In Case You Missed It... Rock Rules Eurovision 2021
Someone call Gene Simmons - rock is alive and kicking! Italian hard rockers Måneskin took out the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands, dominating the public vote to claim the title.
https://twitter.com/bbceurovision/status/1396207992777887752?s=21
The grand final of Eurovision took place this past weekend, bringing together 38 countries from Europe and um, Australia. Known for Swedish pop gems, power ballads, stunning performances, huge hooks and some straight up weird stuff, Eurovision is the premier made-for-tv song competition. Måneskin (Dannish for ‘moonlight’) became the first rock band to win since Finnish band Lordi in 2006. Italy has often sent handsome singers with big romantic ballads, but shook it up this year and shook the competition as a whole.
https://twitter.com/sbseurovision/status/1396394102464270337?s=21
The glam rockers won the contest with an incendiary performance full of Eurovision hallmarks - fire, skin and leather. The difference was their song, ‘Zitti E Buoni’, is a headbanging, foot stomping, hard rocking track. There’s a bass breakdown, some killer drum fills and a tight solo. The band themselves embody an updated glam aesthetic, and ran wild across the stage. Singer Domiano David takes the song by the reins, starting behind the stage before appearing in front of the crowd and is a commanding presence through the three minutes.
Upon receiving the trophy, Domiano declared “rock n roll never dies!” For the winners performance at the end of the event, Domiano planted a huge kiss on guitarist Thomas Raggi, and the band as a whole had tears in their eyes, proving that no one is too cool for Eurovision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVH5dn1cxAQ
The song is about being young and crazy and embracing individuality.
The chorus lyrics:
“Sono fuori di testa, ma diverso da loro
E tu sei fuori di testa, ma diversa da loro
Siamo fuori di testa, ma diversi da loro
Siamo fuori di testa, ma diversi da loro”
translate to:
“I'm out of my mind, but different from them
And you are out of your mind, but different from them
We are out of our minds, but different from them
We are out of our minds, but different from them”
Eurovision uses a two part voting system, where a professional jury from each country votes for the ten best acts, while the public votes for their own favourites. The top country is awarded 12 votes, the second 10, third 8 votes and the other 7 going backwards from 7 to 1 votes in order. Each tally counts 50-50 for the final scores. Jury votes are read first, with Italy coming fourth behind Switzerland, France and Malta. The public votes then saw Italy move well ahead, winning 318 votes to take the crown on a total of 529 votes. So yeah, it was the people who stood up for rock n roll over the critics.
But that wasn’t all. Finland has often put up rock bands, thanks in part to Lordi’s win, and in 2021 their representative was nu metal band Blind Channel. Their semi final performance of ‘Dark Side’ saw them emerge as a dark horse with another cracking grand final performance bringing some much needed energy to the evening. The song is a bit Linkin Park or POD, asking the audience to “put your middle fingers up”. In 11th position after jury voting, they also got a massive lift from the European/Australian public with the fourth highest public votes (218) to finish sixth overall on 301 total votes.
Eurovision has a decent history of rock in recent times (see our Top 7 Rock Entries in Eurovision) and hopefully Måneskin and Blind Channel prompt other counties to drop the divas and send the bands in. After Australia’s Montaigne missed making the grand final (despite an incredible performance), maybe it is time to for #GetParkwayToEurovision again?
In the meantime I have a trip to Italy to plan for.
Check these out too...
King Parrot Announce New Album ‘A Young Person’s Guide To King Parrot’. First Single Drops as Europe/UK Tour Starts
PREMIERE: Lycanthrope Shape-Shift Into Gear with Empowering Metal Anthem, ‘Wither’
