Reacting to her Eurovision triumph, Swedish singer Loreen said that she was “thankful”, as she became the first female act to win the song contest twice.
Having previously taken home the top prize in 2012 with her entry ‘Euphoria’, Loreen once again won the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden with her entry ‘Tattoo’.
On the night itself which took place in Liverpool’s M&S Arena, the jury results saw Sweden ahead as the runaway leaders with 340 votes, with Israel on 177 and Italy on 176.
However, the public votes made things interesting with Finland emerging in the lead with 526 points.
But with the last result of the evening, Sweden were crowned winners, with host Graham Norton revealing that they received 243 points from the public vote, giving them a winning tally of 583 votes.
Finland finished runners up with 526 points, with Israel in third with 362 votes. The UK finished in second last, ahead of Germany who finished bottom with 18 points.
That winning moment! 🇸🇪 #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/z3HLXNvmJE
— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) May 13, 2023
“overwhelming”
Following this victory, Loreen now equals a record previously held by Irish singer Johnny Logan, as artists who have won the competition twice. Logan won the Eurovision for Ireland in 1987 and 1990.
Sweden are now level with Ireland with 7 Eurovision victories each, as both countries share top spot in the standings.
“This is overwhelming. I’m so happy, and I’m so thankful”, Loreen said, reacting to her triumph. “Thank you for this. This is for you”.
Loreen becomes only the second artist to win the #Eurovision Song Contest TWICE 🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/DxKXqB0t2G
— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) May 13, 2023
Ahead of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, New Zealand also launched a bid to return to the contest in 2024, with the release of their comedy track ‘Eurovision (Open Up)’, performed by satirical pair Two Hearts.
“We’ve become big Eurovision fans since arriving here in the UK but we really miss having our own country to cringe at while simultaneously supporting unwaveringly”, Stu Findley who founded the Kiwi brewery company Yeastie Boys who are behind this bid said.
“New Zealanders grow up with a sense of social justice being very important and Australia being invited to Eurovision without New Zealand is like inviting someone to your wedding but not giving them a plus one!”.
More on this from Nova here.
