Tonight our group watched the Eurovision Song Contest, a global phenomenon that my theatre-loving American self is now absolutely obsessed with. I love how it is a competition not fully based on song quality, but based on camp, national pride, and what a "Eurovision song" traditionally is, as opposed to what makes something popular in traditional pop music. The stand out performances to me were the ones that brought the most quirk on stage: Iceland's goofy and joyful dance moves, Italy's grunge and non-heteronormative sex appeal, Ukraine's guttural, passionate throat singing and electro-pop vibes. This is unlike anything we would see from a song competition in the states: these artists are unapologetically themselves, proudly representing where they're from, and having a blast doing it, rather than trying to fit a cookie cutter mold of what makes someone "famous" or "popular."
The production:
A musical about the Eurovision Song Contest, with a team of songwriters from all across the world. The story is about an underdog band from Russia that is extremely new on the scene, trying to fit in with the much more established bands in the contest. It is a love story between the lead singer of the Russian band, and a drummer from Italy's band, but it has to be a secret since the Russian public cannot know that he is gay. However, throughout the semi-finals, he learns the value in being who he is, and learns how to be confident in his authenticity. He decides to come out through a song during the final, and wins the competition.
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