I’m so thrilled there’s now a comedy movie on Netflix based on the Eurovision contest (Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga), because I can’t think of a better way to introduce this epic competition to the American public. I’ve been trying to tell my friends about Eurovision for what feels like years now, but it’s generally brushed off as another one of my oddball interests. But my fellow Americans, whether the performances make us laugh, leave us scratching our heads in confusion, or introduce us to legitimate bops from performers we’ve never heard of before – I truly believe there is something for all of us to love.
So what is Eurovision?
From Wikipedia – “The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual international song competition, held every year by the European Broadcasting Union since 1956 (with the exception of 2020), with participants representing primarily European countries. Each participating country submits an original song to be performed on live television and radio, then casts votes for the other countries’ songs to determine the winner. At least 50 countries are eligible to compete as of 2019.”
Pretty simple really. One song to represent each country and then votes collected from the public and a jury. Now that you get the jist, the only way you’ll truly understand is by experiencing it. Here are some of my favorites and honorable mentions.
Epic Sax Guy meme? You better thank Eurovision for his introduction.
My personal favorite from 2019, mostly thanks to the energetic joiker (traditional Norwegian chanting). In the official music video the singers are wearing cat ears, because why not?
And who doesn’t love anti-capitalism and BDSM themed techno/ industrial/ punk rock? The song title translates to ‘Hate Will Prevail’. That’s just good family fun right there.
Or how about this performance by a Ukranian comedian known for his drag persona?
Looking for something more traditional? Nothing screams tradition like six babushkas singing while baking.
The eccentric cultural show-and-tell is what I live for, but that’s not all the contest is so I have to also share the 2019 Eurovision winner.
I encourage everyone to go back and look at some previous entries. There’s some actual good stuff to be found and you heathens need more culture.
Rubber Rooster covers the broad, daunting topic of ‘general history’ for the SoBros Network. She also gets her Let’s Play on with Rubber Rooster Plays featured exclusively on the SoBros Network YouTube channel. Follow her on Twitter @SoBroRooster
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