Barefoot performances at Eurovision

Considering that the blog is called “Barefoot-Eurovision,” this post was probably due for some time…

Sandie Shaw (United Kingdom 1967)

UK’s first Eurovision win (with 4 more to follow), and as far as I’m concerned, she is the first barefoot ESC winner. Doesn’t need any backup dancers, huge staplers (yes, I mean Sakis), or even color TV; she just has to stand there with confidence, slightly moving to the beat.

Dima Bilan (Russia 2008)

Even though I’ve BS’ed my way through English class saying how much I love cold concrete and snowfooting (walking barefoot in the snow), I can’t really snowfoot for more than half a minute. Could someone please tell me how he’s on the ice for 3 minutes? Or maybe it’s not even real ice but just some material that’s great to skate on….

Loreen (Sweden 2012)

When I first saw the performance, my first thought wasn’t that she was barefoot. Because I was still in humanities class and we had just finished talking about Baroque art, my first thought was “Dude, that’s a freakin’ rip-off of Bernini’s ‘The Ecstasy of St. Teresa’!” (OK, fine, if Bernini was the choreographer, he probably would have used multiple wind machines anyways).

Despite not being the first barefoot winner, Loreen did start a new trend of barefoot and dancing on stage. (Russia’s victory was instead well-known for a) the ice rink, b) Evgeni Plushenko, c) a guy playing a Stradivarius, and d) spending a @#$%^&* load of money to win.)

Emmelie de Forest (Denmark 2013)

So she’s barefoot on stage. (And I mean indoor stages only). For some people it’s a bit too formulaic (Barefoot? Check. Fire curtain? Check. Long flowy dress? Check. “Ethnic” instrument? Check.) My only complaint is that I bought a tin whistle in the key of D to play along with the introduction and realizing that the intro was in the key of C. Whoops…

Tanja (Estonia 2014)

Now…out of the 5 barefoot ESC performers in this list, which of the following does not belong? Even though the previous two wins set up the mentality that going unshod would mean victory, that didn’t happen (and it didn’t even qualify L). However, I have to say that it definitely looks like Tanja is in control of the setting, unlike Loreen, who looks like the setting is controlling her. I’m really tempted to try the part where Argo (male dancer) pulls on Tanja’s leg while she balances on the other, but at the same time I don’t want to fall over.