This evening is The Grand Final of The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy. It concludes, in my opinion, the best week of the year.
My addiction started the first time I was old enough to watch a full show. This was back in 1999 when the Song Contest was in Israel. Dana International won the year before with her song ‘Diva’. Most song festival lovers will be able to sing the whole song or at least the chorus.
The contestant for my country, The Netherlands, competed last Tuesday at the first semi final. S10 managed to get through to the final and performs as the eleventh act tonight.
On Thursday was the second semi final and another ten countries got through to the finals.
In tonight’s show a total of 25 countries will compete against each other. The big five (Spain, United Kingdom, Germany, France & Italy) and the ten voted for from each semi final.
What is it about the contest that I like so much? That is a great question. I love music and this is three evenings full of music. All kinds of music from different countries and even though singing in your own language isn’t a rule anymore some countries do and I love that.
And the best of all is trying to predict which songs will get the most votes and get voted into the final. And then when it’s the Grand Final it is fun to guess who will win and what the top ten will be.
Some years I have a favourite straight away. Like in 2004 when I heard the first notes of Ruslana her song ‘Wild Dances’ I said to my parents she is going to win. And she did. That year I agreed but other years my favourite doesn’t win.
For this year I can’t really pick a song. I think Norway and Moldova have very happy and fun songs. Norway’s lyrics make me laugh and Moldova just makes me want to dance.
Australia, Poland, Estonia, Belgium, United Kingdom and Italy have great voices I think. Enough choice but I will only vote for one country.
A few more hours to go before the show starts. A few hours of fun watching the artists perform. An hour of excitement when the participating countries representatives call and give their points. The winner is announced and performs their winning song.
And then the waiting for the first country to announce their contestant for 2023. Once the first confirmation is there, then the excitement starts to bubble up again and the eurovision craze will be released again.
