Long before American Idol, The X Factor, or The Voice — before Star Search, even — there was the Eurovision Song Contest, which started in 1956. TheUnited Nations of talent competitions, with participants representing 41 countries from all across Europe, the U.K., and Australia, it is one of the most-watched broadcasts on the planet, with an average annual audience of 200 million. But like many other major 2020 events that were canceled due to coronavirus concerns, last year’s Eurovision was called off for the first and only time in the competition’s 65-year history.
This Saturday, the Eurovision Song Contest triumphantly returned to the Netherlands’ Rotterdam Ahoy arena in front of a live audience of 3,500 fans, all of whom had tested negative for COVID-19. And in another historic moment, the 2021 winner was “Zitti E Buoni” by Italy’s leather-clad hard rock four-piece Måneskin, who formed in high school and first came to fame after placing second on The X Factor Italy in 2017.
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