Let’s be honest: none of us saw a song about being possessed by the ghost of writer Edgar Allan Poe coming at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, but we’re all here for it.
In Austria’s entry for the competition – taking place in Liverpool on behalf of last year’s winners, Ukraine – singers Teya and Salena ask “Who the Hell is Edgar?”, and that’s a blooming good question.
The answer? Edgar Allan Poe… poe, poe, poe, poe, poe…
Yes, that is the chorus, and yes, it is that catchy.
So aside from being supposedly possessed by Poe, what prompted the duo to write about the American writer, who died all the way back in 1849?
According to the lyrics, the singer is “happy” to be taken over by Poe because the song is “feeling special” and will “make me rich”.
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However, arguably the more interesting lines come later in the track, when Teya and Salena reference the figure “0.003” – the amount of money music streaming giant Spotify pays artists after a single stream of a song.
The lyrics continue: “Give me two years, and your dinner will be free / Gas station champagne is on me / Edgar cannot pay rent for me.
“Zero, dot, zero, zero, three / At least it pays to be funny / Ugh.”
So yes, “Who the Hell is Edgar” does appear to actually be about the poor treatment of artists in the music industry.
We love to see it – and so do other Eurovision fans:
However, Austria’s chances of winning the contest may be scuppered now, after it was revealed on Friday that they would be first up to perform in Saturday’s Grand Final.
According to an online article from the Eurovision Song Contest itself back in 2019, at the time, only three songs in the competition’s history won after performing first.
Out of 67 winners, just over 34 per cent came from the first half of the show, so it doesn’t look that good for them.
Elsewhere, though, there is some good news for Luxembourg, as it’s been announced the country will return to compete in the show from next year – ending a 30-year hiatus after they were relegated in 1993.
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