tonight is the final of the eurovision song contest. i first saw it in 1994 when i was a teenager. i remember liking a hungarian song and not understanding how it didn’t win; it was so good and in such a strange language. ever since then, more or less, eurovision has been something i look forward to every may. the first notes of the contest’s anthem bring me to a state of almost total oblivion to everything else. it is not the same from year to year in its intensity and intrigue. you might hear some dismissing it as a freak show or eurotrash or an exercise in neighborly voting, but i enjoy it profoundly nonetheless. it is a tremendous and unprecedented event. it gives you a reason to laugh light-heartedly at ridiculous acts, get nostalgic to a classic eurovision ballad or dance song, and hear some true gems from artists that you would not normally come across. and of course the voting at the end! probably the most titillating part of the night.

this year, i am rooting for sweden, greece, norway, and moldova. i also kinda like iceland’s song but mostly for the beautiful icelandic language it is in. you can watch it online wherever you are in the world at 21:00 CET. less than two hours left!