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| Universal | discogs.com |
Moldova has sent a breakdancing astronaut.
There exists one context within which this sentence is only somewhat ridiculous.
Not so long ago Europe was a continent in turmoil, reeling in the aftermath of the bloodiest war humanity has ever seen. Tomorrow a German woman will appear in front of hundreds of millions shamelessly and unironically dressed in Japanese street fashion. Singing about love.
And for just the second time, our proud land of Australia (or as the EBU knows us, Honorary Europe) has been invited to participate alongside the biggest and best and brightest and queerest the continent has to offer.
From Sweden's zeitgeisty crowd-pleasers to Switzerland's tepid bromides; from limp, trashy dancefloor stylings to vibrant, tasteful dancefloor stylings, the utterly, utterly merry Eurovision Song Contest is a chance to come together and celebrate the genuine, the pure, the good in all of us (bloc voting notwithstanding) through the universal language of music.
Witness Iceland's gothic take on Mumford and Sons. Cheer the Azerbaijani backup dancers dressed as Greek demigods playing American football. Be amazed at the several holograms of a tragically clothed Belorussian dancing with similarly holographic wolves. And of course actually vote for various entries that may win.
But in the end it doesn't matter who wins and who loses, even though my money is on Russia. All that matters is that every year we have a chance to sing together. To dance together. To laugh together. To fume together at how Estonia was obviously robbed and how could Poland have possibly progressed through the semis and oh my god what is up with Croatia's dress and I can't even vis à vis that Irish guy's hair.
My money is still on Russia. But rest assured that our future too is a safe bet.