For the Love of Eurovision

As the years go by in Denmark, my monthly blogs get less and less frequent. That's to be expected due to the fact that what was once new has now become an ordinary part of everyday life. However, there are still those moments that suddenly strike me as extraordinarily different, or very European, not that they are necessarily one in the same. Either way, the Eurovision Song Contest is one of those moments for me.

I remember the first time I experienced it with my husband two years ago. I could tell by how excited he got when he was explaining what it was all about. It was one of those growing up experiences that is so ingrained in a person's past that they almost can't believe you have no idea what they are talking about. Those moments literally feel like an out of the body experience because you thought there was everything to know about this person, and then all of a sudden out of nowhere, a completely new world opens up that you had no prior knowledge about. 

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual contest where countries from all over Europe compete for the best song. Sort of like American Idol, if each State was represented, and it only happened one time per year. As the legend goes, ABBA became famous after winning this contest in 1974, so some winners do make it outside of Europe. But first, each individual country needs to select their winner for best song so they can go on to compete against all other European countries. Denmark's annual song contest in order to select their Eurovision contender is called Melodi Grand Prix and it was on TV this past weekend. 

People from all over Denmark (and some representing European countries) vote for their favorite Danish singer to represent them to the rest of Europe. The style of song is anywhere from traditional music in the local language, to pop music sung in English, to alternative, to really, really weird (as the picture on this blog shows). Fortunately, this year's winner was my favorite. Her name is Soluna Samay and she reminds me of a Danish Sheryl Crow. It was just her and her guitar, with great backup singers, and set, but the best part of the story is that she was a street singer just two years ago. To me, the song and all of the singers, represent urban Copenhagen. The style, the chill vibe, and the matter of fact way of just being. 

Check it out for yourself: Should've Known Better by Soluna Samay