Showbiz Muffles War, Familiarity Trumps Novelty In ‘Eurovision Song Contest 2023’: TV Review
variety.comMike McCahill Guest Contributor The theme of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, ‘United by Music,’ announced both the annual musical extravaganza’s all-embracing intentions and its status as a joint endeavor.
With 2022 winners Ukraine unable to host in Kyiv due to the war, the U.K. – last year’s runners-up, thanks to Sam Ryder’s soaring “Space Man” – stepped in to reinstall this ever more spectacular circus (along with multiple Ukrainian creative personnel) in Liverpool, birthplace of the Beatles.
A declaration that this was to be the glitziest of collabs was served via a prologue that paired Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra, reworking last year’s winning entry “Stefania”, with the Princess of Wales, apparently providing piano accompaniment from within Windsor Castle.
Soft power-a-go-go. There was no President Zelenskyy address – ruled unduly political by the Eurovision mandarins, a decision that felt questionable even before Ukraine’s 2023 entry, Tvorchi’s “Heart of Steel,” implored “don’t be scared to say just what you think.” Yet the conflict in Ukraine seemed to haunt the background of several entries.
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