Like bookmakers predicted, Loreen from Sweden became this year’s winner (she earned 372 points for her song “Eurphoria”) and Buranovskiye babushki from Russia with “Party for Everybody” came second. The “bronze” winner is Zeljko Joksimovic from Serbia with his song “Nije Ljubav Stvar.”
Ukrainian contestant Gaitana earned 65 points, coming only 15th (second worst result after GreenJolly’s 19th place in 2005).
Why did the European audience give so few votes to our singer? For she performed quite well.
Was it out of political motives or the fact that the song “Be My Guest” is good, but not a hit?
“Gaitana’s song is quite good,” well-known composer, rector of the Kyiv-based Gliere Institute of Music Oleksandr ZLOTNYK considers, “Frankly speaking, this year’s Eurovision did not offer any special hits, like ‘Prayer’ by Marija Serifovic from Serbia in 2007, or Alexander Rybak’s ‘Fairytale’ (Norway) in 2009. In my opinion Swede Loreen’s victory is absolutely fair. Her ‘Euphoria’ is a hit.
Our Gaitana performed at a high level. She was not worse than the others, but she failed to stand out against the rest of the participants.
Unfortunately, Eurovision is not only about art and bright TV show, it is also about the relations between the countries.
Today Europe treats Ukraine with caution and this might have had effect on the results of the voting. In spite of Gaitana’s failure, we need to take part in this competition in the future, but if we go there, we will need to present a hit, so that the number was original and stuck in memory. And Gaitana was simply a strong performer of a high level. Europe has many singers like her and songs like ‘Be My Guest,’ but at the contest you need to amaze the audience. Loreen and Buranovskiye babushki managed to do this. Gaitana could have achieved a better result, enter the top five singers, but we have only the 15th place. This is a pity. And the amateur ensemble Buranovskiye babushki presented a show and a very strong arrangement (commercial and hit product). Besides, all of us have grandmothers, and this performance of the Udmurtian ensemble evoked certain feelings in the audience. Maybe next year grandfathers will step on the stage. Remember the shocking Finns from the Lordi band. Yes, paradoxes happen, when rocker monsters win in Eurovision, but this is rather an exception. This year’s contest disappointed me, because there was no bright leading song, although Loreen’s ‘Euphoria’ stood out among the 26 final compositions, thus it brought victory to Sweden, and namely this country is going to host the Eurovision 2013.”
