In the midst of the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra and its song “Stefania” have achieved this Saturday an important victory not only musical, but also moral and media, by taking over the glass microphone of Eurovision 2022 singing to the mother country.
At a gala held at the Olympic Palace in Turin (Italy), his candidacy was imposed on those of the United Kingdom, second, and Spain, third, which has achieved its best position with Chanel and the song “SloMo” since 1995, when came second with Anabel Conde and “Come back to me.”
Right after their performance, the Kalush Orchestra called for “help” for their country, for the city of Mariupol and for the soldiers entrenched in the Azovstal steel mill, a message that, due to its political nature, is prohibited in principle by the festival regulations.
This is the third time that Ukraine has won Eurovision since its debut in 2003. Only a year later it won for the first time thanks to Ruslana and “Wild dances” and again in 2016 with Jamala and “1944”, the which violated the Russian government by recovering the historical episode of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar minorities.
On this occasion it has done so with 631 points, 439 of them from the audience, the maximum granted by the popular vote, and thus has been imposed in a “top 10” also made up of the United Kingdom (466), Spain (459), Sweden (438), Serbia (312), Italy (268), Moldova (253), Greece (215), Portugal (207), and Norway (182).
Twenty-five countries, of the 40 that initially took part in the competition, have reached this grand final that has started from the city’s Piazza San Carlo with the music of “Give Peace A Chance” by John Lennon, a clear allusion to the Russian invasion.
During it, it was also possible to enjoy a potpourri of hits by Laura Pausini and Mika, who have acted as presenters together with Alessandro Cattelan, as well as two former Italian festival champions: the band Maneskin, winners of 2021, and Gigliola Cinquetti , who has performed “Non Ho L’Età” as in 1974.
Source-listindiario.com