What a (likely) Ukraine Eurovision victory means

Soon after being posted to New York in 2009, I found myself in a packed gay bar cheering on one-half of Norwegian pop duo Bobbysocks while she danced on the table singing her 1985 Eurovision-winning hit in celebration of that year’s winner – a fellow Norwegian.

Back then the only way to see the annual event – a song contest that’s been a mainstay on European TV since the 1950s – was via a dodgy stream that went down far too often. Not anymore. The much more legit U.S. streaming service Peacock will ensure that Americans are among the global audience of around 200 million people tonight.

What they are likely to see is a rousing Ukrainian victory. But it won’t be just a sympathy vote. For starters, the Ukrainian entry is actually pretty good. And, as Clark University’s resident Eurovision know-it-all Robert Deam Tobin explains, the competition has long struck a political note. “Despite the popular and ephemeral nature of its songs, the event has, since its inception, reflected the political culture and geopolitical realities of Europe,” he writes.

This week we also liked articles about Ukraine’s savvy public relations, why the personhood debate is fraught and evidence that Twitter isn’t biased against conservatives.