Eurovision 2023

 

Greetings once again!

I know we are now several weeks on, however I wanted to celebrate the wonderful event that was Eurovision 2023. I had planned to include this in my post about Milan, but decided that was lengthy enough and that I would address Eurovision separately.

Well, this year was a cracker, wasn't it? With the UK not having come last with nil points in 2022 for the first time in many years (the lovely Sam Ryder responsible for singlehandedly reviving the nation's reputation), and with the UK hosting the event in Liverpool on behalf of last year's winners, Ukraine, this seemed to open up Eurovision to many Brits. For the first time it was broadcast live on BBC1, rather than being relegated to a lesser TV channel. There was a lot of media coverage in the lead-up to the competition and it was clear that many Brits were actually going to give it a chance. Those of you reading this in Australia - unless you are a dedicated Eurovision fan - will probably be surprised by that.

For reasons even I don't fully understand, Eurovision seems to have always been regarded with disdain by the general public of the UK, increasingly so in the past 20 years. I think a lot of it ties in with having put up absolutely dire acts for most of that period - songs that nobody in the UK has even heard, whereas in the other competing countries their nominated songs have been massive hits, because of the quality. Yet all we have heard for a long time from the moaning Brits - until Sam Ryder's Spaceman from the 2022 competition - is that 'All the other countries hate us!'

No, UK. The reason you did so poorly all those years is that you couldn't be arsed submitting a half-decent song.

Novelty glasses at the ready for our Eurovision Party guests!

Of course we celebrate Eurovision every year (I haven't missed a competition since 1983) and this year we actually had acceptances from a number of our local friends, whereas in previous years they have declined the invitation. However, sad to say that even with the enthusiasm surrounding the event in Liverpool, we found a couple of our younger neighbours pooh-poohed the idea. Well, my friends, they lost out — they missed a really fun night. 

I cannot fathom why people who clamour to watch amateurs perform covers of other people's songs (à la The Voice, Britain's Got Talent etc), turn their noses up at a competition of original songs which have been nominated as the best out of many high-calibre compositions within nearly 40 countries. A couple of days after the Eurovision grand final I ran into one of our neighbours who had (im)politely declined our invitation. He asked how the evening went, and I told him it was an absolute blast. He looked doubtful, cynical and any other negative-and-superior facial expression you can imagine, and commented that he had switched on the show for five minutes and the act he had seen was 'crap.' It transpired that he was probably talking about Croatia's entry. He indicated it was a bunch of blokes dressed up in weird costumes singing some rubbish song in their own language.

I'll pause there to let you absorb that measured and informed comment.

The act in question, above and next photo, below:
Croatia's fabulous Let 3, whose song Mama ŠČ! was very popular with the live audience

So, to summarise, our neighbour was surprised that somebody was singing in a language other than English... in a European song competition. Without really knowing anything about the competition, the artist or the song, he had formed an opinion as to the quality and content of that one song, based on a single hearing. 

Firstly, I responded that the weird costumes were part of the reason we love Eurovision - the whackier the better! Secondly, that many songs in the competition incorporate elements of traditional cultural singing, instruments and dance, and these are always incredibly popular; the Eurovision audience loves to celebrate European-ness. Many of the songs have a serious message, and indeed the one our neighbour had witnessed is a case in point — Croatia's 'weird' entry did in fact carry a strong anti-war sentiment.

The whole point of Eurovision is to embrace diversity and culture. It's a joyful celebration of Europe, and a real symbol of unity. It's meant to be FUN. I really feel sorry for people who can't grasp those concepts, whose artistic sensibilities are so incredibly refined (ha ha ha) that they are able to dismiss the world's longest running annual international televised song competition on the basis of having seen about four minutes of one show. 

Oh well, their loss.

My own anti-war message, slightly modified so as not to offend your delicate sensibilities!
We had international flag bunting draped around the room; this is my embellishment of the Russian flag
(Russia, of course, has been blocked from participating since their invasion of Ukraine)

In the end we had several Eurovision virgins at our party, plus a couple of people who had seen the show last year and had willingly come back for more, as well as a couple of 'lapsed' viewers - the Norwegian/Irish couple next door who hadn't seen a Eurovision for some years. 

A marvellous time was had by all. A couple of our guests had said they would probably toddle off halfway through, but everybody stayed right to the end, including sitting through the voting which, for me, is in fact one of the best parts of the competition.

The often awkward chit-chat between the hosts and other countries giving their voting scores? Check!  ☑️

Scantily or inappropriately dressed performers? Check!  ☑️

Ridiculously complex stage props? Check!  ☑️
(see this reel for examples, including Ukraine's infamous 'hamster wheel' from 2014)

Some of our guests with their novelty glasses and kazoos at the ready.
I have blurred the faces of everybody except Kevin and myself, as I haven't sought
others' permission to share their images

We were sustained in this marathon event by food I had prepared representing a reasonable number of participating countries, including my first attempt at making Karjalanpiirakka. These are Finnish pastries from the Karelia region, made from rye flour, filled with a rice porridge and served with egg butter. Our Finnish friend Tero used to make these for Scandinavian social gatherings back in Canberra, but unfortunately I never managed to attend one of his master classes, so I was flying blind! However, lovely Tero did offer to be on the end of a video call, should I require his expertise. In the end, I think I managed to do a reasonable job without his assistance. Certainly they were very popular!

Supplementing my own efforts, our Australian/South African neighbour Saskia made a fabulous pavlova, and Matt and Josie brought along a cheese platter and some very indulgent Belgian chocolates, plus beers from a number of European countries. Steve brought Italian wine. It was indeed a wonderful feast.

Greek olives, Spanish crisps, English and French cheeses and English pickle.
I couldn't find my French flags when this shot was taken but luckily they turned up before the cheese was devoured!

Norwegian pickled cucumber, German potato salad, Finnish Karjalanpiirakka with egg butter, and of course Italian pizza
(and that's one of my Norwegian grandmother's tablecloths)

Note to self! 🤣

The dessert buffet:
Saskia's show-stopping pavlova, Belgian and Swiss chocolates,
Portuguese pastel de nata, and my home-made Norwegian lefse

This year's show was made all the more special because the band fronted by my former work colleague, Danny, was representing Australia. Now, I’ve been very open about the fact that I don’t believe Australia should be able to compete in Eurovision. I know technically any country that pays EBU licence fees is entitled to compete, and it was a lovely gesture back in 2015 when Australia was invited to have an act perform (but not compete) in the 60th anniversary event. However the following year Australia was again invited to send an act and this time actually compete, and has done so for every Eurovision since. I'm sorry, but Australia is *not* part of Europe. That said, of course I was cheering on Voyager and not least because their song Promise is an absolute cracker which won the qualifying semi-final competition. I have loved their music for many years and I'm very happy for the success that being a Eurovision competitor has brought them.

But as for the final result, NOOOOOOOO. Just... No!!!

Finland was robbed! I am at a loss to understand why Sweden's entry was so very popular with the official juries, particularly, which gave Loreen's Tattoo the edge, despite Käärijä's Cha Cha Cha winning the public vote and despite (in my opinion) Tattoo really, really NOT being the best song of the competition. There were many good songs that should have performed better in the voting, not least poor Germany with Lord of the Lost's Blood and Glitter, which saved the UK from last place yet again.

But there you are – as I say to everybody each year, you just can’t pick Eurovision. Anybody could win. Still, I do remember the days of public-only voting where we all got upset because the former Soviet countries all voted for each other, the Scandinavians did the same, as did UK-Ireland-Malta... and so on. I'm not sure what the solution is, but I and many others remain mightily miffed about this year's winner. 

I was very pleased that once again Norway did very well, with Alessandra's Queen of Kings finishing in fifth place.

It should've been Finland!

Well, it was good to get that off my chest.

If you've never watched Eurovision I encourage you to do so next year. Stream the songs for free via YouTube and give them at least a few listens before the first semi-final. Watch both the semis and then get some friends together, with free-flowing alcohol, to enjoy the spectacle that is the Eurovision Grand Final. I promise you won't regret it.

Until next time,

- Maree  xo