The Malmö Arena, the venue where this year’s Eurovision Song Contest is held, has a large capacity, exceeding 12,000 spectators. They are even more than the ones that the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool had last year. The presence of an Israeli candidacy among the 37 candidates for this edition has generated protests, even among many of the participating artists.
Two Spanish representatives, but with few possibilities
The controversial triumph of Nebulossa with its vindictive and festive theme Bitch This February at the Benidorm Festival revived interest in the Spanish preselection for Eurovision. The duo, a married couple who own a beauty center in a town in Alicante and have two children, appealed to the fight against machismo, homophobia and ageism with a catchy song synthpop eighties sound.
Unlike the era before Benidorm Fest, RTVE made an effort from the first moment for the song to resonate with the international audience. He organized tours in Europe and North America, prepared new versions of Bitch in English and Swedish to familiarize the audience with the meaning of its lyrics, and united Nebulossa with international artists such as Gloria Trevi in unlikely duets just a few months ago. Although the Spanish candidacy has improved its position in the bets to win Eurovision since arriving in Malmö to rehearse a performance that will be seen for the first time in the second semi-final, on May 9, for the moment it is difficult for Nebulossa to sneak in among the 20 favorites.
Megara tried to represent Spain last year by participating in the Benidorm Fest of Eaea by Blanca Paloma. The rock group reached the final. This time, they have taken advantage of the open window of San Marino, a micro-country that has to look for its candidate abroad. will interpret 11:11 also in the second semifinal, but for the moment the bets place his song in 34th place out of 37.
Tensions around Israel
The security preparations for this year’s Eurovision come at a time when the police consider Sweden to be a “target” for Islamist terrorist groups, having not canceled Israel’s participation for its attacks on Gaza, as it did in 2022 with Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, Explain Euronews. The twenty-something Eden Golan will attend representing the country with the theme Hurricane. A dozen artists who will perform at Eurovision 2024, including the British Olly Alexander and the Spanish Megara, have signed a manifesto asking Israel for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Israel has issued a travel warning to Malmö to its citizens just before Eurovision and has placed the Swedish city as a level 3 (moderate) terrorist attack threat. During the semifinals and final there will be a great police effort in the area, including police resources from Norway and Denmark, reports Efe.
To this fear we must add concerns about the protests planned in response to Israel’s participation in this edition, cyber attacks (which are a common fear in recent editions) and Sweden’s recent entry into NATO.
Little space for a lot of eurofan
The math does not favor Eurovision fans this year. Many want to enjoy it live, but there is little space available. Malmö, the host, is the third largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg. It has less than 350,000 inhabitants. The song festival, in addition to having a reach of 162 million viewers who watch one of its two semifinals or its final on television, attracts many visitors. Eurofans are worried. Although Malmö Arena is large, the size and infrastructure of the Swedish city are much smaller than its predecessor.
The University of Liverpool calculated at the end of 2023 that the British city, host of the last edition, received 473,000 people who attended to one of the shows or activities organized by the European Song Festival. Another 306,000 visitors passed through there during those days to attend the street celebrations and broadcasts in bars. There are almost 800,000 more people at once. If the figure were repeated, it would be very difficult for a city of less than 350,000 inhabitants to cope with this human avalanche.
The video published at the end of April by the official Malmö Tourism account shows a small area dedicated to the Eurovillage, the area open to the public during the days the contest is held.
Sweden celebrates the 50th anniversary of ‘Waterloo’
The Swedish delegation was very clear about what it was doing last year when it presented a sure value like Loreen (who already won the festival in 2012 with Euphoria) as its representative in Eurovision 2023. He wanted to take the crystal microphone again so that the country could be the host in the year that is celebrated on the 50th anniversary of the triumph of the waterloo of Abba, without a doubt the biggest musical phenomenon born from the contest.
Malmö will be small, but during the first two weeks of May it will host dozens of events reminiscent of the Swedish quartet. It is, therefore, a double reason for Eurofans and curious people who have not been able to get tickets for the three Eurovision galas to come to the city. There will be a temporary exhibition, a group karaoke show, a cover concert performed by well-known singers from the country, a wind quartet adapting some of their pop melodies, and the city’s municipal orchestra playing part of the group’s repertoire.
The favorites
There are two names that stand out from the rest of the candidates. One is the Swedish Nemo with the rap and the chirps with which he builds the baroque The Codean autobiographical hymn to the non-binary gender.
The other is the Croatian Baby Lasagna, whose real name is Marko Purišić and who sounds like a mix of rock and Chimo Bayo from the nineties with onomatopoeic Rim Tim Tagi Dim. It is a satire on a serious issue, the massive migration of young people from the country in search of a more optimistic economic reality. In addition to being the two candidates that lead the official bets, they are the favorites of many of their colleagues. Without going any further, they are from Megara, as they told us once we landed in Malmö.
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