Eurovision and Genre Songs

I first really started following Eurovision in 2021. It was the big year back after the COVID-19 lock-down cancelled the competition in 2020 between the first and second semifinals. Many of the contestants really took to social media that year to share their entries and their back catalog of work to really maximize their impact regardless of their final placement.

What caught me and sent me down the Eurovision rabbit hole was, well, witchcraft.

Would you prefer folk magic? Mysticism?

However you split it, I became drawn to Ukranian entry Go_A and their folk/EDM hybrid song "Shum." If you follow the translated lyrics, it's clearly a spell or ritual of some kind. The band is calling on Spring after the harshness of Winter by twining the spirit of Shum with offerings of plants and herbs. Lead singer Kateryna Pavlenko even gave interviews explaining how the song was a spell meant to bring on renewed growth in the wake of Covid 19. The band took second place in the audience vote, propelling them to an impressive fifth place finish for the song.

My OCD-addled brain likes to research and explore, and like so many triggers beforehand, "Shum" led me to dive through and research when other countries sent out sci-fi, fantasy, and horror to the contest.

Take 2023 Austrian entry Teya & Salena. They wrote a banger of a dance/pop track imagining that Edgar Alan Poe possessed them and helped them write their songs. They sing "Oh, mio padre, there's a ghost in my body," as a pre-chorus before chanting "Poe" over and over again as a chorus. This is, unsurprisingly, my go-to karaoke song.

Or jump back to Finland's championship year, 2006, with metal band Lordi singing "Hard Rock Hallelujah." The band performs in full prosthetics as monsters. It's incredible to watch and that song is still considered one of the greatest to ever win the contest, right up there with "Waterloo" by Abba" and "Euphoria" by Loreen.

2024 was a particularly witchy year, with Luna from Poland singing "The Tower," Gåte from Norway singing "Ulveham," Raiven from Slovenia singing "Veronika," and Bambi Thug from Ireland singing "Doomsday Blue." Luna, a practicing witch, had a sweet little pop song inspired by tarot card The Tower. Gåte had a sweeping rock epic inspired by a woman transformed into a wolf with a curse. Raven sang the tragic story of Veronika of Desenice, a Countess accused of witchcraft and murdered by her father-in-law. Bambi Thug, another practicing witch, ran their campaign to "Crown the Witch" with a vengeful, arguably baneful, breakup song as a spell. I live for this kind of dark-sided/horror pop and had fun rooting for all four of these talented contestants.

One of the things you begin to notice when you really start digging into Eurovision is how different contestants and countries choose to embrace trends from previous years. Last year's victor Nemo, representing Switzerland, presented a powerful pop song with a strong falsetto; this year, many nations have fantastic pop singers (and even a professional opera singer) busting out their best falsettos in power pop anthems with EDM elements. Bambi Thug's widespread popularity with the screaming metal meets theatrical pop song "Doomsday Blue" has quite a few countries falling in line with their own pop songs shifting in and out of heavy metal/hard rock moments throughout.

There is a bit of a witchy theme continuing through this year in a few entries. Latvia selected Tautemeitas, a six woman vocal group, singing a folklore fueled spell of a song called "Bur man laimi." The women, dressed as fairies, declare over and over again that no obstacle will stop them as they bring about happiness in the world. The English translation of the song title is "A Chant for Happiness."

Better still, in their press, Tautemeitas are acting as fairies, hiding gifts for the public to find at all their Eurovision pre-party performances and even teaching the other contestants folk rituals from Latvia. It's a lot of fun to watch the contestants have fun backstage and share their cultures.

Returning Polish contestant Justyna Steczkowska (she previously competed in 1995) has a fantastic pop/rock song called "Gaja." Aside from demonstrating her immense breath control, violin skills, and vocal range, Justyna takes on the roll of Goddess Gaja (Gaia in English). She sings about how her tears can cleanse the world.

Shkodra Elektronike, representing Albania, has a song called "Zjerm" that is being considered a strong choice for winning the whole contest. This electronic/folk anthem has the singers praying for a force greater than them to provide a light of kindness to their lives. The group has a fantastic stage presence, embracing a dark red and black color palette amidst a stage of flashing red and orange lights. The Eastern European folk music elements combined with the intensity of their cries lends it that kind of witchy vibe that pops up every year at Eurovision.

And then there's Ireland. One of the other recurring concepts in Eurovision is a science fiction-themed song. Emmy, a Norwegian singer/songwriter, is representing Ireland with "Laika Party." This pays tribute to space dog Laika, the Russian pup shot into orbit to prove it was possible for living beings to break out of the atmosphere. In Emmy's song, she imagines an alternate reality where Laika is still alive in space, having a non-stop dance party for all eternity. It is the sweetest, saddest little dance pop song I've ever heard and I'm obsessed.

She's not alone in a more sci-fi approach. Daði & Gagnamagnið, representing Iceland in 2020 and 2021, filled the stage with electronic instruments of their own invention and spacesuit-like costuming as the band danced in sync onstage. 2022 contestants Subwoolfer, representing Norway, are a band of space wolves singing about wanting a banana with a spaceman DJ onstage. And you don't need to squint too hard to see how many bands and singers take inspiration from Dystopian fiction and cinema for their staging.

Part of watching Eurovision is seeing who winds up winning in the end. For me, the bigger draw is having over 30 new music artists from around the world to explore the work of. I would never have heard of some of these bands and singers if they didn't get picked to represent their country. I'm even digging further than usual this year and looking through the national selection contests to see what songs didn't get selected. Let me just say Melodifestivalen in Sweden this year was STACKED with fantastic songs, including Scarlet's horror presentation of "Sweet n' Psycho." Whatever style of music you enjoy, you'll find a new band or singer to follow in this contest. And if you're a genre fan, you'll have plenty of gorgeous stagecraft to admire and connect to your favorite film styles.

The 2025 Eurovision Song Contest will air live from Basel on May 13, May 15 (the two semi-finals), and May 17 (the grand finale).