Eurovision 2022 – when music meets politics

Here to break all the war tension comes the world’s largest music competition Eurovision with its comical bangers and political performances

Taking place in Italy’s northwestern city of Turin, millions of viewers usually tune in to watch 40 countries battle for the winning trophy of Eurovision.

The usually non-political song contest is politically charged this year with Russia and Belarus banished from the show and a Ukrainian band passing through to the finals.

Ukrainian folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra stands as an audience favourite with an energetic performance of their song Stefania.

Written by the group’s lead singer, the song has become a powerful anthem in the wake of war with lyrics like ‘I will always walk to you by broken roads’ touching the hearts of many.

The band received a standing ovation midway and a long applause afterwards as the founding member thanked everyone for supporting Ukraine towards the end of the performance.

The Kyiv government gave the band special permission to leave the war-ravaged Ukraine and perform at the competition.

If Kalush Orchestra were to win on Saturday, it would be Ukraine’s third victory after it won in 2004 and 2016.

Ukraine is among the top 10 to reach the final with other countries like Switzerland, Portugal and Norway also making the cut.

Norway’s Subwoolfer brought the right amount of absurdness to the competition with their giant yellow wolf masks and banana based song, Give That Wolf A Banana.

In contrast to the comical Subwoolfer was Portugal’s Maro who sang Saudade, Saudade, a ballad full of grief dedicated to her late grandfather.

Rijul Baath contributed to this report