A wise hip-hop artist once said that “Haters gonna hate”. He must have been a Eurovision fan. Aliona Moona wears an iridescent dress that looks somewhat triangular to her first rehearsal. Haters compare her to a lava lamp. Zlata Ognevich has a 7″8′ man carry her onto the stage. Haters say, “Oh hell no: she is exploiting someone living with gigantism!” But none of that prepared us for Cezar Ouatu. The “It’s My Life” singer took to the stage in a dramatic Dracula-inspired outfit with Swarovski crystals, while dancers covered in dirt moved around a red tarp that resembled a human placenta. It was daring. It was out there. And it has clearly earned him the respect of our readers. After counting 4,259 votes, we are pleased to announce that Cezar Ouatu has won the Verka Serduchka Award for Most Daring Performance at Eurovision.
Results
1. Cezar Ouatu: 2,323 votes, 54.54%
2. Aliona Moon: 793 votes, 18.62%
3. Zlata Ognevich: 408 votes, 9.58%
4. Who See: 378 votes, 8.88%
5. Farid Mammadov: 357 votes, 8.38%
The Verka Serduchka Award honours Ukraine’s 2007 contestants who ran around the stage in tin foil in what remains one of the most bizarre—and thrilling—Eurovision performances of all time. They wore “69” on their backs with pride, and provoked and pushed boundaries like no other. Their song “Dancing Lasha Tumbai” angered Russians who heard “Russia goodbye” in the chorus and took it as an attack on their country’s influence in formerly Soviet Ukraine. Serduchka claimed lasha tumbai was a Mongolian phrase for whipped cream (it was actually gibberish). The drag queen’s over-the-top dance performance won her fans in Europe and earned her second place. Russian officials didn’t get the joke, and banned Serduchka from performing in the country for one year. Oops.
This award is just one of a dozen awards we have launched as part of the inaugural Valentina Monetta Awards. Our 12 categories—from best dressed to most most wronged at ESC—identify the contestants who left the biggest impression on Eurovision fans, regardless of whether they won the contest or not.
Did Cezar deserve to win most daring? Who would you have ranked second?
Photo: jurnalspiritual.eu
William contributed this report from London. Follow the team from wiwibloggs on Twitter @wiwibloggs and keep up with the latest Eurovision news by liking our Facebook page.
Amen, Nirgal!
I’ve congratulate you few days earlier,dear Cezar,for winning both polls,before this one was ended,becouse i knew you will win!;)Once again,congrats!Your number one fan….:))))will be always here for you,to vote and do whatever it takes to see u happy!:)))
It was truly the most spectacular and challenging SHOW THAT I saw on stage at MALMO! I’m glad that show high class artistic quality was appreciated by so many lovers of music and art! This was due to the great stage experience and vibrant voice of Caesar, and professional team! Congratulations and good luck in a successful future for their only true artist that I saw on stage EUROVISION 2013! Caesar will become a star of world music! Sophistication and depth of his musical education will propel him to the great stages of the world! Caesar lives for… Read more »
The level of fan blind voting for Cezar only makes Farid’s victory at Next Top Male Model even more impressive.
All CezarFriends, I agree with you. I watched every article posted on Wiwi about Cezar and I am glad to see that Romanian show message it is not a cryptic one for the large audience. Once again, it proves the wide gap between the jury and the public. Perhaps this was the real reason for an earlier voting jury. If it is so, EBU, you’ve done it, so PLEASE adjust the level of jury members in order to be as high as public level. PLEEEEEEAAASE! Don’t torture us again next year!
Each prize Cezar gets represents the confirmation he is in full disposal of a precious talent beautifully displayed. This one, awarded through WiwiBloggs, proves the public awareness of what means the innovative and different in a show. It also indicates the obstination Cezar and the whole Romanian team had in pursueing a daring concept despite of some negative comments they had. All said and done, congratulations dearest Cezar & team and my full gratitude for your splendid faith !!
Congratulations Cezar and to the entire team who worked on this show. We had a fantastic show. I love this show as much this song.
Definitely deserving of this award. When I saw Cezar (for the first time) in the semi- final, I was left thinking what the fuck was that. He was in last place in my ranking.
And then over the next several days it kept coming back to me and I started changing my mind. By the time we got to the final and I watched it again, it had moved up to a tie in 1st place in my ranking.
It takes an incredibly daring act to get that kind of response.
CONGRATULATIONS Cezar! The best performance!
un premio asolutamente meritato!!,una voce meravigliosa!!un artista tutto fare!!!complimenti !!!
Congratulations CEZAR, you offered an entire opera in 3 minutes! Congratulations also wiwibloggs because even though it’s been a month since the end of the contest we’re still in the Eurovision atmosphere!
the best voice the best song the best show
Congratulations Cezar!
The Best Performance! The best show ever. I liked very much.