Welcome to this Eurovision fan's tasting menu of the Best Annual (truly) International TV Show in zeee world (I mean the ESC gave us this international treasure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os9LrkZMvzY). And No, no, no, this is NOT an unintentional April Fool's joke.
I've been watching The Eurovision Song Contest (or Concours Eurovision de la Chanson in its other official language, French) almost every year since seeing this Turkish entrant to the contest in 1980:
This apparently was more exciting to me than spotting snow for the first time in my young life during a family trip (I think it was to the Black Sea coast, but my noggin isn't too sure). Ajda Pekkan, is one of the most recognizable and iconic artists in my birth region of the world, and a singer who was already a rising star in Turkey by this time, and her participation in the contest shows the country's seriousness (at least back then) about being represented and competing. [For those into random facts like me, Turkey first took part in the contest in 1975 in Stockholm, Sweden & this year withdrew from the contest in Malmo, Sweden] I stopped watching the late nineties early 2000s until singer/songwriter Sertab Erener, another personal favorite, took the trophy home at the 2003 contest in Riga, Latvia. This song is not my favorite (Turkey has had much better songs...this one just happened to win - narrowly):
The win brought the 2004 contest to Istanbul for the first time (the winning country has the honor of hosting and paying for the show the next year) and ushered in a period of Eastern European dominance in the contest, until Germany's win in 2010. [I actually got to see the 2011 contest in Dusseldorf, Germany with my friend Keith that year. If you'd like to read a short history of the contest and read about our adventures in Germany two years ago, check out Hello Eurovision, Auf Wiedersehen America).
That said, Här går vi (Let's Go in Swedish, at least according to Google Translate).
That said, Här går vi (Let's Go in Swedish, at least according to Google Translate).
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