Eurovision’s first semi-final truly did not disappoint on Tuesday, although two particularly, memorable performances seemed to be burned into people’s minds.
The Eurovision Song Contest is officially under way in Liverpool – with the UK hosting on behalf of last year’s winner Ukraine – with the grand final set to take place on Saturday.
And this week’s first semi-final saw Croatia, Moldova, Switzerland, Finland, Czechia, Israel, Portugal, Sweden, Serbia and Norway all get through to the final.
Although all of these performances were truly one of a kind, there were two which were still the talk of the town the next morning.
Finland’s entry Käärijä danced around the stage with a bowl cut, inflatable green sleeves and four dancers as he sang the song Cha Cha Cha, which is about shaking off the boredom of work and giving into the dance floor.
Twitter just ate the bonkers performance up – so much so, the country was still trending across the UK the following morning.
Meanwhile, Croatia’s act Let 3 tore up the stage with the song Mama ŠČ! in a completely different kind of way.
The three-minute performance saw the five-person band all march on in soldier uniforms and start changing before stripping down to their pants and waving giant missiles around.
But Croatia’s song isn’t just about the cut-outs of the band’s faces projected onto the back (even if it is slightly nightmare-inducing) or their jaunty military caps – it has an important political meaning.
It’s a metaphor for the Russian Federation, and an attempt to mock dictators.
Band member Damir Martinović told Croatian TV channel N1 earlier this year: “We want to send a message to those who think that the planet is their toy and manage everyone like puppets, and at the moment Putin is a prominent model of that style, so it was our turn to dedicate a song to him.”
The band repeated this message in a press conference after their performance, saying: “Our stupid but very clever song is a kind of way to be an anti-war song. We believe there are no winners in wars. Everyone is a victim. So please stop fucking wars.”
Twitter thought it was an absolute banger, too, even if most people were pretty bewildered by it.
More than three million people tuned in to watch the first semi-final on Tuesday, making it the most viewed semi-final ever, having been promoted to prime time BBC One (2022′s semi brought in a meagre 545,000 viewers).
The second semi-final airs on Thursday, with the Grand Final airing on Saturday, both from 8pm on BBC One.