If you weren´t in Copenhagen this Fall then shame on you because you missed one of them most fabulous events in Europe after the French Revolution: Eurovision! Brought to you in all its splendor from it´s host city this year, Wonderful Wonderful Copenhagen. It was pretty noticeable that Eurovision was coming to town not only from the live countdown in the middle of the City-Hall square since I first came to the city, but because Copenhagen has transformed to the ultimate Scandinavian mecca. Every possible city square has been decorated, there are huge screens set up just around the corner from my school, and tourists have been piling one by one around all types of musically-themed streetshows all over the city. I can´t walk outside of class and into the next without a little amateur concert being held on the village stage. This is it. With the recent amount of attention flooding into Copenhagen lately, this is the country´s latest change to showcase the world just how wonderful Copenhagen is.
From the standpoint of an overdone American Idol and perhaps maybe any sort of cheesy X Music Award commemorating the same old pop artists, Eurovision was to me so alien and mysterious. The first Eurovision Song Contest took place in 1956 in Lugano, Switzerland. The idea behind the contest was to attempt to bring together all the participating countries as a means to help reunite Europe following the Second World War. At the time, it was quite the feat to broadcast one show across that many countries, especially since satellite had yet to be invented and so the only option was to use a terrestrial microwave network. But how had I never heard about Eurovision before? Why did no one tell me that it is over the top, all things kitsch, fantastically produced, with all sorts of European characters?! With the old history and the WorldCup-like preparations, the contest soars way above America´s Got Talent and into a category of its own. Besides being filled with all sorts of musical numbers each country trying to impress the others, it has a lot of political undertones, is a symbol for LGBT culture, is an opportunity to promote the host country´s image, and is a huge production for stage design. Woah. Under what sort of rock have I been? That whole entire weekend there were Eurovision parties at different venues in the city, which included its own gay program of dance parties. In addition, the ´villages´that were set up in different plazas were a little hub of food trucks, music, and other events.
My host dad, expectedly, hated Eurovision just like he hated the Little Mermaid... which really means that he loves it. The Danes don´t like to generate much fuzz about things, but when it involves their country they stand by it. With no major soccer team to root for, a Queen that has no real power, and very small territory, I get a feeling that the Danes hang on to anything they can to feel excited. And, if anything, it is just another excuse for them to get together with their friends, drink, and have a laugh over candles and TV. They do that all the time anyways! Look, this is what you could´ve stumbled upon around the city if you had been in Copenhagen this Fall:
From the standpoint of an overdone American Idol and perhaps maybe any sort of cheesy X Music Award commemorating the same old pop artists, Eurovision was to me so alien and mysterious. The first Eurovision Song Contest took place in 1956 in Lugano, Switzerland. The idea behind the contest was to attempt to bring together all the participating countries as a means to help reunite Europe following the Second World War. At the time, it was quite the feat to broadcast one show across that many countries, especially since satellite had yet to be invented and so the only option was to use a terrestrial microwave network. But how had I never heard about Eurovision before? Why did no one tell me that it is over the top, all things kitsch, fantastically produced, with all sorts of European characters?! With the old history and the WorldCup-like preparations, the contest soars way above America´s Got Talent and into a category of its own. Besides being filled with all sorts of musical numbers each country trying to impress the others, it has a lot of political undertones, is a symbol for LGBT culture, is an opportunity to promote the host country´s image, and is a huge production for stage design. Woah. Under what sort of rock have I been? That whole entire weekend there were Eurovision parties at different venues in the city, which included its own gay program of dance parties. In addition, the ´villages´that were set up in different plazas were a little hub of food trucks, music, and other events.
My host dad, expectedly, hated Eurovision just like he hated the Little Mermaid... which really means that he loves it. The Danes don´t like to generate much fuzz about things, but when it involves their country they stand by it. With no major soccer team to root for, a Queen that has no real power, and very small territory, I get a feeling that the Danes hang on to anything they can to feel excited. And, if anything, it is just another excuse for them to get together with their friends, drink, and have a laugh over candles and TV. They do that all the time anyways! Look, this is what you could´ve stumbled upon around the city if you had been in Copenhagen this Fall:
The whole thing was just so cute, much like Copenhagen. Each country would send an act in the hopes of winning European votes and be crowned Eurovision star which has included Celine Dion and ABBA (of course, I should´ve guessed it from having passed a whole entire museum dedicated to them in Sweden and thinking 'what'). If not cute then at least it is all really silly which is why I made it an effort to get together with my Dane boy and experience Eurovision. He invited me to his friends house where we dressed up, popped open bottles of champagne and watched the show excitedly like it was Miss Universe except dancing along and laughing at all the foolishness. But not just any foolishness because when Conchita Wurst, the bearded lady, performed a knock-out song I realized one thing: It´s Conchita´s world and we are just living in it. All my Danish friends were so excited too, emphasizing how for them this had been part of their whole entire life right down to when they were little nuggets. They could simply not sympathize how I could possible had been left aside sitting by the food station feel like:
Real soon each country started to give each other their final votes and as quickly as the first point was given it was clear to me that this whole concert had become entirely political. Which is right about when my friend Chase´s words hovered in my head: 'everything is political.' With the current situation in Russia and the huge lead that Austria´s Conchita Wurst (a bearded transgendered person of color) had, it was so interesting to see which countries gave 0 points to Austria and all points to Russia. It turned to political moves in the blink of an eye. There were allegiances like Denmark giving points to Sweden (so expected) and other neighboring countries helping each other out. Soon thereafter the Danes I was with started talking about the European Union and why they felt they didn´t want to be a part of it.´I learned why countries don´t want to win twice (its expensive to host). But why they do actually want to win (lets promote the countries). Or why boycott some countries (human rights violations). Layer after layer of European politics unfolding before me, masqueraded in elaborate costume, light shows, and an extravaganza of sequins. Perfect. I think my experience of it also reflected the Danish tradition. They can´t just mindlessly watch an event the way we watch the Superbowl... just the opposite, they use the event to engage you in a heated political debate (Danes love to talk politics over food. love), drink a lot of beer (cheaper than water), and feel pride about their country (why wouldn´t they?)!