Dis and Dat
Well, I am back at the Stadthalle. Tonight is the first live show; the semi final featuring 16 acts. Only 10 will make it through to the final. The votes are split fifty/fifty: jury votes and people who call in. You can definitely feel a bit of tension in the press center and it has filled up. One table is filled with a team from one site and they brought along the biggest Apple monitors I have ever seen. I have no idea what they are doing but I am counting out porn because the broadcasting box is right behind them.
I am officially off work as of today and I am really really really looking forward to getting some rest tomorrow. I will take the Kid to daycare and then head back to the apartment for a rest. By noon I will be out and about, having lunch with a friend, doing a non-Eurovision related interview and schlepping my stuff until 4 when I will head to a very important press conference. I can't wait to go and I can't wait to tell you all about it! After the press conference, I will head to Sand in the City for a Vienna Expats Meet and Greet. It will be nice to have some non-Eurovision time but I have no doubt that I will spend the majority of the time talking about Eurovision because right now that is all I AM THINKING ABOUT! Today Vienna Würstelstand published some quotes that I have overheard in the press center: here is the link. That has definitely been a highlight for me: seeing what it is like covering something so big. I am so new to this but I could get use to this. There is a real energy and camaraderie among the crowd and while I am sure it usually isn't like this, I do see the appeal. I would see the appeal more if I wasn't working another job on top of this and then going home to a child that somehow has tapped into his internal source of Red Bull and refuses to go to bed before midnight.
Tonight I will be live tweeting during the performances so turn on your TV's and take out your laptops and follow @VWurstelstand and look for #Escbitch. I will be making fun observations because that is what Eurovision is for the most part: camp and fun. But there is another side that I didn't really think much about before. When Conchita won last year, I felt immense pride for my adoptive country. I also did the head nod and saying "Yes to tolerance." But, I am a white, straight girl with a schnoz and I have never really dealt with any type of judgement from the world for my life choices (oh, I have been judged but that is because I can be an idiot). Conchita winning was truly a win for tolerance and for moving forward in equality and it really hit me today when I was talking to my new friends. One of them said he was at the show when she won and the look on his face, recalling the memory, sent goosebumps up my arms. He has been married to his husband for 9 years and they are so truly in love and it kills me to think that people still face such prejudice and in many parts, persecution. And this year, Finland's act is comprised of 4 talented artists; 3 with down syndrome and 1 with autism and that is just another step forward in acceptance. So while we may find the whole event a little over the top and maybe some acts eye roll inducing, important change is happening and we can't lose sight of that. In the end, all I am trying to say is that while my tweets may be a little irreverent, I haven't lost sight of what the message of Eurovision actually is. Dammit, got something in my eye. This is what happens when I average 5 hours of sleep a night, I get all schmaltzy. So go, get a bottle of wine, sit back and enjoy the first semi-final tonight. See you on Twitter!
I am officially off work as of today and I am really really really looking forward to getting some rest tomorrow. I will take the Kid to daycare and then head back to the apartment for a rest. By noon I will be out and about, having lunch with a friend, doing a non-Eurovision related interview and schlepping my stuff until 4 when I will head to a very important press conference. I can't wait to go and I can't wait to tell you all about it! After the press conference, I will head to Sand in the City for a Vienna Expats Meet and Greet. It will be nice to have some non-Eurovision time but I have no doubt that I will spend the majority of the time talking about Eurovision because right now that is all I AM THINKING ABOUT! Today Vienna Würstelstand published some quotes that I have overheard in the press center: here is the link. That has definitely been a highlight for me: seeing what it is like covering something so big. I am so new to this but I could get use to this. There is a real energy and camaraderie among the crowd and while I am sure it usually isn't like this, I do see the appeal. I would see the appeal more if I wasn't working another job on top of this and then going home to a child that somehow has tapped into his internal source of Red Bull and refuses to go to bed before midnight.
Tonight I will be live tweeting during the performances so turn on your TV's and take out your laptops and follow @VWurstelstand and look for #Escbitch. I will be making fun observations because that is what Eurovision is for the most part: camp and fun. But there is another side that I didn't really think much about before. When Conchita won last year, I felt immense pride for my adoptive country. I also did the head nod and saying "Yes to tolerance." But, I am a white, straight girl with a schnoz and I have never really dealt with any type of judgement from the world for my life choices (oh, I have been judged but that is because I can be an idiot). Conchita winning was truly a win for tolerance and for moving forward in equality and it really hit me today when I was talking to my new friends. One of them said he was at the show when she won and the look on his face, recalling the memory, sent goosebumps up my arms. He has been married to his husband for 9 years and they are so truly in love and it kills me to think that people still face such prejudice and in many parts, persecution. And this year, Finland's act is comprised of 4 talented artists; 3 with down syndrome and 1 with autism and that is just another step forward in acceptance. So while we may find the whole event a little over the top and maybe some acts eye roll inducing, important change is happening and we can't lose sight of that. In the end, all I am trying to say is that while my tweets may be a little irreverent, I haven't lost sight of what the message of Eurovision actually is. Dammit, got something in my eye. This is what happens when I average 5 hours of sleep a night, I get all schmaltzy. So go, get a bottle of wine, sit back and enjoy the first semi-final tonight. See you on Twitter!
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