From hamster wheels to butter-churning women, it wouldn’t be Eurovision without a few outrageous props on stage. The props may differ from year to year but one type of prop makes the cut more than most — the national flag. So, in honour of patriotic singers everywhere, let’s take a look at 12 Eurovision acts that featured flags.
1. Lordi – “Hard Rock Hallelujah” (Finland 2006)
In 2006, Lordi proved that it is possible to display national pride and win Eurovision at the same time. Mr Lordi had wings on his back and a Finnish top hat on his head. Hallelujah!
2. Scooch – “Flying The Flag (For You)” (United Kingdom 2007)
In 2007, Scooch fastened their seatbelts and flew us around Europe in three minutes. With a Union Jack-themed backdrop and trolleys decorated with all the flags of Europe, Scooch had a flag for everybody.
https://youtu.be/f9y8hqsYXTw
3. Kreisiraadio – “Leto Svet” (Estonia 2008)
Kreisiraadio turned up with two Estonian flags, as well as Serbian, German and Finnish flags, representing the languages they were singing in. Unfortunately, they only managed to accumulate eight points in the semi-final, narrowly avoiding last place.
4. Dustin The Turkey – “Irelande Douze Pointe” (Ireland 2008)
Ireland created controversy in 2008 by sending a turkey puppet to Eurovision. Despite mentioning just about every country in Europe throughout their song, the colours of the Irish flag were all over the stage — in feathers! They didn’t get enough points to qualify for the final but they do get douze pointe for national pride!
5. Sakis Rouvas – “This Is Our Night” (Greece 2009)
Sakis Rouvas returned to Eurovision in 2009 and brought Greece another top-ten finish. You might recall his performance ending with his prop opening up and revealing a gigantic Greek flag underneath.
6. Svetlana Loboda – “Be My Valentine” (Ukraine 2009)
From giant hamster wheels to shirtless gladiators, Ukraine’s anti-crisis girl had staging that was far from forgettable. Amidst all the skin and steel, Svetlana also had a moving drum kit adorned with two Ukrainian flags. When she’s not rocking out on stage, Svetlana is busy releasing new music.
https://youtu.be/iA-HL-EfUbI
7. Valentina Monetta – “The Social Network Song” (San Marino 2012)
Valentina Monetta’s first Eurovision entry was all about social media. Naturally, she came with a laptop bearing the San Marino flag. We just hope her next status update includes a flag emoji!
8. Who See – “Igranka” (Montenegro 2013)
It’s hard to forget Montenegro’s Who See. After all, they came to Eurovision dressed as astronauts. Not just any astronauts, though — keep an eye out for those Montenegrin flags on their spacesuit shoulders!
9. Hersi – “One Night’s Anger” (Albania 2014)
Forget feathers and luggage trolleys — Albania’s Hersi took things to a new level by having the eagle centrepiece of the Albanian flag adorning her own skin!
10. Aram MP3 – “Not Alone” (Armenia 2014)
In the 2014 postcards, all performers designed their country’s flag in a unique way. For most, that was the end of it, but Aram MP3 took his design on stage, wearing it as a brooch on his chest.
11. Twin Twin – “Moustache” (France 2014)
There was no shortage of flags on display in 2014, but France certainly had the most. Towards the end, their background graphics included moustaches flashing up in the colours of the flags of Europe!
12. Donatan & Cleo – “My Slowianie” (Poland 2014)
Poland were busy churning butter and washing clothes during their performance in 2014, but that didn’t stop Cleo from adorning her hair with the Polish flag in the form of flowers!
Do you love the display of national pride at Eurovision? What’s your favourite flag appearance? Let us know in the comments below!
‘This article should have also included that huge Russian flag being waved in front of Ivi Adamou’s (Cyprus 2012) semi-final performance.’
@Huh: LOL. I fell off the sofa when reading this!
More Valentina posts!!
Turkey 1991: the 3 lead performers’ costumes made up the host country Italy’s tricolour.
Israel 200 tow
Ireland and Estonia’s 2008 entries sums up everything that the 2008 contest was, I dont even get what was going on there.
Cleo was also waving a hankie that’s probably in a form of Polish flag before singing the English part of her song.
This article should have also included that huge Russian flag being waved in front of Ivi Adamou’s (Cyprus 2012) semi-final performance.
SO MANY OF THESE WERE CATASTROPHIC CLUSTERFLUICHS OF AMAZINGNESS <3
Lithuania 2013 also!