Rock ‘n’ roll isn’t dead, French could be the next global pop language and other takeaways from this year’s contest.
Eurovision 2021 was an audacious experiment in overcoming the coronavirus — but it was about more than that. What else did it tell us? Maneskin’s win with “Zitti E Buoni,” a song filled with off-color lines and lyrics about smoking, was not the only sign of a rock resurgence. Finland’s Blind Channel came in sixth with an angry nu-metal song called “Dark Side,” while The Black Mamba, representing Portugal, came in 12th with “Love Is On My Side,” a piece of classic 1970s rock music that wouldn’t have been out of place in Paul McCartney’s back catalog. For the past few years, Spanish-language pop has surged in the American and European pop charts thanks to acts like Bad Bunny, Rosalía and C.
