COVER

LUKE BLACK (SERBIA)

This year, Serbia’s cup runneth over with queerness, and not just because singer Luke Black (Luka Ivanović) is one of the contest’s openly gay performers—an uber-twink in both look and demeanor. It’s hard not to be mesmerized by his song “Samo mi se spava.” The fashionminded segment of our community should also appreciate Black’s hard-but-soft laced-up white shirt and platform boot combo. https://youtu.be/I30TJ0oQJVg

VESNA (CZECHIA)

Before the music even kicks off on “My Sister’s Crown,” the styling on this girl group screams gay. The six members are in identical soft pink parachute pants with firm-shouldered sequined tops in an identical shade. Oh, and don’t forget the floor-length braids that Vesna whip around as part of the choreography.

https://youtu.be/-y78qgDlzAM

LOREEN (SWEDEN)

“Tattoo” is an objectively sublime electro-power pop ballad, and Loreen’s ability to hit money notes already netted her one Eurovision win 11 years ago. Plus, she’s one of this year’s two resident bisexual performers. Yet, a bit like a hit from Adele, Beyoncé or Mariah, Loreen is so hyper-polished and talented that “Tattoo” feels more like a song that the gays will love rather than a song that’s intrinsically queer. (2023 Winner) https://youtu.be/1XpJnc4T-AM

ALESSANDRA (NORWAY)

If Loreen from Sweden could be compared to a Eurovision Beyoncé, Italian-Norwegian singer Alessandra is Katy Perry, but made better with some operatic vocal chops. Competent, yes, but just not quite so compelling. The second of two bisexuals in Eurovision 2023, she says her song “Queen of Kings” is about being proud of her identity. Her Xena: Warrior Princess styling earns her some queer points, plus, her performance radiates an energy that hovers somewhere between “butch” and “mother.” https://youtu.be/zt7U0-N1mlk

LET 3 (CROATIA)

For Eurovision and their performance of “Mama ŠČ!,” they’re in drag no less—although and not naked as in previous performances the messy styling makes it feel more like men in dresses rather than full-scale drag queenery. There’s also a dash of military aesthetics, and hallucinogenic visuals on both the floor and towering wall behind their performance.

https://youtu.be/isZ_4AnCTnA

GUSTAPH (BELGIUM)

With a performance fronted by a former member of iconic queer electronic collective Hercules and Love Affair, Belgium’s Eurovision entry may be the most overtly promising for those of us on the LGBTQ2S+ spectrum. And while “Because of You” briefly seems like it’s going to channel Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams’s “Get Lucky” in a frustratingly straight way, it quickly kicks into high gear, helped along by dancers voguing and some Donna Summer–inspired backing vocals. A sweaty dancefloor bop that emanates joy, it’s undoubtedly a banger, although it feels more geared toward the gays rather than the queers and could be a little cloying for those who aren’t into down-the-line disco and house music. (Personal Favorite) https://youtu.be/uYWhh-E_VPo

MIMICAT (PORTUGAL)

Portugal has a history of being more like “Bore-tugal” at Eurovision, yet they’ve mercifully kicked that aside for 2023 with a soulful show tune called “Ai Coração.” But that’s the issue here: Mimicat goes all in on appealing to the theatre kids and Broadway fans. Her enthusiasm is infectious if you’re into cabaret, but it doesn’t leave much for the queers who aren’t.

https://youtu.be/wa3suiOzAAk

MAE MULLER (UNITED KINGDOM)

With “I Wrote a Song,” the Brits have finally learned how to serve. With an R&B tilt and a heaping spoonful of bitterness, it’s a little like if “No Scrubs” had been remade for Eurovision, with a little Lily Allen sass thrown in for good measure and a hip-shaking dancehall beat.

https://youtu.be/tJ21grjN6wU

KÄÄRIJÄ (FINLAND)

Between the shipping pallet set pieces, driving techno beat and his nipple-exposing, fluorescent green puffy-sleeved outfit, “Cha Cha Cha” has the ambiance of a queer, allgender orgy in a major European city. The music is a fraction messy, flipping between techno, pop and rock. (2023 Runner Up) https://youtu.be/rJHe-iZ5HSI

TEYA & SALENA (AUSTRIA)

“Who the Hell Is Edgar?” a pop song about how (straight) poet Edgar Allan Poe’s spirit is possessing one of these Austrian singer’s hands has no right to be as good as this. Singers Teya and Salena put on a bookish yet dollish demeanor with exquisite poise, inhabiting a bizarre role as dowdy-glam poetry-loving office workers with more than a whiff of lesbianism about them.

https://youtu.be/nIfC_hpKV8U