Eurovision's Only On-Stage Self-Parody Interval Act

MAY 15 2016 · 12:25

Petra Mede & Måns Zelmerlöw · "Love Love Peace Peace" · Sweden · 2016 Language: English · Composers: Edward af Sillén, Daniel Wahlgren · Venue: Ericsson Globe · Host: Stockholm, Sweden · Type: performance innovation · Broadcast: streaming era Stockholm 2016's Eurovision grand-final interval act: hosts Petra Mede and Måns Zelmerlöw perform 'Love Love Peace Peace' — a song that is itself a step-by-step instructional satire of every Eurovision winning-trope cliché. Middle-eight key change, grandmother baking bread on stage, extensive use of a wind machine, invisible drummers, three dancers, swinging golden curtain, instructions to make your song as generic as possible, invocation of Lordi and Conchita. The sequence lasts six minutes and becomes the most-viewed single Eurovision clip of the decade. Context Edward af Sillén had written material for Swedish Eurovision interval acts since Carola's return. The 2016 Stockholm interval was planned for months in close collaboration with Zelmerlöw and Mede, both Eurovision-literate. The parody specifically skewered the 2010-2015 winning-entry production template. Legacy 'Love Love Peace Peace' is now taught in music-production and satire studies. The interval act's self-awareness without cruelty has been credited with shaping Eurovision's subsequent tonal openness to absurdist entries — Let 3, Käärijä, Windows95man all trace a lineage back to 2016's interval moment. The YouTube clip had exceeded 50 million views by 2024.