After the Semi Finals on Tuesday and Thursday, the Grand Final of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest is tonight! Here’s what to expect…
About the Show
The show will last approximately 4 hours, but will likely run quite a bit over, so expect a loooooong night. It’ll be made up of 25 songs, not 26 as usual, which will be played over the first 2 hours of the show.
The show will be hosted by Mika, a British singer best known for his 2007 hit, Grace Kelly; Laura Pausini, a legendary Italian singer, who rose to fame through the Sanremo Music Festival in 1993, and Alessandro Cattelan, a popular television host in Italy. Italy are, of course, hosting the show, because they won in 2021, with Måneskin’s Zitti e Buoni in Rotterdam.
The show will be broadcasted on both YouTube and TikTok, live, at 9pm (CET), as well as on television in all the participating countries, and beyond. If you are not sure which channel is broadcasting the Eurovision Song Contest in your country, you can see here.
Opening Act
As the Eurovision Song Contest is the biggest television event in the world, the show doesn’t just begin, as instead, an element of theatre is required in beginning the show. In previous years this has included orchestras, circus acts, choirs, remixes and much more.
Following an intro video (for the commentators to speak over) where everyday people on the streets of Italy begin rockin-out, we go to the opening act where Mika and Alessandro Cattelan perform John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Give Peace a Chance, alongside rock instrumentation.
Laura Pausini then arrives, before performing a medley of some of her greatest hits, which include Lo Canto and La Solitudine. She changes her outfit a lot during this act.
Flag Ceremony
For the past few years, in the Grand Final, the opening act has been combined with the Flag Ceremony, but this year they are separate entities, which makes the running time a bit longer than usual. The Flag Ceremony is standard Eurovision-fare, where each artist comes onto stage one-by-one, in the running order, while their flag is displayed, to a funky dance track. Expect rainbows, catwalks and a lot of cheering.
For a few minutes following the end of the Flag Ceremony, the hosts then introduce the show and explain how the voting works. Then finally: “Let the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 Begin!”
Performances
Song 1 – Czech Republic
The night starts how Thursday ended, with Czech Republic who give us a techno-based banger to really get the party started. Don’t let the title of this song, Lights Off, fool you as every single light in the arena is on during this, giving the biggest light show of the year. It’s a lot of fun and a fairly solid song.
Best lyric: “Changing my furniture, change my bed covers“
Results Prediction: 12th-16th
Song 2 – Romania
WRS from Romania is given the “death slot” and he gives us a Latino-style mid-tempo dance song, which is heavily choreographed, but ends up falling a bit flat, mainly due to WRS’ annoying stage persona and the fact the song is far from anything special. It feels like it was made on the cheap and that’s because it probably was.
Best lyric: “I show it to the world, ’cause I won’t hide it“
Results Prediction: 20th-25th
Song 3 – Portugal
Portugal, on the whole, don’t have a great track record at Eurovision, with an incredibly poor showing results wise, over the years, and only 1 win in 52 participations. However, like Amar Pelos Dois and Love is On My Side, Saudade Saudade seems to be an exception to that rule, as it seemed to really connect with audiences on Tuesday night, in a way I haven’t really predicted. It’s become one of the most talked about songs in the Eurovision fandom, perhaps because of it’s ethereal nature, in it’s low-key cold style.
Best lyric: “Nothing more that I can say, says it in a better way“
Results Prediction: 10th-15th
Song 4 – Finland
Ever since Lordi won Eurovision in 2006, Finland have consistently entered a lot of rock entries over the past 15 years, the most recent being Dark Side in 2021, and after Måneskin’s win in 2021, this year is no exception. 20 years removed from their worldwide hit In the Shadows, The Rasmus are Finland’s entry for Turin. Unfortunately for them, legacy artists, from yesteryear, have a pretty poor track record at Eurovision, usually owing to high expectations from the casual audience and a less than average song. Jezebel certainly hits the second point, sadly, as the song really isn’t that strong at all, and it’s even weaker when compared to In the Shadows, which many members of the casual audience will be comparing it to.
The staging isn’t too strong either, with The Rasmus heavily relying on their stage presence, but it’s a stage presence that feels 20 years too old, especially when Lauri (the lead singer) removes his shirt, which isn’t particularly appealing to anyone. Even though The Rasmus have a big fan base, Bonnie Tyler has an even bigger one and she came 19th (in 2013)… incidentally that was composed by Desmond Child too. I expect a flop.
Best lyric: “Your final kiss is to leave a scar“
Results Prediction: 18th-22nd
Song 5 – Switzerland
Every year at Eurovision there is always one John Lewis Advert song, and this year that is Marius Bear’s Boys Do Cry. The messaging here is about as preachy as you can get: “toxic masculinity bad” to the tune of a jazzy ballad, which would fit perfectly in a Christmas Advert.
To make things worse, Marius Bear’s stage presence is limited, and the staging, itself, is non-existent, apart from the cheesiest lighting effects you could imagine.
What could save Switzerland, possibly, is if enough people connect to the message, and decide it’s worth voting for, however, I can’t really see that happening. It is complete jury bait though, so we could get a Sweden 2018 situation (but on a smaller scale) with them.
Best lyric: “Mountains they crumble and rivers they run dry“
Results Prediction: 20-25th
Song 6 – France
Despite the photograph, which features two backing singers, Alvan & Ahez are the duo that France has sent to Eurovision this year. They are extremely unique to Eurovision, as they are one of two entries ever to be sung in the language of Breton (a minority language in France)… the other was France’s 1996 entry. This also makes 2022 the first ever Eurovision Song Contest without a single song in French.
The song itself is like nothing you’ve ever heard before, completely drawing on Brittany’s Celtic roots, and combining it with a dark industrial electronic sound. Complete with some really epic staging, this song is really going to wow!
Best lyric: “Dispont ‘kreiz an digoadenn e tañs ar fulenn“
Results Prediction: 4th-8th
Song 7 – Norway
This year gives us Eurovision‘s first representatives that aren’t from the planet Earth, as Norway’s Subwoolfer are from the Moon (or at least they claim to be). The mystery surrounding Subwoolfer has probably been even more talked about than the song itself, Give That Wolf A Banana, a true out-and-out 2000s style comedy entry.
Rumours have suggested that Subwoolfer are in fact Ylvis, the Norwegian duo behind What Did the Fox Say?, however in recent weeks another contender, Ben Adams from boyband A1, has become a more popular choice, due to his unusual sightings close to Eurovision events, and TIX (from 2021) was filmed underneath the mask of DJ Astronaut on Tuesday.
The song itself is a rather silly dance song about the story of Red Riding Hood, crossed with stuff about aliens from the moon. It’ll be a televote favourite, for sure, and the kids’ll love it. Is it dumb? – hell yeah – but that’s the point.
Best lyric: “Not sure you have a name so I will call you Keith“
Results Prediction: 8th-15th
Song 8 – Armenia
Armenia were absent from last year’s Eurovision due to the invasion of Armenia by Azerbaijan, but this year, hot off the tails of winning the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, Armenia are back with Rosa Linn’s Snap.
Snap is a nice gentle pop-ballad, which also has a bit of energy and life to it, turning into a mid-tempo song as it goes along. It’s nice and sweet and quite laid back. Alongside some very clever staging, where Rosa Linn seems to have been the person stockpiling the all the toilet paper in the pandemic, Snap is sure to reach a good result.
Best lyric: As if it was really that easy for me to get over you“
Results Predictions: 6th-12th
Song 9 – Italy
Following an ad break, where for viewers without adverts we see clips of Semi Finalists who didn’t make it to the final, we begin Italy!
Italy are, of course, the host country, and in recent years, the host country has tended to perform quite badly in the following years’ contest, but Brividi seems set to subvert that, with Italy being one of the bookies’ favourites to win, and honestly just one of the most solid songs in the contest.
The song, itself, is a queer long song about two men feeling “shivers” while embarking on a difficult relationship. It’s a big orchestral peace, that’s beautifully sung, and features probably the most natural and best rap verse in Eurovision history, as BLANCO lets out in a fit of anger. This could really bring the trophy home to Italy for the second time in a row.
Additionally, if you remember 2019, you might remember Mahmood as he competed for Italy with his song Soldi and came 2nd to The Netherlands, so he has the means to do very well at Eurovision. For viewers who saw Brividi‘s preview in the first Semi Final, then you’ll remember Mahmood’s big leather coat, it has been reported that Mahmood has swapped this for a different outfit.
Best lyric: “Per un ti amo ho mischiato droghe e lacrime“
Results Prediction: 1st-3rd
Song 10 – Spain
Following Brividi is a hard job, but Chanel from Spain takes the challenge and serves. This song is about as Spanish as you can get, with everything from a bit of samba, a bit of the matador, a bit of a latin dance feel… and a very, very EPIC breakdown, where Chanel really shows off her dance moves. This is perhaps the audience moment of the night, as everyone will be dancing and cheering along. Expect big things from SloMo, because Spain are here and they are there for the kill!
Best lyric: “Y si aún no me creen, pues me toca mostrárselo“
Results Prediction: 2nd-6th
Song 11 – Netherlands
For several years in a row, the Netherlands failed to qualify to the Grand Final, during the late-2000s and early-2010s, but in 2013 that all change with Anouk’s Birds. Since then, the Dutch have been going strong at Eurovision, picking up high-score after high-score, which culminated in them winning in 2019, with Duncan Laurence’s Arcade. So it comes as no surprise that this year, the Netherlands are one of the entries with the biggest fan support.
De Diepte is the first entry entirely in Dutch that the Netherlands have sent for over two-decades, and it’s a cold ballad, which sounds like something from a movie soundtrack. The staging isn’t perhaps as powerful as it could be, but its still extremely affective.
Best lyric: “Ik zit diep en ik wil jou niet laten gaan“
Results Prediction – 4th-9th
Song 12 – Ukraine
Ukraine are, for obvious reasons, perhaps the most talked about entry this year. Their song, Stefania, was selected in February, through a live-show held in Kyiv, Vidbir. Just a few weeks later, Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. However, it has to be pointed out that before the invasion began, Ukraine were already 5th place in the bookmakers’ odds, and while that has since risen to 1st, due to the war, the song was still a favourite to win, beforehand.
The song itself is a folk-rap song, and Kalush Orchestra are especially talented performers, one of which includes Ihor Didenchuk, who was previously part of Go_A, making this his third year in a row representing Ukraine.
While this is the No.1 favourite to win, I personally can’t see it topping the jury vote, as juries aren’t usually that into rap, and they aren’t usually that politically influenced, compared to the televoter. However, this is absolutely topping the televote.
Best lyric: “Khochu shche pochuty tvoye ridne slovo“
Results Prediction: 2nd-5th
Song 13 – Germany
There’s always at least one bad egg in the Big 5. In 2021, it was three bad eggs, but this year it seems to be singularly Germany. In both 2019 and 2021 they received 0 public votes, and I’m sorry to say, I think 2022 will continue this trend. Malik Harris delivers a rather dull karaoke-esque pop-rap song which sounds like it was written by a GCSE music student. If this doesn’t come last, I’ll be surprised.
Best lyric: “It finds a way, nonetheless, wish I could change my address“
Results Prediction: 25th
Song 14 – Lithuania
From Lithuania this year, comes a sensual ballad, called Sentimentai. This song is an experience, you’ll either find it extremely boring, or you’ll be completely fixed to the screen. It perhaps unlike anything ever at Eurovision before, but it’s not big and gimmicky like lots of others. Monika also has the most amazing stage presence, that I think will win a lot of people over.
Best lyric: “Sukasi ratu galvoje momentai“
Results Prediction: 10th-15th
Song 15 – Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan’s entry this year is a big ballad with an intricate staircase based stage design. Nadir has a great voice, with a lot of power, but the song does run the risk of boring viewers, with not much special or memorable in the song, itself.
While the song might do fairly well with the jury, there is a lot of doubt about whether it can achieve the same with the televoters.
Best lyric: “You always go and blame the weather“
Results Prediction: 18th-22nd
Song 16 – Belgium
In 2018, Belgium entered their take on a James Bond theme tune and failed to qualify, this year, they are at it again, but perhaps in fear of non-qualification, they have decided to turn the song into a R&B number half way through. It’s a bit of an odd-switch but it does it with skill, and the singer, Jérémie Makiese, does pull it off… however, as a song, I still think it falls below what is needed to stand out in this lineup. I predict a major flop here.
Best lyric: “And out of thе blue I answer your call“
Results Prediction: 22nd-25th
Song 17 – Greece
After a break, where the hosts promote the CD and DVD and then we see some songs from the Semi Finals who didn’t make it, we go to Greece.
Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord from Greece is one of the favourites from this years’ contest, with her heart wrenching ballad Die Together. The song is very lowkey with it’s staging though, choosing to focus on Amanda and her powerful vocals, alongside some very oddly placed upside chairs.
Best lyric: “Take my heart and rip it out“
Results Prediction: 5th-10th
Song 18 – Iceland
From Iceland comes Systur, a band of three sisters and one brother (although they are firmly only called Systur), who are performing a gentle country-esque song. The most interesting thing about Systur is the fact that, as you might seen in the picture above, they are massive trans activists, as the lead singers’ son is transgender, and she feels she needs to use her platform to spread the message about trans rights, especially for trans children. The song itself may be a little boring, but these sisters (and brother) really sell it.
Best lyric: “Fegurð í frelsi sem þokast nær“
Results Prediction: 20th-23rd
Song 19 – Moldova
Zdob şi Zdub are no strangers to Eurovision, as they are part of a very elite club of artists who have participated on three separate occasions. The first was actually Moldova’s first ever Eurovision entry at the Kyiv contest in 2005, while the second was at the Düsseldorf contest in 2011. Now, Zdob şi Zdub join forces with the violin-clad Advahov Brothers to sing us a fun little number about a train journey from Chișinău, the capital of Moldova, to Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It’s a lot of fun and a joy to watch… but…
Yes, there’s a but, although we were speaking about Ukraine, just a few songs ago, which has a lot of political context around it, Ukraine is not the most political song this year, by far… no, that goes to Moldova. The song has a deeper meaning when speaking about the two capital cities, as Zdob şi Zdub are actually referring to their support for the political movements in Moldova and Romania to unify both countries into a single nation… a move that has largely been stopped from happening by Russian President, Vladimir Putin. Translated lyrics include “From one country to another / What’s the country? Are they fused? / Seems like one, but also two / Both together and apart / Are there two, or just one?”
However, the song is a lot of fun, and Zdob şi Zdub do have great stage presence, as always. Following the last six very slow songs, as well, and I think Moldova are going to hit the audience like a “train” (if you allow me that joke!)…
Best lyric: “Pleacă trenul! Unde esti? Chisinău – București“
Results Prediction: 10th-14th
Song 20 – Sweden
Cornelia Jakobs from Sweden is perhaps the highlight of the evening and a true contender to win Eurovision this year. Hold Me Closer is a heart wrenching ballad, with so many gorgeously poetic lyrics, it’ll be hard to choose a favourite. The performance is just breathtaking, from start to finish, and you’re just gonna want to watch this one. It’s absolutely beautiful. I think this really stands a very high chance of taking home the trophy.
The best of luck to Cornelia!
Best lyric: “But most of alI I wish that I could love you less“
Results Prediction: 1st-3rd
Song 21 – Australia
After non-qualifying for the first time ever last year, all the eyes are on Australia and their entry Not The Same this year. Sheldon Riley, who rose to fame through The X Factor, The Voice and America’s Got Talent, is Australia’s representative this year. Well they say if at first you don’t succeed… you should try, try and try again. And trying again is exactly what Sheldon Riley is doing, with his heartfelt power ballad about how he is “not the same” to other people, and how life has been an uphill battle for him. The staging culminates in him taking off a mask, having the confidence to sing without it. It runs the risk of coming across as bit contrived, especially as the song doesn’t have much of a memorable hook, unlike others. It will resonate with the juries, but I’m very unsure about the televoter, especially those unfamiliar with Sheldon’s story.
Best lyric: “So you’re gonna leave the pain and find another way to make yourself another game“
Results Prediction: 15th-18th
Song 22 – United Kingdom
Following another break where Laura Pausini sings an a-cappella version of Volare with the audience, we go to the United Kingdom.
Full disclosure: As you might have realised from this website (voteforthemusic.co.uk), we are based in the UK and therefore Space Man is our entry. Therefore it’s a bit more difficult to judge, but what we can say is a big thumbs up. This currently sits 2nd in the odds, and is by-and-large the Eurovision fanbases’ favourite to win. It would be amazing us to get a good result, at all, following the past two decades of disappointments, but a win is really possible for the first time in literally two decades, so prepare Brits!
The song itself evokes the feel of Internationally known British music such as that of Elton John and Queen but with a really nice modern feel to it, and Sam Ryder is honestly one of the best vocalists in the country right now. There hasn’t been a single performance of Space Man where he hasn’t knocked it out of the park vocally. The staging is also quite something and lets just say, you are not going to forget it. And the guitar solo… we’re not even got speak about that, it’ll make your jaw drop! Big things could happen tomorrow with this!
Best lyric: “And a broken heart would just belong to someone else down there“
Results Prediction: 1st-5th
Song 23 – Poland
River was one of the early favourites to win Eurovision, but since its release, it’s gradually fallen off everyone’s radar. It’s a nice enough Arcade-like song, that perhaps isn’t strong enough for the win, but on it’s own, definitely the Top 10… however, the staging, when revealed last week, has quickly become a meme amongst the Eurovision fandom, and then a meme in the wider world following the Semi Final on Thursday.
For whatever reason, TVP decided to stage River with dozens of on-screen overlayed stock effects of thunder and rain throughout the chorus, alongside very loud sound effects of running water during the first verse. It really just looks laughable watching it, as if someone has just randomly pressed all the FX buttons on TikTok. It seems odd they decided to so heavily fake water, when there’s literally a running waterfall on stage, that they just completely ignore. Additionally, Ochman is joined on stage by a bunch of interpretive dancers in strange black drapes, who just look silly. Arcade worked for it’s simplicity but the staging of River just over engineers the song to the Nth degree, resulting in a laughable performance.
Additionally, Poland has one of the poorest running order positions for the type of song that it is. Straight after the United Kingdom, I fear their staging will simply just look like a absolute joke.
Best lyric: “Let the water carry me away“
Results Prediction: 18th-22nd
Song 24 – Serbia
What is the secret behind Meghan Markle’s healthy hair? That’s the question that Konstrakta from Serbia poses at the beginning of her song. The song might be just the oddest one you’ve seen at Eurovision this year, but it’s strangely captivating from start to finish. From the strange hand washing on stage, to the arena-unifying clapping in the chorus, to the onscreen subtitled English lyrics interspersed throughout. This is a potential dark horse for a very good placing.
Best lyric: “Koja li je tajna zdrave kose Meghan Markle?“
Results Prediction: 6th-10th
Song 25 – Estonia
Closing the show this year, Estonia gives us a cowboy inspired country song, where Stefan sings entirely in a pretty poor American accent. The song itself is fine, it’s nothing special, but it’s not particularly bad. Stefan’s stage presence is decently captivating as well, but the staging is just horrendously boring, especially as most of the graphics on the LED screens go unseen, due to the now-famous Rai arches.
Best lyric: “We live to die for worthy things“
Results Prediction: 16th-20th
Interval Acts
After the hosts return to explain the voting rules, the lines open and we go into the first recap.
The Italian Gestures
The first interval act is a dance act about the Italian tendency to use comical hand gestures when speaking. While this is mainly for comedy, it has a more serious message about the importance of sign language to deaf people. It ends by cutting to the International Space Station where an Italian astronaut speaks to them, using the hand gestures.
Måneskin
As is tradition, the winner of last year will be performing. However unlike usual, it does not seem that Måneskin will be performing their winning song Zitti E Buoni, instead only their new single, Supermodel, which was released last night.
Another recap follows this performance.
Gigliola Cinquetti
Gigliola Cinquetti, who won in 1964, came 2nd in 1974 and co-hosted the 1991 contest, will be performing next, singing her winning song Non Ho L’étà – unlike Måneskin.
Eurovision Confidential
Like with the two Semi Finals, there is another Eurovision Confidential segment, which is a 3-minute sequence where a voice-over takes through several archive clips from years gone by.
Mika Medley
Finally, just before voting closes, Mika performs a medley of his greatest hits… which there are a lot of, primarily from the late 2000s. Expect to hear such hits as Grace Kelly and Love Today, as well as his brand new single Yo Yo!
Then we go into a third and final recap, after which the voting lines close.
Results
The results this year, work exactly the same as they have since 2019, and fairly similar to the experience you are used to since 2016. The jury votes are presented first, while the televotes are being counted, allowing the show to be quite speedy from here on.
Jury Results
The jury results sees us visiting each 40 participating countries (yes even the non-qualifiers) who each field a spokesperson who tells us their juries’ 12 points. Points 1-8 and 10 are displayed on screen, during this. The results, as they appear following these 40 sets of votes, are for the jury only, and everything can change from here out, as thees only make 50% of the result.
The jury voted on last night’s Jury Show, which was an exact replica of tonight’s show, but performed tomorrow, for jurors only. This is to ensure the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) have 24 hours to check and verify the results.
Televote Results
We then go to the televote, and while mathematically these are compiled in the exact same way as the jury results, they are instead presented different. The hosts will go to the bottom song in the jury vote first and announce their full televote points, from all the countries they received them from, and then they work up the board, until the jury winner. Anything can happen here. It is very tense!
So when the final televote result comes in, we will know exactly who the winner of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest is. Congratulations to whoever that may be! Good luck everyone!
