We’ve been hearing Saudade and Biti Zdrava in our heads for the past two days, Pandas, and we couldn’t be happier. Let’s see a show of hands how many of you saw the amazing Eurovision finale Saturday evening. We hope you’ll agree that the show was absolutely magical, powerful beyond belief, and full of surprises. Some of the top highlights include the entire West rallying behind Ukraine, the United Kingdom making a plot-twist cosmic comeback to grab the number 2 spot, and Norway proving that bananas aren’t just delicious but musical and calm down wolves as well.
Bored Panda has collected the best Eurovision 2022 memes and reactions for you to enjoy, so scroll on down, enjoy, and upvote your fave ones, Pandas. And if you know any other Eurovision fans as big as you, make sure to send them this list, too. We all know you’ll brighten their day!
Listen beautiful relax classics on our Youtube channel.
When you’re done enjoying the article, we’d love to hear your impressions about the finale. Who were your favorites and why? What did you think of Mika’s stunning show during the voting? Which songs have been stuck in your head all weekend (Serbia, Norway, and Portugal have been earworms on a never-ending loop in ours!)? We can’t wait to hear what you have to say, so be sure to drop by the comments. Let’s dive headfirst into the action, shall we? Eurovision might be over, but we’re bringing the after-party!
#1
Image credits: jonoread
#2
Image credits: lucykathrynwood
#3
Image credits: TechnicallyRon
This year’s Eurovision contest took place in Turin, Italy, and it was truly a show to behold. Ukraine won first place in this year’s Eurovision contest. The Kalush Orchestra’s song ‘Stefania’ got a whopping 631 points, as the public expressed its love and support for Ukraine which has been invaded by Russia. Ukraine was a favorite to win the contest: bookies, social media users, and our own social circles were very much in support of the country throughout the contest.
The Kalush Orchestra had gotten special permission to leave the war-torn country to perform in the contest, and pleaded with the world to “help Ukraine, help Mariupol, help Azovstal right now.” They were referring to the soldiers mounting a final defense at the besieged Azovstal iron and steelworks against the Russian invaders. After the Eurovision victory, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promised that the contest would “one day” be held in Mariupol.
#4
Image credits: scottygb
#5
Image credits: JulesDrmnn
#6
Image credits: jonoread
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom staged a massive comeback. Back in 2021, the UK didn’t get any points whatsoever, leading some to wonder if the country would even want to participate in the future. However, this year was completely different.
Sam Ryder’s powerful ballad ‘Space Man’ won the UK second place in Eurovision. It’s the country’s best result in the song competition since 1998. And it’s surely a sign that Europe (and Australia!) are ready to enjoy some British culture once again. There’s been a bit of bad blood since Brexit. And even though we can all pretend that the contest is apolitical, the votes (or the lack of them) usually show each country’s political preferences and dislikes quite clearly.
#7
Listen beautiful relax classics on our Youtube channel.
Image credits: whale4minhyuk
#8
Image credits: worldvishawn
#9
Image credits: ArgentumTrs
Not everything was as transparent this year as fans would’ve hoped. The European Broadcasting Union, responsible for calculating the scores for each country’s song, actually had to remove six countries’ votes. This happened after noticing “irregular voting patterns.” They then replaced the votes with an aggregating result that’s based on countries with similar voting patterns. This happened both in the second semifinal and the grand final. The countries that had their votes replaced were Azerbaijan, Georgia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, and San Marino.
“In order to comply with the Contest’s Voting Instructions, the EBU worked with its voting partner to calculate a substitute aggregated result for each country concerned for both the Second-Semi Final and the Grand Final (calculated based on the results of other countries with similar voting records). This process was acknowledged by the Independent Voting Monitor,” the EBU stated.
“The EBU takes any suspected attempts to manipulate the voting at the Eurovision Song Contest extremely seriously and has the right to remove such votes in accordance with the Official Voting Instructions, irrespective of whether or not such votes are likely to influence the results and/or outcome of the voting.”
#10
Image credits: ChainsOnLou
#11
Image credits: euromemesion
#12
Image credits: Pikachuzita
The jury and the public were actually in disagreement about who should be in first place this year. The jury’s favorite was UK’s Ryder with 283 votes. Meanwhile, the public gave ‘Space Man’ a far more modest 183 points via televoting
Meanwhile, the public gave Ukraine 439 points and launched the country to first place. The Eurovision jury, however, was a bit less enthusiastic about ‘Stefania,’ giving the song 192 points.
#13
Image credits: CAPRIAN0
#14
Image credits: Jared_Squirrel
#15
Image credits: eurovisionmeme
Ryder told the BBC that the future looks bright for the UK. “This is the tip of an iceberg. The UK is going to be a force next year. It’s gonna be mad,” he said.
Meanwhile, Graham Norton, who presented the contest on BBC One said: “I am so happy for [Sam], for the UK, and for the BBC who have worked so hard to turn our fortunes.” In short, the Brits are over the moon (pun very much intended) that Ryder’s ‘Space Man’ helped launch them into the hearts of Eurovision fans everywhere.
#16
Image credits: JamesB767
#17
Image credits: runtothehillsz
#18
Image credits: FaultyMagician
In third place was Chanel with ‘SloMo.’ The fiery song and passionate dancing won over many a viewer’s hearts, too. Personally, I couldn’t stop laughing for a minute straight after seeing Ryanair’s joke tweet about all the flights to Spain having been booked, and nobody supposedly knowing why.
#19
Image credits: Mylenn
#20
Image credits: krisdobz
#21
Image credits: wa_livi
Fourth place went to Sweden’s Cordelia Jakobs with ‘Hold Me Closer,’ while Serbia’s Konstrakta won fifth place with ‘In Corporare Sano.’ The latter’s lyrics Biti Zdrava and unusual (even esoteric) aesthetics have so much meme potential, it’s unreal. I’ve been hearing the song in my head every single time I’ve washed my hands these past two days, and I’m not sure when this will stop. Send help!
#22
Image credits: zoelondondj
#23
Image credits: eurovisionmeme
#24
Image credits: worldvishawn
The hope is that Ukraine will be able to stage the contest in 2023. “I’m sure that next year Ukraine will be happy to host Europe in a new, integrated and happy Ukraine,” Oleh Psiuk, the frontman for whose mother the song is a tribute, said.
#25
Image credits: worldvishawn
#26
Image credits: marimisterios
#27
Image credits: wittyusrname6
Despite this, it’s unclear if the war in Ukraine will be over by then. Usually, Eurovision is held in the country that won first place. However, this might not be possible due to the Russian invasion. So far, no decision has been made for 2023.
The last time the winner refused to host the competition was in 1980. Israel didn’t want to be the host twice in a row, so the Netherlands took over.
#28
Image credits: TechnicallyRon
#29
Image credits: youmustescape
#30
Image credits: worldvishawn
What will happen next year is still unclear. One thing we know for sure, though, is that we’ll be carrying a lot of bananas with us from now on. You never know when a wolf might come after your grandma.
#31
Image credits: eurovisionmeme
#32
Image credits: BushyBoi3000
#33
Image credits: ABigOne77
#34
Image credits: eurovisionmeme
#35
Image credits: NinasPeach
#36
Image credits: TheRavenchild
#37
Image credits: JDjinxed
#38
Image credits: GargantuanGorganzola
#39
Image credits: tytracks
#40
Image credits: rbagrin
#41
Image credits: Val_Voshchevska
#42
Image credits: lkevdb
#43
Image credits: twcuddleston
#44
Image credits: euromemesion
#45
Image credits: euromemesion
#46
Image credits: euromemesion
#47
Image credits: euromemesion
#48
Image credits: euromemesion
#49
Image credits: euromemesion
#50
Image credits: TheSonicScrew
#51
Image credits: The_Globe
#52
Image credits: euromemesion
#53
Image credits: euromemesion
#54
Image credits: euromemesion
#55
Image credits: euromemesion
#56
Image credits: eurovisionmeme
#57
Image credits: LunaMoonMeUp
#58
Image credits: eurovisionmeme
#59
Image credits: TheMizzCCB
Source: boredpanda.com