The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual event where competing acts from various European countries (and their guests) duel for a win. The country which wins will be the host country for the next edition. In the past, the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) was a get-together event, where Europe presented its top acts, but now, it can be argued that it has become more of an attention-grabbing show, as acts desperately try to catch the eyes of the voting audiences and jury.
The 2020 edition, which was supposed to be held in the Netherlands, was cancelled (as most events were), so the show returned for the 2021 edition, still in the Netherlands, but with different acts.
With semifinals underway and a finale scheduled for mid-May, we took a look at the different acts and noticed some subtle yet powerful trends. Surely, some trends were obvious, but another trend was less obvious, but nevertheless very interesting to observe.
Upon watching the videos of the 39 competing acts, we noticed that many of them were in one way or another tied to religion, or, better said, a form of spirituality. This is a bit odd, since European society is highly secular these days and most “anthems” are about partying, love and other common themes.
We took a look at the acts and tried to isolate those that had a clear spiritual or religious content.
Here are the ones we identified:
Anxhela Peristeri (Albania) – Karma
Vincet Bueno (Austria) – Amen
Elena Tsagrinou (Cyprus) – El Diablo
Benny Cristo (Czech Republic) – omaga (Based on the expression “Oh My G/d” + lyrics such as “There ain’t no apocalypse”)
Blind Channel (Finland) – Dark Side
Eden Alene (Israel) – Set me Free
Måneskin (Italy) – Zitti e Buoni (lyrics: In casa mia non c’è D/o – In my house there is no G/d)
Samanta Tina (Latvia) – Moon is Rising (debatable: The song was described as: “(…)The next verse describes women as people with immense power, again using the divinity theme “You can run, you can hide, but you’re mesmerised, in your mind I am already idolised”.
Destiny (Malta) – Je Me Casse
TIX (Norway) – Fallen Angel
Ana Solic (Slovenia) – Amen
Jeangu Macrooy (The Netherlands) – Birth of a New Age
Go_A (Ukraine) – Shum (Shum, literally “The Noise”) is an ancient game/dance to summon the spring season.
Out of the 39 acts that entered the initial competition, we identified 13 following this trend, which is 33.3% – a third, which is a clear trend. In the count, we did not add any slight religion/spiritual connections in the lyrics. For example, some songs we did not mention contain terms such as “crystal ball”, “the fates”, “soul”, etc. If we had, the percentage would have been at around 55%.
What is extremely important to notice here is that these ideas do not bring into discussion classic religion or spirituality (they are not about Easter or anything), but rather look at “the other side”, whatever that may mean.
Moreover, some songs contain ideas that can be more or less interpreted as spiritual or being connected to rituals. For example, Australia’s Technicolour song features the lyrics “Midnight is the hour, yeah / Time to take off your cloaks”, which, in today’s world, one can’t help but to relate to an Eyes Wide Shut situation.
The other trends that were also noticeable and easily quantifiable were “female empowerment” and mental illnesses (Loco Loco, Amnesia, “Anxiety is draining”, “crazy energy”, “And I’m about to climb the walls”, etc.). However, while they may be just as big or even more prominent as the spiritual theme, these trends are not surprising since these are topics that are extremely popular in today’s world.
In some ways, it can be said that the notion of a religious revival is also a strong trend these days, even though, for now, it is still subdued and is expressed more through social and political movements which feature the structures specific to religion (especially to Christianity), but which have a more secular tone. There is also a spiritual uprising on the horizon, but that has, most likely, still some time to grow before it becomes fully noticeable.
Back to the ESC trends, as an honorable mention, watching these videos and listening to the lyrics, one cannot help but notice that there is a lot of talk about colors: a lot of chromatic references are also present in the Eurovision 2021 songs. Also, a lot of talk about fire, walls and destruction – trends that are all reflections of the topics discussed and felt in today’s world.
These trends don’t come from anywhere; last year Lady Gaga released the Chromatica album, which pretty much follows many of the same lines (feminism, colors, spirituality).
Regarding who may win the ESC, many people see Malta as the potential winner, but we would also expect Italy and Latvia to do well.
And there you have it.
Here is a quick rundown of the competing acts: