Bye bye banana wolves! Is social media ruining Eurovision?

From gorilla stage invasions to novelty butter churners, the extravaganza has always been a haven for wackiness. But it’s getting less outre by the year … and YouTube and TikTok are to blame. More Papa Pingouin required!Eurovision has always been a time to gather round the TV and experience dancing babushkas, gorilla stage invasions and someone inhaling from a helium balloon halfway through their song. But being a Eurovision entry now looks like being part of an exhausting social media content factory, which may be driving some of the wackiness out of it. No one is giving a wolf a banana this year.In 2025, a Eurovision artist needs to tread on eggshells to avoid putting a foot wrong during months-long internet exposure, but must also stay interesting enough to attract likes and follows. It has also become the norm for contestants to provide alternative versions of their own or other Eurovision songs for the viral content mills. And it is difficult to do that if you are, like Ireland in 2008, sending a puppet. Continue reading...

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