Search
CULTURE
SNATCHED
COMMUNITY
STYLE
ORIGINALS
AMPLIFY
TRAVEL
SHOPPING
^
MAGAZINE
Exploring the sartorial pride of Europe’s musical Kings and Queens
14:34 31st May 2019 by Daniel Love
Comments
STYLE
This year’s Eurovision Song Contest painted the stage with everything from gender-smashing style and Haute Couture to fetish and BDSM
Imagine the excitement of the Olympics, The Royal Wedding and Jools’ Annual New Year’s Hootennany rolled into one glittering, all singing, all dancing four hour television spectacle – with a sprinkle of perfectly timed quips from Graham Norton on top. Yes, that's right, it can only mean one thing: the Eurovision Song Contest. Admittedly, not for everyone, but this is the competition that gave the world Abba AND Céline Dion.
Eurovision’s Most Dreadful Decade?
Silver surfers: Ukraine’s Andriy Mykhailovych Danylko as his drag persona Verka Serduchka, 2007
31 MAY
Twinning: Jedward represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012
Candy Crush: Jamie-Lee Kriewitz representing Germany when she performed 'Ghost', 2016
Top | Italy's Mahmood in the music video for this year's entry 'Soldi', Left | Wearing Maison Margiela embroidered in red and gold oriental jacquard for his performance, and Right | In full look MSGM for Dust Magazine
Italy made this year’s competition particularly grave – well as serious as something can be when involving Eurovision anyway. From bringing an Egyptian-Italian centre stage – representing a country notorious for racism and xenophobia – having over 91 million YouTube views on the song entry ‘Soldi’ (robbed from the top prize in my humble opinion), to strutting the stage in Maison Margiela and MSGM. Alessandro Mahmood – known simply as Mahmood – undoubtedly made sartorial history as the most fashionably conscious entry for years. Since the competition he’s become the latest cover star of Dust magazine and been fêted by luxury retailers and brands from Machine A to Prada.
Knitting for days: 'Buranovskiye Babushki' wore embroidered clothinghanded down from generations of Udmurt women when they represented Russia, 2010
![I’m [Not sexy enough] for my pants: Lithuania’s InCulto channelling Right Said Fred… badly, 2010](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d84aa2_97f3112e10564d6794249a54e5a3df76~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_266,h_177,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/eurovision-costumes-9.jpg)
I’m [Not sexy enough] for my pants: Lithuania’s InCulto channelling Right Said Fred… badly, 2010
Left | France’s Bilal Hassani arriving at the Eurovision 2019 Semi-Finals,Right | Photographed for the release of his single ‘Roi’
France, having notoriously deposed of its monarchy in a bloody fashion, may have been tempting fate with their entry titled ‘Roi’, but there’s no doubting the interest in its chosen performer’s attention stealing vocals and stage presence.The budget unfortunately not stretching far enough to kit out l'entrée de cette année, Bilal Hassani, in full regalia (Kate Moss’ 2001 British Vogue ‘A Royal Salute’ cover comes to mind), a collection of eight wigs had to suffice. Although not wearing a crown of true regal proportions – having to make do with backing dancers sculpting one with their highly choreographed paws – Hassani proved a huge hit at home. Now at the age of 19, he previously appeared in the French version of The Voice in 2015; with his audition song of choice being none other than Conchita Wurst’s 2014 Eurovision showstopper ‘Rise Like a Phoenix’ – French gay magazine Têtu has since named them as one of the “top 30 icons for French LGBT+ youth”.
The song, which had been tipped as a strong favourite – translated from French as ‘King’ – was co-written by Hassani and Madame Monsieur (last year’s French representative in Lisbon), and centred around the idea of self-acceptance and hope. Having the opportunity to shine as a symbol to millions of young people across the world as what it means to be free and unashamed; a vibrant message about self-acceptance where urban pop meets the great tradition of the French chanson is at the heart of his performance. His hair and wardrobe being heavily inspired by childhood influences from Bowie to Freddie Mercury.
Feeling Airsick: Scooch “represented” the UK in 2007, performing the song ‘Flying the Flag (For You)’
Left | Greece’s Katerine Duska for the promotion of her song ‘Better Love’, Right | Performing on stage in Tel Aviv
Greece’s Katerine Duska went full Villanelle with her Killing Eve-esque promo but opted for a Gucci inspired set and gown for the final performance. Be it Molly Goddard’s baby pink toile or a festival of floral lace, she created a perfect mash up of West-Coast Lana del Rey and Greco-Welsh MARINA for a classically camp feast; somehow embodying Eurovision’s true spirit while avoiding a clichéd feeling of naff-ness. Her song ‘Better Love’, a soft pop-bop, was performed with a backdrop of unfurling lotus flowers, while surrounded by ballet dancers acting out a bout of fencing.
Hatari on stage in gimp gear at Eurovision performing Hatrið Mun Sigra’
Iceland unsurprisingly garnered a lot of the night’s attention with the bondage-synth-punk trio Hatari (Hater). The Cliff Richard’s and Engelbert Humperdinck’sof the competition need look away now. Eurovision was the opportunity to bring them “one step nearer to [their] plan to destroy capitalism.” The men behind the leather and chains are Klemens Hannigan, Matthías Tryggvi Haraldson, and Einar Stéfansson; the gimp-suited dungeon masters started performing in 2017, aiming to bring down the socio-economic world order. Not only were they selected to represent their country (beating Friðrik Ómar and his power ballad ‘What If I Can’t Have Love?’), but they soon challenged host nation Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a wrestling match. The group sang ‘Hatrið Mun Sigra’ (Hate Will Prevail) featuring memorable lyrics including “The hangover is endless/Life is meaningless/The emptiness will get us all” before breaking into a rousing chorus of “Hate will prevail/Europe will crumble”. For heavy Eurovision fans, Hatari’s performance likely brought back memories of Lordi, the metal group who won the contest with ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’ in 2006 (without Iceland’s political boldness to hold up a Palestinian flag during the announcement of the voting however).
With next year’s competition due to be held in The Netherlands – the night’s winning performance being their sadly uninspiringly dressed Duncan Laurence (with his song ‘Arcade’) – we can only hope that this sartorial renaissance will become a running trend for the historically gaudy affair.
The 64th Eurovision Song Contest was held in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Saturday May 18th2019. You can find out more about the nights acts and their wardrobes, from the camp to the couture, at eurovision.tv