If nothing else, amid all the political Sturm und Drang, the Eurovision competition made for astonishing television this year. Sets of characters, each with their own backstories, motivations and aspirations all colliding in one place, after the thing only one of them could get.
Such dynamics have characterized modern entertainment from The Traitors to Game of Thrones, and their playing out on Alan Cumming’s Peacock streaming home, with maximum pyro and musical showmanship, could only leave viewers wonderstruck. (If you didn’t watch, you missed out.) That all of the characters were countries compelled further. A character far from Europe that had never won (Australia) against a character that, depending on your politics, stood as villain or hero (Israel), versus characters not even present because of alleged villain-hero (five boycotting nations), against a plucky forgotten character many couldn’t find on a map (Bulgaria). When the villain-hero surged into the lead over the non-Euro, only to be overtaken at the last second by the plucky forgotten (who was trying to start a dance craze), you couldn’t turn away. Not for nothing did 160 million people tune in, at a time when most shows can’t get 1 million.
