Eurovision 2013: My first thoughts

 Hello!

 As you may know, Eurovision 2013 is almost upon us: the semi finals are on 14th and 16th May and the final is on the 18th.

 I am a huge Eurovision fan - it occurred to me recently that Eurovision is probably my favourite yearly event. I love the way it unites so many people and the fact that for a few hours people all over the world are watching the same thing. It's amazing; a real feeling of the numinous, which is perfectly summed up in this clip:

 Last year I did a Eurovision countdown, posting about Eurovision past and present in the run-up to the competition in Baku.

 This year I will be posting some Eurovision-y things, including my commentary on the two semi-finals and the final, and maybe some Eurovision history beforehand. In the meantime, if you are a Eurovision fan and you haven't seen my countdown from last year I recommend it.

 Here are my initial thoughts on this year's contest:

 The host county/city: Sweden is a country I have wanted for a long time to visit, and I don't know a lot about the city of Malmö, so this year's Eurovision is a good opportunity to see and learn more about both.

 The Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo in 2010 was probably my favourite that I've seen so I'm hoping that having it in another Scandinavian country might bring about similar success.

 The venue: Malmö Arena seems to be smaller than some recent Eurovision venues, which I think is meant to give the show a more intimate feel - although to be honest I don't personally mind the bigger venues and if you're watching on TV it doesn't make much difference anyway.

 The host: There is only going to be one main host this year, Petra Mede. This is a bold step after there being two or three hosts the last few years, but having looked her up I see she seems very feisty and has a lot of presence so hopefully she can pull it off.

 Eric Saade will be the green room host; this Swedish pop star represented his country at Eurovision 2011 in Düsseldorf with the song "Popular" of which I am not a fan. However, I won't judge his hosting abilities until I see them.

 I am convinced, however, that he cannot better Krisse in Helsinki in 2007: there was an amazing green room host.

 Participating countries: Most of Europe seems to be taking part in this year's competition; notable exceptions being Portugal, Poland, Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey (among others). 

 I am particularly sad about the absence of Portugal as I love Portuguese-language music. Bosnia and Herzegovina also produced one of my all-time favourite Eurovision songs:

 However, we still have plenty of countries taking part, and hopefully those who can't this year will be able to return in the future.

 The UK entry: Being from the UK, I have heard a lot about our entry for this year; namely Bonnie Tyler with her song Believe in Me. 

 I like Bonnie Tyler's older songs such as Total Eclipse of the Heart, and although Believe in Me isn't quite up to that standard in my humble opinion, I do think it is a nice song.

 I'm really looking forward to Eurovision 2013 and I hope you are too, let the competition begin!

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

Songs: 

Glow - Madcon - 2010

Pokusaj - Laka - 2008

Believe in Me - Bonnie Tyler - 2013

Eurovision 2012 Countdown: Krisse - need I say more?

 Hello Eurovision fans! Hei! Tervetuloa!

 I love the Finnish language ♥ It sounds unique; so completely different to the other Scandinavian languages; to any language in fact. I also think some of the words are very pretty.

 Another thing I like about Finland is that the Eurovision they hosted in 2007 was one of the best, in my opinion. It was good in many ways, but I especially loved the contribution of this comedienne: Krisse Salminem.

 I genuinely cannot believe this was five years ago; it feels like yesterday that I was seeing this for the first time and laughing hysterically at Krisse's humour. And watching it back even now she makes me laugh and laugh every time.

 "I'm Krisse, and I'm single, and, er, where's the camera?"

 "Imagine, twenty minutes ago, I was nobody and now I am... everybody!"

 "They told me that Helsinki is beautiful... and that I'm beautiful..."

"You are really beautiful; so do you think it helps, in this kind of competition, to be beautiful?"

 "On a scale of one to ten, what does music mean to you?... On a scale of nine to ten, how beautiful am I?

"I don't know with whom I'm going to party; maybe with Serbia and Ukraine."

 I am aware that some people do not find her unique comedic style at all funny; that some people find her somewhat annoying. Well, it is a matter of opinion. But I love her, and my brother thinks her performance at Eurovision was funny.

 I don't know if I could put up with her in large doses though - if she had been one of the main Eurovision hosts it may have been a bit much. However, the role she was in, as crowd-worker and then green-room host, was just perfect for her in my view. I feel she added so much to Eurovison that year. I wish we could have Krisse at Eurovision every year!

 Kiitos, Krisse!

 Thanks for reading.

 Liz x

Video featuring Krisse Salminem
Voice-over by Terry Wogan