Eurovision has been and gone for another year, and plenty of people will be nursing sore heads in Malmo.
As expected, our act, Olly Alexander, was miles away from winning, with just 46 points compared to champion Nemo from Switzerland with 591. And while the underlying theme of this year’s contest had been peace and love – albeit through the protesting of Israel’s inclusion – I think outside of the core super-fans, there’s sadly still a long way to go.
Admittedly, I’m no hardcore Eurovision fan. Usually, I don’t even bother and just listen to a re-cap of the songs and pick out my favourites.
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In years gone by, we’ve had powerhouse vocals from Sam Ryder, zany acts like Netta and (arguably the true winner of 2022) the incredible Chanel. And Olly brought a lot of Eurovision energy.
(Image: Getty Images)
His song, Dizzy, is catchy, his performance was backed up by a troupe of dancers, and the staging was unique. So what went wrong for him?
Watching back the performance, at parts Olly’s vocals are barely audible over the backing track. At some points he sounded a bit out of breath (though I probably would be too, gyrating with four shirtless guys in jockstraps).
It’s unfair to compare his vocals to Sam Ryder, because realistically he could never compete. And Eurovision is never about who the best singer is, either.
Sadly, Olly’s live performance was just not as strong as others on the night. Winner Nemo’s voice was powerful and stable – and they showed off some operatic flair.
Runner-up Baby Lasagna, too. His performance mainly consisted of shout-rapping over rock music rather than singing, but still, the power and dominance on the stage was there.
(Image: Getty Images)
Olly had one of the most visually interesting stages of the night. I’d argue it was far more entertaining than even champ Nemo, who seemed to be having plenty of fun running around a simple moving disk.
I enjoyed the performance over all – but I think for the general Eurovision audience, it was never going to land. When I was a tiny child, I used to watch the show every year with my Grandma.
It’s an event for a lot of people. Whether that’s a Eurovision party (like I attended), or sitting down as a family to take it all in.
There’s been a lot of criticism of Olly’s staging because of this. Four half-naked men and Olly dancing in a rotating box made to look like a grotty bathroom.
I fail to see how it was actually offensive, but Years and Years star Olly picked up a lot of heat for it. Sadly, and bizarrely, given how camp Eurovision is, I don’t think the wider Eurovision audience is as accepting of out and proud acts who aren’t scared to hide their sexuality.
(Image: TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty Ima)
“Really? Simulating gay sex in a sleazy manky public toilet? Whoever thought that was a good idea to appeal to European families watching? Totally tone deaf (including Olly’s vocals).”
“Simulating gay sex in a toilet isn’t really doing well is it! And the fact he scored zero points in the public vote tells you that the European public thought it was awful as well. WTF has happened to the UK if that’s the best that we have.”
“So Olly got null points from the public. Who’d have thought thinly disguised gay porn wouldn’t have gone down well?”
“We love the guy but it was too gay. Kids didn’t enjoy men touching each other. You would not see the same from women. It was very putting to say the least.”
A quick search on X brings up countless comments like the above. There is plenty defending Olly too, but it seems the general consensus was completely against it.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
I find some of the arguments quite laughable. Yes, it was risqué – seemingly a bit too risqué for Eurovision viewers – but to compare it to actual porn is ridiculous.
On top of that, we HAVE seen the same from women (and that brings up a whole other issue with the fetishisation of gay women from straight men). Admittedly it wasn’t on the Eurovision stage, but does nobody remember Madonna kissing Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera at the MTV VMAs in 2003?
Those defending Olly have called a spade a spade and branded the hatred “homophobic”. Eurovision has always included acts more on the sexy side.
Chanel wore cut-out chaps and slut-dropped her stuff in 2022 (no hate, by the way, SloMo is the best Eurovision song ever released, and I will die by that sword). Loreen was basically wearing underwear in her finale performance last night, too.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
But because Olly’s performance featured a bit of man-on-man action (and absolutely nothing you could call explicit) people had an issue.
I don’t think it’s fair to say Olly failed on the night BECAUSE of homophobia. Winner Nemo is queer and non-binary, Ireland’s Bambie Thug uses gender neutral pronouns too and they came in sixth place.
Sadly, Olly’s performance just wasn’t strong enough, and with the heat from the pearl-clutching “gay porn” haters, he had no chance.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
