Loreen from Sweden wins Eurovision Song Contest – Germany last

Nthat’s how you can win. With hard work. says the winner. For at least six months she worked on her appearance, trained daily, kept a diet and left nothing to chance. In the end, that paid off for Loreen. Again and again the Swede had put on a terrific and absolutely perfect performance in Liverpool, flawless, as if from another planet. Also on the final night. Still, she couldn’t be sure that she would become the first woman and the second artist after Johnny Logan to win the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) twice.

The expected duel between Finland and Sweden, between Käärijä and Loreen, took place on Saturday evening. After the jury’s vote, it still looked like the winner from 2012 would win. Loreen received twelve points from the jurors fifteen times alone, plus eight times ten points and two times eight points. From all countries, with the exception of Sweden, of course, there were points for the 39-year-old Loreen from the juries. After the first round there were 340 points, almost twice as many as Israel (177 points) and Italy (176) had received. Finland was only fourth after almost half the count with 150 points.

Nordic duel

But it was foreseeable that the Finn Jere Pöyhönen, better known as Käärijä, was far from beaten. The 29-year-old singer had made the Liverpool Arena roar with his “Cha Cha Cha” every time. And indeed: With 376 points from the tele-voting, he shot past everyone and with 526 points provisionally took first place. Now Loreen was behind. Italy (174 points) and Israel (185) were no competition for the two. Moderator Graham Norton took his time, but at exactly midnight he announced the result: Loreen received 243 points from the audience, which resulted in a total of 583. Loreen, who had remained surprisingly calm until then, clapped her clawed hands over her face. Only then did she begin to cheer and make her way to the stage to receive her trophy and sing her winning song “Tattoo” again.

Loreen made history. And that in a different century than Johnny Logan, who won twice in the 1980s when the ESC was a completely different event. To repeat that on the biggest entertainment show in the world, which is now highly technological and also has twice as many participants as 40 years ago, is a much greater achievement. Sweden also drew level with Ireland in terms of numbers with Loreen’s second win: seven. However, it has been more than a quarter of a century since Ireland last won, in 1996. Sweden, on the other hand, have won for the third time in the last 13 years alone.

Germany last again

Germany, on the other hand, only came last. Lord of the Lost had put on a good performance, but the glam rock number “Blood & Glitter” still didn’t convince. If 26 candidates are up for election, but only ten points (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12) can be awarded, there is a good chance that some artists will end up empty-handed. It was mostly the same with the band from St. Pauli. Only the judges from two countries, Iceland and the Czech Republic, gave Germany points, once two and once one point. In addition to the three dots, there were only 15 from the audience, which was devastating. The United Kingdom, this year’s hosts, still came second to bottom with Mae Muller and her song ‘I Wrote A Song’ – with a total of 24 points.

Of all things, it hit two of the Big Five countries that are always seeded in the final. France finished 16th (104 points), Spain 17th (100 points). Only Italy, as almost always, did exceptionally well, finishing in the top ten for the tenth time since 2011. What else was wrong with Germany? Metal or harder rock was probably not popular this year. Rock in the more old-fashioned style of ’80s Canadian band Saga does, as evidenced by Australia’s Voyager with their progressive rock-pop number Promise. The band came in ninth with 151 points.