From 1956 to 2019, every single vocal heard on the Eurovision Song Contest, was live on the broadcast. Due to COVID-19, this changed in 2021 so that pre-recorded backing vocals could be used, but now, the pandemic is drawing to an end, is it time to discard this new rule?
Prior to the 2021 contest, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had caused the 2020 contest to be cancelled, the European Broadcasting Union’s, Martin Österdahl announced that temporarily for just the 2021 contest, pre-recorded backing vocals would be allowed, in order to reduce delegation sizes, and help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
However, as this rule was announced before many of the songs had even been written, in itself, this rule changed the DNA of the 2021 contest. There were several religious themed songs that year, to the point of parody, all because several delegations realised they could have a choir, on the track, this year, and they all followed similar lines of thinking, ending up with religious-themed music… and even two songs called Amen.
Already in one year, it’d been shown the unintended impact the new rule could have, and a very strong argument for why it should go. However, this was not the case, as later in 2021, Martin Österdahl announced that, due to the ongoing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the new rule would remain in place for the Turin 2022 contest.
However, while we didn’t get an avalanche of religious themed songs again, as broadcasters had begun to calm down, unlike 2021, all the delegation sizes were nearly back up to their usual size, making the nature of the rule entirely null and void. Additionally, some entries such as Give That Wolf A Banana from Norway, had so much that was pre-recorded backing vocal, rather than lead-vocal, that about 70% of the song wasn’t actually live, making a mockery of having live vocals at the contest.
Additionally, many Eurovision stars have asked for this rule to be revoked. Daði Freyr was one of the most obvious users of the pre-recorded backing vocal rule, with his virtual choir, in his 2021 entry, 10 Years, being one of the most memorable uses of it, but even he has voiced annoyance with its continued inclusion in the contest.
With all this being considered, it would make sense that now, with the pandemic coming to a very clear end, throughout Europe, that the rule should be revoked for the 2023 contest, but only on Thursday 12 May, Martin Österdahl said on the matter, in a Reddit Q&A: “We evaluate after each Contest and make new decisions for the next. Overall, I think the change made for Rotterdam has proven to be positive and successful but we’ll look at this again after Turin,” which doesn’t give too much hope for anyone wanting the rule to be revoked.
