Saturday night’s Eurovision song contest in Liverpool marked the most watched grand finale in the contest’s history, with a peak of 11 million viewers.
The BBC has reported that this past Saturday’s grand final of the Eurovision song contest in Liverpool was the most watched final in the contest’s history. In the UK, there was a five-minute peak of 11 million people watching with an average of 9.9 million viewers.
The 2011 final of Eurovision held the previous record for the most viewers, with an average of 9.5 million people watching when Blue came in 11th place. Last year, the final, in Turin, was viewed by an average of 8.9 million people.
In other record breaking news, the contest was won by Loreen of Sweden, who made history becoming the first woman to win the contest twice. Her power ballad ‘Tattoo’ was triumphant among the audience, performing more than a decade after her victory in 2012 with her hit song, ‘Euphoria.’
Eurovision posted an official message acknowledging the history-breaking success Loreen has had throughout the past decade.
Loreen is the winner of the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest with her song ‘Tattoo’. In 2012, she also won the Contest in Baku with the song ‘Euphoria’. Loreen becomes only the second artist in history to have won the Eurovision Song Contest twice, after Johnny Logan did the double for Ireland in the ’80s.
This year’s Eurovision contest was meant to take place in the Ukraine, after the Kalush Orchestra won the contest last year with their song ‘Stefania!’ However, due to the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, the contest took place in the UK, where last year’s runner-up was from.
This year’s UK entrant, Mae Muller, earned 24 points, finishing second from the bottom with her song ‘I Wrote a Song,’ which has been very well-received by audience members. On Saturday, Muller was the final performer of the 26 finalists, which fans argue is one of the worst slot’s to have in the contest’s lineup.
25-year-old Miller posted on Twitter to thank audiences and her fellow competitors for a great competition. “I just want to say thank u x i know I joke a lot but we really put our all into the last few months, not the result we hoped for but so proud of everyone & what we achieved on this journey.”
“Congrats to all the countries, I’ll never forget this journey and I love you all.”
Claire McColgan, the director of Culture Liverpool, posted to celebrate the amazing experience of hosting the Eurovision song contest, acknowledging the “incredible experience” of showing the value and importance of investing in culture.
“In cities that aren’t London, it is easy to have one narrative, one story, a history that can dominate your present. But Liverpool is different, Liverpool is complex. And that’s why I love it. It has highs and lows like nowhere else. It has a big outspoken heart and an opinion for basically everything. It is contrary and confrontational. Kind and emotional. And it loves to party.
That’s why Eurovision has supersized here. Everything that is brilliant about Eurovision, especially this special year that we are hosting it on behalf of Ukraine, fits with Liverpool. The bonkers-ness, the brashness, the heart and the authenticity, everything we have done has had Ukraine in the center of it, because that is who we are.
If I was 18 choosing where to go to university, if I was a young investor wanting to locate my business, if I was a kid in a Liverpool school, I would look at this city and say: ‘I want to go there. I want to be there and most importantly I want to do that.’ So, here’s to the arts, because this is great art. Here’s to events,” McCorgan acknowledged.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
