Eurovision 2022: the complete guide to following the festival

Where and when is it celebrated?

The festival will be held at the PalaOlímpico in Turin (Italy), a multi-purpose pavilion built to host the ice hockey competition of the 2006 Winter Olympics. It was designed by Italian Pier Paolo Maggiora and his father, Japanese Arata Isozaki. Return from Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. The stage was designed by Italian Francesca Montinaro. a Allegory of Italy: a vast sun, water around it, and a forest at their feet where artists will eagerly await the results of each ‘show’. It will host 12,000 spectators at each of the event’s three premieres; Tuesday, May 10 and Thursday, May 12, two semi-finals and Saturday, May 14, the grand final.

How many countries and languages ​​will there be?

Total, 40 countries participate in 15 different languages, with the usual rout of the British. Attention, because this will be the first festival without a single song in French. The neighboring country competes this time with a song sung in Breton; and other countries where French is also official, Belgium and Switzerland, will intervene with songs in English.

40 of them have one goal: to conquer the precious Crystal Microphone. Russia expelled in February After the occupation of Ukraine. Many countries threatened to withdraw from the competition if Eurovision did not agree with most of the sanctions against the Putin regime, and the European Broadcasting Union had to act to avoid damaging the ‘show’. Offended, the Russians announced that they were unsubscribing from the network, although to date they still have not.

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10 countries will qualify from each semi-final. In the final they will face Spain, Italy, France, England and Germany; These are the so-called Big Five, namely the five countries that contributed the most economically to the event and therefore have a guaranteed spot on Saturday’s ‘show’. The winner will be determined by a jury consisting of experts formed in each participating country and by the votes of the jury of those who watch the competition, counted by country.

Who delivers?

One of the presenters of the festival will be singer Laura Pausini. Accompanying him are singer Mika and one of the most recognizable faces of Italian radio and television, Alessandro Cattelan; He presented the Italian version of ‘The X Factor’ between 2011 and 2020, among other programs. The organizers had announced it months ago. his first idea was to sign Raffaela Carrà. as the host of the ‘show’; however, he did not give them time as the artist died in July of last year.

One more year Tony Aguilar and Julia Varela will be responsible for commenting on the show Broadcast live from Turin for TVE. Model and server Nieves Álvarez to announce the votes and it will do so from Benidorm, the city where the channel’s current Eurovision project is taking place.

Spain is among the favourites.

TVE representative Chanel is fifth in bookies. It was the beginning of her Eurovision solo career: the song with which she will try to win the Festival, ‘SloMo’, is the first song of her singing career. With that, it surpassed nine million reproductions on Spotify and entered the Los 40 chart. Taking advantage of the Eurovision pull, the artist flew to Miami last April and recorded a few more tracks where she’ll begin to create her own. music repertoire. There, he met producers Willy Will Yanez and Beat Butcha, who regularly collaborate with Eminem and Beyoncé, among others. Accompanied by five dancers and a choir, Cordovan was dressed by fashion designer Alejandro Gómez PalomoTheir numbers will consist of singing and dancing for three minutes, in a show that is expected to be fast-paced and highly visual. This was one of the keys to her victory at Benidorm Fest, where she collaborated with North American choreographer Kyle Hanagami. Now they are working together again to devise the Torino number, which will be different. Hanagami is one of the most sought after choreographers. He has worked for Jennifer Lopez, Ariana Grande, Sam Smith, and South Korean BTS, among others.

Competitors to beat: United Kingdom

But winning will not be easy. Chanel will have nuts that are too hard to crack; especially four: England, Sweden, Italy and Ukraine. The British have come determined to change their Eurovision syllabus in recent years more disastrous than Spain’s. For example, they finished in the red light in the most recent editions and zero points on top of that in 2021. This time they bet very strongly on victory. His agent, Sam Ryder, was a real unknown until he got bored during quarantine due to the pandemic and started posting covers of famous artists on TikTok. And he wanted it. Ryder probably has the best sound we’ll hear in Turin; he stretches whenever he wants and easily reaches notes that are not suitable for everyone. In short: Ryder is the ideal candidate for professional judges. It competes with ‘Spaceman’, which he co-wrote with Max Wolfgang and Amy Wadge and describes heartbreak. His charisma completes the hook.

Competitors to beat: Sweden

The Swedes are always among the favourites.. This time they’re sending Cornelia Jakobs. She took her first steps as an artist in 2008 by trying to pass the audition to enter the TV show ‘Idol’. He didn’t understand. The jury dismissed her with sarcastic comments about her talent, and the Swedish press echoed the issue as Cornelia’s father was a member of one of the country’s most famous metal bands. A monumental scandal erupted. Now, after that hell, the interpreter has the opportunity to reach heaven with ‘Hold me closer’., A part time about an emotional breakup.

Competitors to beat: Italy

Italy is home and has a chance to win again. They will try this with the duo of soloists Mahmood and Blanco, who decided to combine their artistic careers just in time to go to Eurovision. Mahmood has already placed second at the Festival held in Tel Aviv three years ago. The 19-year-old rapper Blanco skyrocketed to musical stardom in his country last year: in the summer of 2020, he had released and swept his first music tracks on SoundCloud. Universal signed him right away, and there his meteoric rise began; It was certified 12 platinum in 2021 alone. Together with Mahmood they will defend in Turin ballad ‘Brividi’, about a romantic relationship between two men. While Blanco has revealed that he is not gay, the magic of the two on stage makes the lyrics of the piece a reality about true and intense love, but infuriating and impossible to get rid of.

Opponent to beat: Ukraine

Ukraine to choose third Eurovision victory with Kalush Orchestra. In fact, they are the main favorites of bookmakers. The occupation of the country by Russia shows this. they will win the tv vote, but we’ll have to wait to see how expert juries will value them. But before the war they were already among the favourites, with their themes. ‘Stefania’ in honor of mothers. With the occupation, the group temporarily disbanded; Some provided organized assistance to people displaced by the conflict, while others went to the front to fight. After obtaining permission from the government to leave the country to support their candidacy, they reunited in Turin just a month before the Festival to prepare their performance. His piece combines rap with Ukrainian folk rhythm. Win or not, the most exciting moment of the Festival will be Saturday, when Eurovision connects with the Ukrainian jury and announces their votes. a long standing ovationJust like in 1993, when it was the turn of the jury from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who had taken refuge in Sarajevo during a bombing.

other favorites

They count for victory too Finland, the Netherlands and Greece. The Finns send Rasmus, who killed him with ‘In the Shadows’ in 2003. They started in 1994 and have already released nine albums. They go to Turin with a similar piece, ‘Jezebel’. The Netherlands will try this with the 21-year-old S10 and ‘De diepte’, a circuit played entirely in Dutch and about what it’s like to suffer for love. Meanwhile, Greece relies on Amanda Tenfjord. He is Norwegian but his father is Greek. He will advocate a part-time ‘Die together’ about a toxic and destructive relationship. Norway is not among the big favourites, but it will give people something to talk about. Although the duo’s stage name is Subwoolfer, they are represented by Jim and Keith. The public ignores who the artists really are because they are wearing a yellow mask that represents the head of a wolf. The choreography of his song titled ‘Give that wolf a banana’ went viral. With ‘In corpore Sano’ the Serbian Konstrakta cannot be lost either: he will spend the entire performance sitting in front of a bucket washing and moisturizing his hands. The work is a criticism of the health system in his country, which artists have no rights.