Loreen - Euphoria (Sweden 2012)

[PopLife]

This thread was sorta inevitable in this subforum. I remember how gagged I was after the perf in heat 1 of Melfest 2012 and how initially, I was afraid Loreen would be misunderstood and that Swedish kids would vote for Sean Banan, sending her to AC like they did the year prior. When she went DTF, the relief was huge and then the upcoming 2 heats were just a transition period to heat 4, to hear if Danny Saucedo had the winning song as hyped. When "Amazing" turned out to be cheesy and naff, it literally was Loreen or no one all the way to the final. In the end she crushed everything and everyone and finally, Sweden was the obvious winner it'd aspired to be for years. Loreen crushed everything and everyone in Baku as well, even if she ended up in trouble with the dictatorial regime and swallowed some snow in the jury final, sending Aftonbladet into a tailspin. She did have some competition with the Russian grannies and Željko Joksimović, but still won comfortably. The legacy of Euphoria is undeniable now, it inspired a whole bunch of artists who previously thought ESC was beneath them to give it a chance and it became first truly massive hit in decades.

 

[Penelope]

Easy to be dulled to by how overexposed and overplayed it is/was, but the performance and song really are both utterly beyond. A complete step change for the contest in terms of ambition and creativity, staging and camerawork-wise.

 

[Dark Carnival]

Girls, I joined the Eurovision bandwagon once and for all thanks to this! So don’t get things mixed up miss thing. This is the ultimate DOUZE.

 

[ZenGiraffe]

Don't especially feel the need to listen these days, will always go for something else in Loreen's oeuvre, but obvs a 12455 in every way shape and form.

 

[Dark Carnival]

Don't especially feel the need to listen these days, will always go for something else in Loreen's oeuvre, but obvs a 12455 in every way shape and form.

Yes, indeed, nowadays I would rather listen to Tattoo. Though that’s not taking anything away from Euphoria.

 

[GNL]

I actually think this is about a million times better than 'Tattoo' (which is also very good) but this just feels like a classic.

 

[PopLife]

The Måns crashout after the final this year was nothing comparing to Danny after 2012 Melfest final. Björkman hyped Danny so much, he went on record saying how for him, Melfest 12 was about making sure Danny wins and goes to ESC. But when he saw Loreen's full performance he texted Danny's manager "Oops." and Danny fully bought into his own hype and literally said that "Amazing" would do better in ESC than Loreen. Poor guy had some huge mental health issues afterwards, he said in the interviews years later, that he shut himself off from everyone.

 

[straightorbroken]

Love a Tina Cousins style banger. Incredible. The performance was an immense moment.

 

[Lucille]

Much like myself, I fear this will never be topped.

 

[Suomi]

Her talent is in interpretation of songs and using visual art to bring that narrative to life. She is a storyteller. And what makes her a perfect act for the medium of Eurovision/Melfest is that she uses the constraints of having just three minutes to her advantage, by committing her whole body and voice to her performances.

A recent visit to The Tate Modern brought up an interesting conversation about Loreen- Euphoria in the same context Paul Cézanne The Basket of Apples

Spoiler

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because both are pieces of art that changed the way in which people thought about what was possible to achieve in that medium, and both can be thought of as completely changing their respective landscapes. Both made such an impact that we can think of them as creating a ‘Before This’ and ‘After This’ effect.

It seems strange to me, therefore, to bring up a lack of supposed ‘evolution’ when you see a performance like ‘Tattoo’, as the purpose of Loreen’s art (and indeed, Cézanne’s) is to deepen the exploration into the human perspective. So what may look and sound like similar performances to you, is actually more about your inability to see the new stances and depth that Loreen is immersing herself into. Enjoy the ride, I say!

text o musik: my husband

 

[Penelope]

I believe Suomi is evil, but also absolutely correct in terms of there being a clear Eurovision before Euphoria and a clear Eurovision after Euphoria. You just need to look at what typical winning/top 5 performances looked like before and after.

 

[Lucille]

This and Diva were the era defining performances of the contest, that ushered in Eurovision’s 2nd and 3rd act.

 

[lolly]

I'd agree with both being era defining, but would say we've had a few more eras than that.

France Gall ushered in the second era, and Abba the third.

 

[Lucille]

Maneskin winning post Covid felt like a cultural reset at the time but never really materialised into an era defining entry like Diva/Euphoria.