Swedish singer Loreen was named the winner of Eurovision 2023 for her pop anthem “Tattoo,” triumphing over 25 other nations in the finals on Saturday night.
This is her second time winning the contest, first earning the top prize for Sweden in 2012. She joins Ireland’s Johnny Logan, who won in 1980 and 1987, as a two-time winner. Sweden also has the joint amount of wins in the contest with Ireland at seven victories each.
>WATCH KALUSH ORCHESTRA’s TYMOFII MUZYCHUK’s uINTERVIEW!
In honor of Ukraine, Eurovision’s theme for this year was “united by music.” The event took place in Liverpool, England. Typically, the competition’s host country is the winner from the previous year, but since last year’s winner, Ukraine, is at war, the 2022 runner-up Britain hosted this year’s contest.
Loreen performed her song between two moving platforms, dancing around the stage while singing the chorus, “You’re stuck on me like a tattoo-hoo-hoo.”
During her acceptance speech, Loreen said earning her second win was “overwhelming.” She previously remarked that returning to Eurovision was “like coming back to a family.”
Finland’s Käärijä, 29, was runner-up for his trance hit “Cha Cha Cha.” He wore a costume that may have drawn inspiration from the Incredible Hulk with green leather covering his arms and neck.
“Cha Cha Cha” actually beat out “Tattoo” according to at-home voters, but it wasn’t enough of a margin to change the result of the jury vote.
Ted Lasso star and Emmy winner Hannah Waddingham co-hosted the contest with Britain’s Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon and Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina. Graham Norton joined as an additional host for the final round.
Eurovision has a history of jumpstarting the careers of many famous international names, including Sweden’s ABBA, Julio Iglesias from Spain, Britain’s Cliff Richard and Céline Dion, who represented Switzerland.
Last year’s winner was Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra.
