Music

Flo Rida Performed At Eurovision For Some Reason, And Suddenly It’s 2011 Again

Flo Rida getting the fifth smallest country in the world into the Eurovision grand final is not what I had on my 2021 bingo card.

by Michelle Rennex  21 May 2021
Flo Rida Eurovision San Marino

Want more Junkee in your life? Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram and Facebook so you always know where to find us.

For reasons I don’t quite understand, American rapper Flo Rida has just performed at the European song contest, Eurovision.

Flo Rida dropped into the competition early this morning to help support Senhit, the artist representing San Marino, in the second semifinal. If you’ve never heard of San Marino, that’s understandable. It’s totally landlocked by Italy and is the fifth smallest country in the world.

Now you’re probably asking yourself, what exactly is 2011’s hottest rapper doing in a song contest made for European countries? Well, Senhit performed ‘Adrenalina’ for the show and Flo Rida features on the track.

And really who is a better secret weapon than the creator of hit smashes ‘Good Feeling’ and ‘Wild Ones’? The pop rapper who undoubtedly played a significant part in every millennial’s end-of-high-school-and-starting-university experience? Exactly. No one.

Flo Rida told BBC Radio 1Xtra that he actually hadn’t heard of Eurovision before collaborating with Senhit earlier this year.

“I had no idea about it,” the rapper said. “I definitely didn’t. Her people reached out to my people. Right now I’m working on my album and everything and I was in album mode and I was like, ‘I have some free time.’ So I got a chance to listen to the record and I was like, ‘Woah, it’s very high energy like what I love.’”

From there, Senhit’s team worked tirelessly to ensure that Flo Rida could make the cross-continent trip to be able to perform at the contest. In order to even enter the Rotterdam arena, the rapper had to be tested for COVID-19 every 48 hours with a stand-in rapping his verse during rehearsals until Flo Rida was able to join.

But while having Flo Rida randomly appear on the show was very welcome, people watching along couldn’t quite contain their confusion and excitement online — especially since the rappers little cameo help land San Marino in the grand final.

You have to admit the whole thing is pretty strange though. While it’s wonderful to see Flo Rida having the time of his life and being able to help a small country get to the finals, the fact that Australia’s own representative, Montaigne, couldn’t even join the contest in person is odd.

But at this point, we will settle for what Mr Rida has given us. Thank you for your service, Flo.