THEY MAY not have won the contest itself, but Jedward’s participation in this year’s Eurovision has boosted their image at home and in the UK, and points the way towards career expansion.
The enormous excitement generated by their act had raised expectations of a top-three finish, but the final scoreboard made clear that their particular style and energy was not appreciated by southern and eastern European juries and voters. Further north, however, many nations scored them highly, with the UK, Denmark and Sweden giving them the coveted douze points.
Their song was in the top four in the iTunes charts in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland yesterday. The German media were certainly on their side. The northern and central European music markets seem ripe for Jed-invasion.
Overall, this was one of the most unpredictable Eurovision results in some time. “The voting was utterly bizarre,” says Paul Jordan, who is writing a PhD on Eurovision and new European nation-building at the University of Glasgow. “Italy came second, but the bookies had them at something like 200-1.”
Raphael Gualazzi's Folia d'Amoreearned 189 points, while Sweden's entry, Popularsung by Eric Saade, came in third with 185 points.
The winning song, Running Scared, sung by Azerbaijan’s Eli and Nikki, was not a landslide winner as in the three previous years; like Ireland it only received three 12-point scores (from Malta, Russia, and Turkey), and won with a total of 221 votes. The song had been tipped to finish in the top 10, but few saw it in advance as a clear-cut victor.
Eurovision experts attribute the Azeri song’s success to its ability to appeal across demographics: “It’s a kind of pleasant-sounding, middle of the road pop that isn’t particularly current in the UK or Ireland,” says Brian Singleton, professor of drama at Trinity College, Dublin.
The success of Running Scaredalso indicates that the age of ethno-flavoured Eurovision winners (such as the Turkish, Ukrainian, and Greek winners in the mid 2000s) may be well and truly over. "There's nothing apparently Azeri about it," says Jordan. "The songwriters are Swedish." The song also benefited from an appealing staging.
Azerbaijan, a Central Asian nation bordered by Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Iran and the Caspian Sea, has pursued Eurovision victory with obvious purpose since it started competing in 2008, and has always finished in the top eight.
The country was widely reported to have spent €1.6 million on their entry last year, Drip Drop,sung by Safura; it was choreographed by JaQuel Knight, best known for Beyoncé's Single Ladiesvideo.
The head of the Azeri delegation to Eurovision, Adil Kerimli, last night said his country looked forward to hosting a contest that was “even better” than this year’s staging in Düsseldorf. There are surely logistical challenges ahead, however: given that the country’s time zone is four hours ahead of GMT, the contest would have to begin at midnight local time. Infrastructure is also a concern.
The CIA World Factbook says corruption in Azerbaijan is “ubiquitous”. The elections that brought Ilham Aliyev to power as president in 2003 (succeeding his father in the position) were criticised by the OSCE as not meeting international standards, and in 2009 presidential term limits were abolished.
Aliyev telephoned Eli and Nikki (Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal) on Saturday to congratulate them on their Eurovision victory. The oil-rich nation is trying to diversify its income beyond energy markets, and has identified trade with Europe as a priority; raising its profile via hosting Eurovision could be an important vehicle for this agenda.
There was some booing in the audience at the Düsseldorf Arena on Saturday night when neighbouring countries such as Cyprus and Greece, and nations of the former Yugoslavia, exchanged high votes on Saturday night. It is interesting to note, however, that cheers rather than boos greeted the UK’s 12 points for Ireland.