30. San Marino — Piqued Jacks, "Like an Animal"
31. Serbia — Luke Black, "Samo mi se spava" ^note ""I just want to sleep"
32. Slovenia — Joker Out, "Carpe Diem"
33. Spain — Blanca Paloma, "Eaea"
34. Sweden — Loreen, "Tattoo"
35. Switzerland — Remo Forrer, "Watergun"
36. Ukraine — Tvorchi, "Heart of Steel"
37. United Kingdom — Mae Muller, "I Wrote a Song"

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Tropes seen during this year's contest include:

• The Ace:
  • Returning Baku 2012 winner Loreen of Sweden is largely seen as a high favourite by the bookies before she ever set foot in Liverpool. True to form, she wins for the second time, becoming just the second two-time winner after Johnny Logan of Ireland and the first woman to do so, as well as matching Ireland's record amount of overall contest wins (7).
  • Italy continues its streak of top-ten placements since Kyiv 2017, with Marco Mengoni's emotional ballad "Due vite" placing fourth, in the process improving on his seventh-place finish from Malmö 2013.
  • Last year's winner Ukraine also continue their top-ten streak with Tvorchi managing to snag sixth-place with "Heart of Steel".
  • Australia's final entry under their current contract, Voyager, would finish in ninth place with "Promise". This gives Australia its fifth top-ten result in the contest out of the eight contests it was participated in since debuting in 2015.
• All Issues Are Political Issues: Downplayed from the previous year, but still present given Ukraine's inability to host this edition due to the ongoing Russian invasion. Some songs are also considered to indirectly reference the conflict—for example, Croatia's "Mama ŠČ!" by Let 3 is, on paper, a satire on strongmen and feature the mustachioed singers dressed in military caps and gaudily-painted trench coats before stripping down to their underwear, which some interpreted as a subtle Take That! to Vladimir Putin and his perceived emphasis on hypermasculinity, whilst Czechia's "My Sister's Crown" by Vesna has lines sung in Ukrainian in a show of solidarity with their near-neigbours.
• Angry Fist-Shake / Fist Pump: Used in Czechia's "My Sister's Crown" in a couple of ways. The background had hands repeatedly grasping at the screen and sometimes beating a fist against it, as well as a single hand (during the song's bridge) performing the Signal for Help before closing into a raised fist. The members of Vesna also raised their fists in solidarity at the end of the song.
• Ascended Extra: Belgium's Stef "Gustaph" Caers emerges as a solo performer for his country, after previously singing backup for Sennek in Lisbon 2018 and Hooverphonic in Rotterdam 2021.
• Ascended Meme: Poland's Blanka Stajkow was frequently referred to as "Bejba" during the pre-parties due to the way she pronounced the word "baby." Her team embraced the meme, and not only did Blanka wear a rhinestoned "Bejba" headband during her appearance at The Voice Kids Poland, she arrived at the Turquoise Carpet in a green gown with "Bejba" emblazoned on the train.
• Audience Participation Song:
  • Serbia, though unintentionally. See This Is for Emphasis, Bitch! for further context:
    Luke Black: Hello? Game over.
    Audience: ...BITCH!
  • During Finland's performance, the audience could be heard chanting the song's hook. VERY loudly.
    CHA-CHA-CHA-CHA-CHA-CHA-CHAAAAAAA!
  • Just like with Finland, the audience could be heard chanting the song's hook during Austria's performance.
    Poe, poe, poe-poe-poe poe, poe, poe-poe-poe, poe, poe, poe-poe-poe poe, Edgar Allan, Edgar Allan Poe, poe, poe-poe-poe, poe, poe, poe-poe-poe...
• Band of Relatives: Albania's Familja Kelmendi is comprised of lead vocalist Albina and her actual family, specifically her parents, two sisters, and brother.
• Body Motifs: In a curious coincidence, four songs mention the word "heart" in their title: Denmark's "Breaking My Heart", Cyprus's "Break a Broken Heart", Portugal's "Ai coração" ("Oh Heart") and Ukraine's "Heart of Steel"—the former three referencing Cardiovascular Love, the latter providing a symbol for the resilience of the Ukrainian people. Additionally, there's the song "Blood and Glitter" for Germany, Azerbaijan's TuralTuranX perform on top of a broken heart-shaped platform, and the stage costume of Spain's Blanca Paloma is meant to symbolize a large red heart on her chest. This led many to joke that those artists actually intended to apply for the other ESC, the European Society of Cardiology.
• Bookends: Both the first and last competing songs performed in the Grand Final — respectively, Austria's "Who the Hell Is Edgar?" and the UK's "I Wrote a Song" — talk about songwriting.
  "Who the Hell Is Edgar?", first line: Oh my God, you're such a good writer.
  "I Wrote a Song", last line: Instead I wrote a song.
• Britain Is Only London: Overall averted, with not only the contest taking place in Liverpool but also the postcards showcasing many different locations from throughout the entire United Kingdom. Ultimately played straight with the UK's own postcard which showed Mae Muller prancing in London along the River Thames, but justified since it's her actual hometown. Malta were the only postcard aside from Mae’s whose U.K. section was set in London (8 were set in the Liverpool local area, 5 in Wales, and 6 on the south coast, counting the 2 set in Cornwall).
• The Bus Came Back: As with most editions of the contest, 2023 saw the return of several performers (six in this instance) from years past:
  • Sweden's Loreen is the most notable returnee, having won Baku 2012 with "Euphoria", which is still widely considered one of the best (if not the best) and most impactful winning songs of contemporary Eurovision.
  • Moldova's Pasha Parfeni, also from Baku 2012, returns for a second time as the main performer, and third^note he wrote Moldova's 2013 entry, "O Mie" by Aliona Moon, and accompanied her on stage at the piano as a composer.
  • Italy's Marco Mengoni returns exactly ten years after finishing seventh with "L'essenziale" in Malmö 2013.
  • Lithuania's Monika Linkytė, who competed alongside Vaidas Baumila with the duet "This Time" in Vienna 2015, returns as a soloist.
  • Belgium's aforementioned Gustaph, competing as main performer after previously singing backup for Sennek in 2018 and Hooverphonic in 2021.
  • Georgia's Iru makes her debut in the adult contest here, but she previously won Junior Eurovision as a member of Candy in 2011.
  • Although not returning as a competing performer, Duncan Laurence, winner of Tel Aviv 2019 for The Netherlands, is a credited songwriter of their entry for this year, "Burning Daylight" by Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper.
  • The contest is this for Australia's and Cyprus's entrants; Voyager and Andrew Lambrou both competed to represent Australia in 2022's contest. The former would narrowly lose to winner Sheldon Riley while the latter came seventh.
  • Not as competitors, but several Ukrainian past representatives came back with their own songs to provide accompaniment to the Grand Final's opening Flag Parade: Go_A with "Shum" (5th, Rotterdam 2021), Jamala with "1944" (winner, Stockholm 2016), Tina Karol with "Show Me Your Love" (7th, Athens 2006) and Verka Serduchka with "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" (runner-up, Helsinki 2007).
  • A meta example with the announcement that Luxembourg (whose last participation was the 1993 edition) would be returning in 2024, revealed just a day before the final.
• Call-Back: Some commenters noted the similarities between Voyager's staging and Guy Sebastian's staging in 2015, the first year Australia competed in Eurovision. Both used noir-ish road backdrops with a predominantly red color palette. This gets close to being Bookends because 2023 was the last year of Australia's contract to participate in Eurovision, and there was uncertainty as to whether or not they would renew it.
• The Cameo:
  • The first semifinal begins with a video showing the common folk of Liverpool making preparations to host the contest, featuring cameos from actor Ricky Tomlinson (of Brookside fame, one of the earliest British soap operas, primarily set in Liverpool) and famous locals such as the late comedian Paul O'Grady and celebrity chef Paul Hollywood (of The Great British Bake Off fame), as well as Ukrainians such as dancer Nikita Kuzmin, of Strictly Come Dancing fame, and footballer Vitaliy Mykolenko, defender for both his national team and Everton F.C., one of Liverpool's two English Premier League teams, hanging his national flag on the stands of his club's home turf Goodison Park. The video culminates with a surprise appearance of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla of the United Kingdom, newly-crowned the Saturday before Eurovision week and who presided with the unveiling of the stage a few weeks earlier, being taken by surprise as Subwoolfer walk past them backstage.^note Subwoolfer's appearance also serves as a nod to the fact that one half of its duo is British-born Ben Adams of British-Norwegian boy band A1.
  • Some interval skits brought back (in)famous past contestants such as Bucks Fizz (winners, Dublin 1981), Scooch (22nd, Helsinki 2007), Subwoolfer (Norway, 10th, Turin 2022), and Ireland's favourite talking fowl Dustin the Turkey (15th in the Semifinal, Belgrade 2008). The Grand Final also featured a brief interview with Jan Leeming, host of the 1982 edition in Harrogate.
  • Leading the Eurovision conga line in the second semifinal are the aforementioned Scooch and, of all people, Peppa Pig. No, really. We're very serious about this.
  • The opening video for the Grand Final features Kalush Orchestra singing "Stefania" interspersed with Britons joining in, such as last year's runner-up Sam Ryder on guitar, Andrew Lloyd Webber on piano^note Webber also has a Eurovision connection by way of having written "It's My Time" for Jade Ewen (fifth, Moscow 2009), and even Catherine, Princess of Wales, on piano from Windsor Castle.
  • Various past entrants and other celebrities appear as jury spokespeople in the final, with the most notable names including Arpine "Maléna" Martoyan of Armenia (winner, Paris 2021 Juniors), Catherine Martin of Australia (designer and four-time Academy Award winner, the most decorated Australian to date), Tina Müller of Denmark (presenter of the 2021 and 2022 editions of national selection show Dansk Melodi Grand Prix), Ragnar Klavan of Estonia (footballer, formerly of Liverpool F.C.), Essi Miia "Bess" Marianna of Finland (third-placer at the 2022 edition of national election show Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu [UMK]), Anggun Cipta Sasmi of France (twenty-second, Baku 2012), Circus Mircus member Archil Sulakvelidze of Georgia (semifinalist, Turin 2022), Hatari drummer Einar Stefánsson of Iceland (tenth, Tel Aviv 2019), Niamh Kavanagh of Ireland (winner, Millstreet 1993), Hanna "Ilanit" Dresner-Tzakh, the first Eurovision contestant of Israel (fourth, Luxembourg 1973; eleventh, Luxembourg 1984), Citi Zēni vocalist Jānis Pētersons of Latvia (semifinalist, Turin 2022), Monika Liu of Lithuania (fourteenth, Turin 2022), Stien "S10" den Hollander of the Netherlands (eleventh, Turin 2022), Subwoolfer vocalist Ben Adams of Norway (tenth, Turin 2022), Ida Nowakowska of Poland (presenter of Gliwice 2019 and Warsaw 2020 Juniors), Mariana "Maro" Brito da Cruz Forjaz Secca of Portugal (ninth, Turin 2022), John Kennedy O'Connor of San Marino (British-born American broadcaster, author, and expert on Eurovision studies), Ruth Lorenzo Pascual of Spain (tenth, Copenhagen 2014), Farah Abadi of Sweden (presenter of both the 2022 and 2023 editions of national selection show Melodifestivalen), Zlata Ognevich of Ukraine (third, Malmö 2013, and presenter of Kyiv 2013 Juniors), and Catherine Tate of the United Kingdom (actress and comedian).
• The Cover Changes the Gender: Averted with Daði Freyr's cover of Atomic Kitten's "Whole Again" which retains the second verse's line "If you see me with another man".
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Loreen's "Tattoo" from Sweden won the jury vote, to no one's surprise. To be more specific, she beat Israel's "Unicorn" by Noa Kirei by almost twice their amount (340 to 177).
  • Also to no one's surprise, Finland's "Cha Cha Cha" by Käärijä steamrolled the public vote with 376, outdoing Loreen's 243 points by 133 points.
• Defiant to the End: Knowing it would inevitably be a two-horse race, the Finnish televote didn't give Sweden any points at all, even though their jury gave them 12, and 12 went the other way. In fact, Finland was the only country that didn't give Sweden any televote points.
• Denser and Wackier: Following a trend seen in 2022, this edition features plenty of outlandish and unusual entries that are comparable to those of the 2000s (perhaps encouraged by the return of the 100% televote semifinals from that era) most notably led by Croatia's wacky anti-war acid trip "Mama ŠČ!" but also including Austria's Edgar Allan Poe-themed music industry satire "Who the Hell is Edgar?", Serbia's gloomy animesque glitch pop "Samo mi se spava", Finland's neon-colored Genre-Busting rap rock/hyperpop party banger "Cha Cha Cha", and Germany's glam rock anthem "Blood & Glitter".
• Did Not See That Coming: During the jury points presentation, when Greece gave Cyprus only 4 points instead of 12 as it usually goes, the entire audience could be heard gasping.
• Discretion Shot: This year's "postcards"^note A short clip, about forty seconds in length, made to give TV viewers something to look at while the stage is being prepared for the next contestant, at the same time introducing the act in question begins with a fish-lens view of a landmark from Ukraine, followed by that from the United Kingdom, and then from the participating country, where the entrant(s) are shown having fun and engaging in various activities. Keeping with the edition's slogan, "United by Music", all three locations per postcard share a theme, such as libraries, monuments, beaches, etc.
• Down to the Last Play: Whereas Sweden and Finland respectively won the jury and televote points (with, respectively, 340 and 376 points, with Finland even scoring better in its dominant bloc), Sweden ultimately prevailed because it fared better with televoters (second with 243) than Finland did with juries (fourth with 150).
• Earthy Barefoot Character:
  • The stage show for Sweden's song "Tattoo" is an extended homage to Loreen's Amazigh heritage, including the desert-like visuals and the projections of Tifinagh letters, and her lack of shoes further emphasises her connection to the land.
  • The same goes for Pasha Parfeni of Moldova, whose song "Soarele și luna" and the relative staging were inspired by ancient nature rituals from Romanian and Moldovan folklore.
• Eiffel Tower Effect:
  • Played With in the case of France's entry "Évidemment". The song is exquisitely French chanson mixed with disco, retreading old ground after last year's effort "Fulenn" didn't pay dividends, and it even concludes with a giant French tricolore lighting up behind La Zarra. The "played with" aspect comes from the fact that La Zarra herself isn't French but Québécoise, and part of the song's lyrics are an outright commentary on her appropriateness as the representative of the notoriously proud French people.
    Je suis nue devant vous^note I am laid bare in front of you
    Donnez-moi donc une chance^note Please give me a chance [...]
    Ai-je réussi à chanter^note Was I able to sing
    À chanter la Grande France?^note To sing Great France?
  • Played completely straight during the Jury Vote announcements when France's spokesperson, Anggun Samsi from Baku 2012, was standing in front of a projection of the Eiffel Tower.
• Epic Fail:
  • A year after Sam Ryder led them to a respectable second, hosts United Kingdom returns to its underwhelming ways with Mae Muller scoring 25th. Bad as it was, however, she can at the very least take small consolation with the fact that she was barely kept from the bottom by Germany, represented this year by glam rock band Lord of the Lost, bombing for the second consecutive year.
  • Of all the 11 songs that failed to qualify, the smallest number since 2014, only Georgia, Iceland and Latvia got more than 15 points, with Latvia the only non-qualifier in semi final 1 to get more than 10, whilst in semi final 2, Romania and San Marino both completely failed to get any points, just one country voted for Denmark (Iceland) and just 2 voted for Greece (Cyprus and Armenia) meaning that, in 20 lists, 17 of them had just 12 options for their top 10. In semi final 1, Ireland, Netherlands, Azerbaijan and Malta got, at best, small numbers of votes from just 2-4 countries each.
• Eliminated from the Race: Malta, Latvia, Ireland, Azerbaijan, and the Netherlands in the first semifinal, followed by Denmark, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Romania, and San Marino in the second. Notably, Azerbaijan attained their second-ever non-qualification; the Netherlands fails to make the final for the first time since Vienna 2015 after a years-long hot streak that included a victory for Duncan Laurence in Tel Aviv 2019 (ironically, he helped write this year's Dutch entry); Latvia and Georgia continue their non-qualification since Stockholm 2016; Ireland also continues its record-worthy worst qualification run in Eurovision history (with only one qualifier, "Together" by Ryan O'Shaughnessy from Lisbon 2018, within the last ten years); Greece and Romania's non-qualifications were made all the more painful by the fact that their respective close neighbours and consistent sources of televote douze points, Moldova and Cyprus, made the cut (moreso on the latter's part, as both Greece and Cyprus competed in the second semifinal); and Denmark and Iceland's non-qualification is also no less stinging considering how their other Nordic neighbours fared exceptionally well (Sweden won, Finland came a close second, and Norway rounded out the top five).
• Experienced Protagonist: While the Contest is usually used by many countries as a springboard for up-and-coming artists (with varying results), this year features many older performers who can claim a decade-long (or more) career. Notable names among them include Sweden's Loreen, Moldova's Pasha Parfeni (both returning to the contest after first competing in 2012), Germany's Lord of the Lost or Croatia's Let 3.
• Everything's Better with Rainbows: The final chorus of Käärijä's "Cha Cha Cha" has the screen pour out a massive rainbow of light, which must be seen to be believed.
• Fan Disservice: Croatia's Let 3 consists of men around 50-60 starting off wearing spoof military outfits. By the last refrain, they removed the outfits and spent the last part in nothing but tank tops and boxers. And that was Tamer and Chaster for the band's standards!
• Funny Background Event: During a skit in the Grand Final, as host Hannah Waddingham was addressing the camera while sitting in the green room, the UK's co-commentator Mel Giedroyc could be seen behind her, dressed as a milk maid from the live performance of "My Słowianie - We Are Slavic" by Donatan and Cleo of Poland (fourteenth, Copenhagen 2014) and emphatically churning butter.
• Graceful Loser: How Spain's representative Blanca Paloma reacts after receiving only 5 televote points: smiling, holding her flag, and then sending a kiss to the audience.
• Gratuitous Italian:
  • Norway's "Queen of Kings" opens with a brief moment of Italian chanting, likely as an acknowledgment of Alessandra Mele's Italian origins. The fully Italian version of the song, however, averts this.
  • Austria's "Who the Hell is Edgar?" includes some Italian in its chorus ("O mio padre^note "Oh my God, there's a ghost in my body!").
• Gratuitous Foreign Language: Czechia's "My Sister's Crown" includes lyrics in their native Czech, but also Ukrainian, English, and Bulgarian, reflecting the group's multinational identity and the song's themes of Slavic solidarity.
• Gratuitous Latin: In addition to Italian, Norway's "Queen of Kings" also includes some Ominous Latin Chanting, marking the language's second usage at Eurovision following Serbia's "In Corpore Sano" in 2022.^note The single line in Latin, "veni, vidi, vici" ("I came, I saw, I conquered") is a saying attributed to Julius Caesar which is still commonly used in Italian parlance.
• Guest Fighter: As is normally the case at Eurovision, several countries are represented by acts who are not originally from there, as the EBU does not have nationality-based restrictions on entrants (any that may exist are purely at the discretion of national broadcasters):
  • Downplayed by Norway as represented by Alessandra Mele, who was born and raised in Italy, but has been living in Norway with her Norwegian maternal grandparents for the past few years.
  • Czechia's Vesna is effectively a Multinational Team that includes three Czechs (Patricie Fuxová, Bára Šůstková, Markétka Vedralová), a Slovak (Tereza Čepková), a Bulgarian (Tanita Yankovová), and a Russian (Olesya Ochepovskaya).
  • Cyprus's Andrew Lambrou is an Australian national and finished seventh at last year's edition of its national selection show, Eurovision—Australia Decides, but claims Greek Cypriot heritage.
  • San Marino's Piqued Jacks is an Italian band who won the privilege to represent them in their extensive national selection, Una Voce per San Marino, which specifically seeks out talent from abroad.
  • France's Fatima-Zahra "La Zarra" Hafdi is a Francophone from Quebec, and France's second-ever Canadian entrant.
  • Ukraine's Tvorchi is comprised of Ukranian national Andrii Hutsuliak and Jimoh "Jeffrey" Kehinde, who is originally from Nigeria.
  • American Vogue dancer PussCee West joined Stef "Gustaph" Caers and his backing singers on stage to represent Belgium.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: Romania used to have a clean qualification streak until 2018, and since then, they've only qualified once. But this has culminated in this year, where they were one of the two countries from semi-final two to get zero points, and the only reason Romania isn't counted as being last is because Theodor Andrei performed before Piqued Jacks from San Marino, the other country to recieve zero points, and the groundbreaker rules indicate that the running order determines which country places above which if two or more get zero points.
• Keet: The members from Slovenia's Joker Out are clearly enjoying every second they have up on the stage, both in the semi-final and grand final.
• Little People Are Surreal: Moldova's "Soarele și luna" features a flute hook performed by Sergiu Borș, a musician who's a little person, adding to the mystical quality of the performance. He's actually portraying Statu-Palmă-Barbă-Cot ("Palm-tall, cubit-long-beard"), a helpful nature spirit from Romanian folklore.
• Long Hair Is Feminine: Czechia's "My Sister's Crown" has all six performers dressed up in near-identical baby-pink outfits with long braids that go all the way down to the ground. The song is about female empowerment and solidarity, and the costumes are used to underline that message.
• Lyrical Cold Open: Norway's "Queen of Kings" opens with Ominous Latin Chanting, Czechia's "My Sisters Crown" opens with very little instrumentation for its opening bars before the beat comes in and Austria's "Who The Hell Is Edgar?" goes straight into the lyrics. Armenia, Romania, Germany, Iceland, Slovenia, Belgium and Cyprus were also all-but-lyrical cold opens (Germany, Belgium and Slovenia all began with the chorus sang at a lower tempo before the first instrumentals or verses), though, in contrast with her relatively short intro for the time in 2012 winner Euphoria, only France and Switzerland had longer instrumental intros than Loreen did with Tattoo.
• Missed Him by That Much: From the semifinals, Latvia's Sudden Lights from the first one finished three points behind its tenth-placer (and hence finals qualifier) Luke Black of Serbia.
• Mondegreen: The first line in the chorus of Sweden's song "Tattoo", "No, I don't care about them all", was often misheard as "I don't care about the mall", leading many to wonder whether Loreen has a particular bone to pick with large-scale retail.
• Obvious Rule Patch: After the juries of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, and San Marino were all suspended from last year's second semifinal following allegations that they agreed to give each other points, the EBU decided that starting this year, semifinal juries will be dispensed with altogether and leave it a purely televoter affair, albeit aggregated results based on past voting patterns can be used as substitutes in the event of televote failure. In addition, viewers from non-participating nations can vote on all three shows, with their votes tallied into the "Rest of the World" voting bloc and using the traditional 1-8-, 10-, and 12-point scoring matrix.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted, although with different spelling of the first name, by Spain's Blanca Paloma and Poland's Blanka Stajkow. Some Spanish media started referring to the latter as "Blanka Polonia" ("Blanka Poland") to differentiate her from the former.
• Passing the Torch: Unlike the last two editions^note Duncan Laurence could not attend the 2021 final due to a positive COVID diagnosis, while Måneskin frontman Damiano David injured himself right before the 2022 final, this year the outgoing winners, Kalush Orchestra of Ukraine, are able to hand the trophy to the new champion, Loreen of Sweden.
• Precision F-Strike: Italy's entry contained the lyrics "E ci siamo fottuti ancora una notte", which means "we messed up" or "we screwed up one more night" (the official translation of Eurovision websites), but "ci siamo fottuti" can also mean "we fucked" in another context.
• Sexy Sax Man: Exploited by Malta in "Dance (Our Own Party)".
• Sexy Soaked Shirt: During the interval performance "The Liverpool Songbook", Cornelia Jakobs of Sweden (4th, Turin 2022) performed "I Turn to You" by Melanie C cavorting in a shallow pool of water. It didn't take long for her tank top and jeans to get completely soaked.
• Shirtless Scene:
  • Moldova's Pasha Parfeni performs "Soarele și luna" with an open shirt that shows off his impressive physique.
  • Romania's Theodor Andrei likewise opens his jacket shirt at the climax of his song "D. G. T. (Off and On)"... and gets his chest smeared in black paint by a dancer.
  • Finland's Käärijä performs "Cha Cha Cha" with only a bolero with pair of muscular sleeves covering his shoulders and arms. His chest is uncovered.
  • Downplayed by Switzerland's Remo Forrer, who does not go shirtless in his performance, but he does wear a mesh tuxedo jacket that shows off his figure from some key angles.
• Shout-Out: In celebration of host city Liverpool's strong musical heritage, one of the Grand Final's interval acts is the "Liverpool Songbook," a medley of various songs by native Liverpudlians as covered by Eurovision alumni. In order, the medley includes John Lennon's "Imagine" by Mahmood of Italy (runner-up, Tel Aviv 2019; sixth, Turin 2022), Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" by Netta of Israel (winner, Lisbon 2018), Atomic Kitten's "Whole Again" by Daði Freyr of Iceland (entrant, Rotterdam 2020; fourth, Rotterdam 2021); Melanie C's "I Turn to You" by Cornelia Jakobs of Sweden (fourth, Turin 2022), and the city's own Eurovision entry, "Better the Devil You Know" by Sonia Evans (runner-up, Millstreet 1993), before they join Tel Aviv 2019 winner Duncan Laurence of the Netherlands and Ruslana, Ukraine's first winner from Istanbul 2004 (via a pre-recorded appearance with a youth choir from the Golden Gate of Kyiv), in a moving rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone," both as a nod to its association with Liverpool F.C., the city's most decorated English Premier League team, and as a show of solidarity with Ukraine.
• Sibling Team: Azerbaijan's TuralTuranX is a duo composed of twin brothers Tural and Turan Bağmanov.
• Stock Rhymes: Belgium's "Because of You" rhymes "fire" with "higher" during the bridge, only missing "desire" to complete the infamous trifecta.
• Subdued Section: The bridge for "Cha Cha Cha" before the stage background explodes into a massive rainbow for the final chorus.
• Take That!: Austria's "Who the Hell is Edgar?" by Teya and Salena is one to the entire music industry; more specifically, the treatment of female songwriters and the peanuts music artists in general are paid per song on streaming websites like Spotify.
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  Give me two years and your dinner will be free
  Gas station champagne is on me
  Edgar cannot pay rent for me
• This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: "Game Over, bitch" features in live performances of Luke Black's "Samo mi se spava", being an (infamous) reference to the Spanish pre-party.^noteInitially believed to be a drunken ad-lib, Luke eventually confirmed on his Discord server that "bitch" was in the original lyrics but had to be edited out for TV performances. Though he was drunk when he did that part on stage. Of course, this did not stop the live audience from shouting the last word during the first semi-final and grand final, much like what happened with Latvia's "veggies and pussy" in 2022.
• Throw the Dog a Bone:
  • Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia defy the usually spotty qualification record of former Yugoslav countries and, for the first time since the introduction of semifinals, all three pass through to the Grand Final.
  • Belgium's recent track record had been middling, with two non-qualifications in Lisbon 2018 and Tel Aviv 2019 and two 19th places in Rotterdam 2021 and Turin 2022. This year's song, "Because of You" by Stef "Gustaph" Caers, was likewise seen as a weak contender when it was selected. And yet, despite the odds, a strong performance by Gustaph and his ensemble managed to land the country a very respectable seventh place in the Grand Final.
  • Daði Freyr of Iceland (entrant, Rotterdam 2020; fourth, Rottderdam 2021) finally got his chance to perform live on the Eurovision stage during the interval performance "The Liverpool Songbook" after the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and he had to substitute rehearsal footage in 2021 after a member of Gagnamagnið caught COVID-19.
  • After being bounced off from last year's semifinals (the first since Copenhagen 2014), Israel returns in style with a pop banger from Noa Kirel, finishing an impressive third.
  • Tvorchi of defending champions Ukraine finish sixth with "Heart of Steel," an uplifting song that symbolizes the resilience of the Ukrainian people and loosely based on the Siege of Mariupol. Apart from matching last year's host Italy in bucking a recent trend for mediocre-to-bad defending-champion finishes, the song's message took a whole new meaning after the electro-pop duo's hometown Ternopil was struck by Russian missiles on the day of the finals rehearsal.
• Toros y Flamenco: Subverted by Spain's entry, "Eaea" by Blanca Paloma. While the song is a modern revisitation of flamenco music, it takes its cues from cante jondo ("deep singing") which is considered the more serious and authentic version of flamenco, and it shares themes of grief and nostalgia with it. Accordingly, there are no spirited guitar players nor dancers in frilly skirts on stage.
• The Voice: Melanie "Sporty Spice" Chisholm (a native of the Liverpool-adjacent Whiston) was the announcer of this edition, mainly introducing the hosts in each show.
• "We're Live" Realization: Australia's Voyager didn't expect to get any 12 points from the jury, so when the camera turned to them when Portugal gave them 12 points, they were seen eating sandwiches. They quickly finish their bites so they can celebrate.
• Word Salad Lyrics / Engrish: Much ado has been made over the lyrics of Georgia's entry "Echo" and their meaning, especially for their creative use of the English language:
  My soul’s like a fortress, I feel I progressed
  Words getting worthless, love is a wordless
  Oh when life is loved, loved

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