Eurovision Song Contest 2021

It's a bit of a miracle that the competition was held with an audience this year. We probably shouldn't complain too much about the quality of the individual songs, as they reflect the tastes of quite a large number of people who vote for the winners each year. There's just nothing to be done about it. Personally, I can always find something listenable amidst the abundance of commercialism. In the first semi-final evening I liked the Belgian melancholics Hooverphonic the most and I was very impressed by the Ukrainian band Go_A. The second semi-final offered the beautiful song "Love Is On My Side" by the Portuguese band The Black Mamba, nu-metal savages Blind Channel from Finland, and the Bulgarian singer VICTORIA with her intimate song "Growing Up Is Getting Old" was definitely not bad either. However, I was greatly annoyed by the loud and overly made-up Dutch hostess who looked like she was straight out of Playboy magazine, making the performers appear like dwarfs in comparison. Similar faux pas could be avoided by the organizers for the next time. +++ After the final, I'm adding one more star to the two stars, because I had a pretty good time and most importantly, I was thrilled that the viewers secured the victory for the Italian rock band Måneskin (a bit of daring after many years and lots of energy) and placed the excellent French chanson singer Barbara Pravi in second place, pushing the dull Swiss singer Gjon's Tearse to third place. Although I didn't cheer for him, I have to admit that his vocal range was admirable. I can imagine a better line-up on the podium, but I have no problem with the way it all turned out. (20.05.2021)