The Eurovision Song Contest, known for its flamboyance and pushing performance boundaries, may have gone too far for some viewers this year.
Contestants at this year’s song contest in Basel, Switzerland, brought the heat with flesh-flashing outfits and raunchy dances.
Social media lit up with complaints after Finland, Malta and Spain after they delivered performances that many described as too sexy.
Leading the pack was Finland’s Erika Vikman, who stunned in a revealing black latex outfit and provocative stage setup. However, it was the daring title of her song that truly captured everyone’s attention.
Meanwhile Malta’s performance by Miriana Conte left viewers stunned with racy displays during the widely-discussed show.
As the performance started, BBC commentator Rylan Clark warned viewers at home that she would be ‘pushing the boundaries’.
Elsewhere Spain’s Melody left nothing to the imagination in a sizzling leotard and provocative dance moves.
Here are this years Eurovision Song Contests most raunchy performances…
The 32-year-old singer won Finland’s national selection earlier in February with her track “Ich Komme” (I’m Coming), a pop song known for its cheeky lyrics, bold choreography, and skin-baring ensemble.
The song was performed primarily in Finnish, but the chorus was in German, with the repeated phrase Ich komme – which translates to I’m coming in English – raising eyebrows over its suggestive double meaning.
The singer wowed in a racy plunging leather leotard and thigh high leather boots as she delivered some provocative choreography on stage.
Fans rushed to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their disappointment with the racy acts.
One person wrote: ‘Sorry Finland, it’s a no. The outfit just doesn’t work for me, off-putting. xTx’ Another said: ‘Is Finland sponsored by Ann Summers?’ While someone else simply wrote: ‘Finland with the dominatrix outfit.’
However it wasn’t just the fans who were turned off the performance, Finland’s own president said he would snub his country’s Eurovision effort in favour of Sweden’s performed by KAJ, a comedy music trio who are actually Finnish.
Alexander Stubb was asked who he wanted to win during a school visit and he said: ‘If KAJ wins Eurovision, in the end it is Finland and Vora that win.’
Stubb was referring to the hometown of the Finnish band who are performing for Sweden.
After Vikman got wind of the president’s comments she revealed she was disappointed.
She said: ‘It would definitely be nice to see one day that the greats of the nation stand behind women like me.’
Meanwhile Vikman later revealed the bizarre request that organisers made after they deemed her performance too raunchy for the competition.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) reportedly demanded changes to her act, requesting that she make her spicy performance less explicit.
Speaking to Finnish media, Vikman confirmed that organisers had asked her to tone down her routine, particularly calling for her to ‘cover her backside’ and adjust her movements on stage.
‘It’s not just one thing, it’s everything. My clothes, what the song is about, how I move on stage. The EBU has said it’s a bit too sexual. They want to cover my butt,’ she told Swedish newspaper, Expressen.
Her original hot-blooded performance featured a fetish-inspired black corset, revealing chaps, and a pole-dance-style routine using her microphone stand, all set to pulsating electronic beats and provocative lyrics.
The singer explained: ‘I’m wild, I have more to give. I’m sexual on stage – and after two years of tango, I wanted to be a pop diva’.
She went on to state that people in Finland are conservative and tend to steer away from expressing themselves, leaving her feeling ‘difficult for them’ to handle at first.
‘It’s still like that, although some are starting to get used to it. Half of Finland hates me, half loves me,’ Vikman said.
Despite the controversy, Vikman played down the dispute, stating that her performance was already definitively being fine-tuned before the EBU’s intervention.
In a statement, Vikman said: ‘The show is still evolving, and I had already chosen a different costume before hearing any feedback from the EBU.’
However, since her comments the Finnish broadcaster YLE’s Eurovision Song Contest Executive Producer Anssi Autio, said the EBU did not direct Vikman to change the performance.
YLE went on to say: ‘Anssi Autio says he cannot comment on Vikman’s remarks. However, he confirms that discussions have taken place with the EBU, but no direct demands have been made.’
Hot on her heels from Finland was Malta’s singer Miriana Conte delivered another showstopping raunchy performance during the competition.
As the performance started, BBC commentator Rylan Clark warned viewers at home that she would be ‘pushing the boundaries’.
She proceeded to rip off her ruffled yellow dress, revealing a racy red leopard print jumpsuit underneath, complete with a black mesh top and feathered sleeves.
However it wasn’t her outfit that had caused the controversy, the singer was forced to make a drastic change to her song during Thursday’s semi-final.
The 24-year-old took to the stage to take part in the second semi-final and the crowd went wild as she sung her tune Serving in a black and red leopard print jumpsuit.
Miriana pulled out all the stops to try and get into the next round by walking on stage out of some huge lips, and went on to show off her racy dance moves.
Her song was originally called Kant, but it sounded too much like the swearword c**t, so the European Broadcasting Union ruled out her singing it during the annual competition back in March.
In Maltese, the word kant means singing or song.
Miriana spoke to BBC Newsnight about her ‘surprise’ over the decision back in March.
The singer said: ‘Honestly, it was a bit surprising and also a little disappointing.
‘I had incredible feedback when it comes to my song, it went viral on the first lyric video that was released.
‘The original version of the song, as it is as we speak, it is a Maltese word that holds a lot of meaning to us. We never intended to offend anyone.
‘Obviously the word K-A-N-T means singing in our language.
‘So you can imagine what power it holds. It’s unfortunate that the broadcaster would raise such concerns, especially considering Eurovision is a spirit of celebrating culture, diversity and languages.
‘That said, we’ve made the adjustments to ensure the focus remains on the music and the message. I believe and my team believes that Eurovision is about unity.
‘We want to make sure that nothing distracts from that basically.’
She added: ‘There’s a lot of funny words that mean different things in different languages since its the Eurovision Song Contest and the main factor of being in this contest is to sing.
‘And in our language it means singing.
‘So it has a much more deep message then maybe people speaking different languages.’
Explaining the meaning of the song, she said: ‘To me it means I’m serving singing.
‘So if you want to understand it as a double meaning, you can, it means different things to different people. I’ve had different reactions.’
While her lyricism has been slightly stifled by the annual contest rules, she certainly made up for it with some racy staging.
Her backdrop appeared to be a mouth and and wide open legs at either side.
Meanwhile her backing dancers added even more sex appeal as they danced around the stage in fishnet tights while opening their legs at one point and having the singer straddle them.
Taking to X, one person wrote: ‘I’m sorry, but how can they ban the word KANT and approve that staging of the lips between the legs.’
Another predicted: ‘Ofcom complaints incoming.’
Spain’s Eurovision entry sparked a storm of conversation after singer Melody delivered a sizzling, high-voltage performance of her track Esa Diva during the Grand Final.
Starting the performance in a stunning black gown, the singer ripped off the ensemble to reveal a sizzling leotard midway through the performance.
She wowed in a silver ensemble which feature fringe detailing and completed her sultry look with knee high boots.
Meanwhile Armenia’s performance certainly turned heads with their entry Survivor which was sung by Armenian singer and songwriter Parg.
The 31-year-old knew how to make an impression as he arrived on stage topless.
Parg showed off his tattooed body and abs as he came out on stage topless wearing black leather baggy trousers, black boots and fingerless leather gloves.
Many rushed to X to say the contestant has lost its way as it used to be ‘family viewing.’
One person said: ‘Eurovision used to be a family viewing.’
Another added: ‘Not so many of us can remember those more innocent times. Dana and Mary Hopkins. When Eurovision was inclusive family viewing. It needs an 18+ rating now.’
Someone else said: ‘I thought she was a prozzie. Family viewing on Eurovision eh?’
A fourth wrote: ‘Back to Eurovision. I’ve watched the show for years. It used to be fun family viewing but many of last night’s acts were highly sexual + some blatant S&M.
‘You don’t have to be Mary Whitehouse to be aghast at the pornification of our culture. It’s a long way from Bucks Fizz.’
