The Swiss Marius Bear qualified Tuesday evening in Turin for the final of the 66th Eurovision Song Contest. The Appenzeller will therefore perform his ballad ‘Boys Do Cry’ once again on Saturday evening.
Marius Bear had never hidden before the contest that his performance would include ‘no fireworks, no dancing, no crescendo’ and that his song is not a typical Eurovision song.
‘Boys Do Cry’, an emotional ballad about the importance of expressing all your emotions as a man, deliberately has no political or sexual overtones, Marius Bear told Keystone-ATS ahead of his performance. At the center of her big moment is ‘a three-minute embrace’.
And this embrace, the 29-year-old singer showed in the first semi-final in the form of a friendly and simple performance, which strongly highlighted his great voice. For the million spectators, the singer even wore shoes while at other concerts he gladly performs barefoot.
Ukraine qualified
This is the third time in a row that a Swiss has reached the final phase of the competition, after the Bernese Luca Hänni in 2019 and the Gruérien Gjon’s Tears in 2021. The competition had been canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
In addition to Switzerland, the other countries which have validated their ticket for the final are Armenia, Iceland, Lithuania, Greece, Portugal, Norway, Moldova, the Netherlands as well as Ukraine, considered as the favorite to win this 66th edition.
Ten other countries will qualify in the second semi-final. The five big European countries, France, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and Germany, are guaranteed a place in the final.
Due to the war in Ukraine, the European Broadcasting Union excluded Russia from the competition.
/ATS