CELEBRATION

Fado music takes centre stage at Eurovision Song Contest

Lights, music, action! The annual celebration of country and song known as the Eurovision Song Contest got underway in Portugal’s capital Saturday night with a paean to the country’s traditional fado music.

Accompanied by a Portuguese 12-string guitar and drums, fado singers Ana Moura and Mariza - two of the genre’s biggest stars - opened the contest’s Grand Final at Altice Arena on Saturday night.

The final of the 63rd Eurovision Song Contest will crown one of 26 entries with dreams of following in the footsteps of past winners such as Swedish pop group ABBA and Spanish crooner Julio Iglesias.

More than 10,000 people are in the audience, and thousands more are watching the show at a downtown fan zone. An expected 200 million people were expected to tune in across the world.

The event started out as a competition between European countries, but its huge popularity has led to the inclusion of Israel and Australia as contestants.

The country which furnishes the winner organizes the following year’s competition. Portugal won last year with Salvador Sobral’s subdued ballad “Amar pelos Dois.”

Beatbombers, a Portuguese DJ duo, mixed a classic fado song with a techno beat while the contestants representing 26 countries paraded across the stage with their national flags.

A lot of thought went into the lineup for the Eurovision Song Contest’s Grand Final.

The event’s producer, Christer Bjorkman, assesses each of the annual event’s 26 performers, figuring out how to create the best show. He juggles ballads with heavy rock, and balances solo acts with bands, to get the tempo right.

“You want to start with good energy. You want to get the party going,” Bjorkman said.

Ukrainian entry MELOVIN was the first contestant up on Saturday night with his song “Under The Ladder.”

His performance featured a flaming staircase leading up to a piano, touches he said were inspired by the song’s lyrics: “Nothing but your will sets you on fire, and fire lasts forever.”

Ukraine has won the competition twice. After MELOVIN, it was Spain’s turn.

One headache for organizers is the turnover time between acts of just 40 seconds.

That’s not much time to get the props off stage, though the commercial breaks offer more breathing space for the crew.