Mention Eurovision and most people will instantly think of Abba’s Waterloo, or the sight of Céline Dion singing Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi in her widest-shouldered blazer. The contest is notorious for thrusting the cheesiest, most bombastic pop it can find into 180 million people’s living rooms every May, and most of the artists playing 2023’s edition in Liverpool on 13 May will cleave to one of two formulas: Europop bangers, or earnest ballads delivered with beseeching, outstretched arms.
Yet since the turn of the century, Eurovision’s love for singalong anthems and OTT theatre has unintentionally made it perfect for a genre that positions itself as pop’s polar opposite: heavy metal. The genre has employed larger-than-life drama ever since Iron Maiden started taking a 10ft-tall zombie on tour; even the most satanic black metal heretics often take to the stage in facepaint. And so nearly every Eurovision throws up a ferocious metal curveball, the most famous being the orc-cosplaying Lordi who won for Finland in 2006 with Hard Rock Hallelujah. Other memorable performances include those by Icelandic electro-goth BDSM troupe Hatari in 2019, bare-chested Finns Teräsbetoni in 2008, and Eldrine, an Evanescence-esque Georgian band in 2011.
