I Was There - Stockholm 2016
Today, I am going to write the first in what I hope will be a series
of articles written by fans about their live Eurovision experiences
starting with my only time at Eurovision at the Stockholm 2016 contest.
I had been a Eurovision fan since 2012 when during my first time watching Eurovision, I cheered on Jedward to an underwhelming placing in Baku whilst Loreen romped to victory. I knew from that moment that I was desperate to attend my first ever Eurovision Song Contest before too long. So when I finally managed to secure a ticket for the Grand Final at the Globen in Stockholm, I was over the moon. I booked my plane tickets and I was ready to go.
When the day of my flight finally came around in May of that year on the day before the final, I was giddy with excitement. It had been a national final process of many ups and downs (especially for those who remember that this was the year of Margaret and 'Cool Me Down') but I was ready to cheer on Barei and 'Say Yay' to upset the odds against the hot Russian favourite Sergey Lazarev. As I boarded my flight at Stansted Airport, I was immediately encouraged by the number of Eurovision fans who were also flying out for the contest. In the row next to mine, a Russian woman and a Swedish woman had overheard me say that I couldn't see a way in which Russia wouldn't win. The Russian woman was hoping I was right so that they could go to Moscow for the following May.
Stockholm Skavsta is in the middle of the forest an hour to the south of Stockholm. Arriving into the airport was necessary given that I was a first year university student with a low budget but despite this, I was still very excited. The coach pulled into the main railway station around midnight and I walked through the beautiful city to the old town (Gamla Stan) where my hostel was. I turned in for the night buzzing to wake up the next day.
When I woke up the next morning, I was eager to get my full experience and understanding of the city centre whilst taking in the EuroVillage and EuroClub despite the unusually cold weather for May (12 degrees C). The first thing you come to understand about Stockholm is the extent to which it is surrounded by water. Everywhere I walked around Gamla Stan, I was eventually greeted by the water around Stockholm which eventually feeds out into the Baltic Sea.
Walking back into the city centre, you were quickly hit by the number of Eurovision fans everywhere. People were walking around with flags, the radio stations were talking about the contest and the main department store in Stockholm (NK Stockholm) and created artistic tributes to the six Swedish Eurovision victors in the shop windows.
Stockholm had transformed for Eurovision and you could feel the buzz in the streets everywhere you went. The EuroVillage was held in the Kungstradgarden park and even though most of the action had finished, there was still a fantastic atmosphere about the place. I headed to the Euroclub straight after and that was even more impressive, a marquee/tent structure right beside the water on the Skeppsbron. This was the perfect place to relax whilst still feeling in the midst of all the hype of the contest. Fans were turning up to engage in the full experience of being in the city of the Eurovision Grand Final on the day it was happening but then there were also quiet periods where it was easy to sit and enjoy the views out onto the water and the free wifi. It was at this point that I thought a lot about how the events of that evening would play out. Russia was the clear front-runner and after a fantastic semi-final performance, it was difficult to imagine Russia not winning but I had a gut feeling that they wouldn't. With these thoughts rolling around my head, I went back to the hostel and got a couple of hours of sleep ahead of what I knew would be a late and energetic night of entertainment.
The night started back at the Euroclub where the DJs were beginning to play both Eurovision and Melodifestivalen hits. As I danced to the music, bringing my Spanish flag into the dancing wherever possible, I realised that this was the perfect year for me to have my first live Eurovision experience. The Swedes love Eurovision, they love their selection process and the whole experience is one that they grasp with both hands. I already had a sense of this from my time walking around the city but listening to this set, a perfect combination of songs that captured Swedish identity in music and Eurovision bangers I was reminded that few other countries embrace the contest as much as the Swedes do.
With my eye on the time and with my eagerness building, I crossed the island-like peninsula that is Stockholm's old town and boarded the T-bana (Metro) with my fellow Eurovision fans. This metro line fortunately brought us straight from the old town to the Globen 20 minutes south of the city.
Having seen many pictures, I had an idea of what to expect, but being outside the venue surrounded by flags of many European countries and Eurovision fans from all across the continent, the feeling of belonging that it can be so difficult to find for many fans of the contest was finally driving my heartbeat. I got a bite to eat from the shopping mall next to the arena and checking my ticket, I headed for my entrance. As we stood in the line, I turned around to see a steady stream of Eurovision fans heading for the neighbouring Tele2 Arena. Those who watched the contest will remember that in addition to booking the Globen for the main shows, the Swedes booked out the arena next door and screened the contest on a giant screen complete with the added bonus of small things (like the Swedish voting) taking place in the arena. This was obviously not the same experience but as a consolation prize to what was a brutal ticketing process, it was really well organised. Back in the line, masks of Jamie-Lee (that year's eccentrically dressed German act) were being offered to those of us queuing. I was standing excitedly in the brisk May Swedish Evening air waving my Spanish flag and with absolutely no idea of what was to come.
What was to come was in my opinion, the greatest Eurovision Song Contest of all time. The arena was perfectly shaped for everybody to experience the action. Mans & Petra were excellent hosts supported by an expertly written script by Mr. af Sillen.
Everybody brought their A-game on the night and it was interesting to see who had the arena rocking (as Graham Norton said, if it was purely down to audience reaction, Spain would have won the night). The interval acts were not simply there to kill time, but were intelligent, well considered and downright hilarious. Having watched the contest back with non-Eurovision fans, even they appreciate the humor. It is hard to see how 'Love, Love, Peace, Peace' will ever be beaten as a Eurovision interval act or how Justin Timberlake will ever be beaten as a mainstream, international artist to grace the Eurovision stage.
Finally, a voting sequence that many Eurovision fans were confused by and unsure about got underway and the jury vote sent Australia and Ukraine flying up the standings but with Australia in a firm lead. Everybody around me was beginning to consider what this meant. Would this mean more international countries invited to the contest? Was this the best chance for the UK to get to host a contest? Would they be transparent with the process. Then the public vote kicked off with a beautifully brutal nul points for debut finalists Czech Republic and from there, everybody fell in love with the new system. However, the moment that won everybody over to the new system came right at the death when Ukraine, Russia, Australia & Poland became the final four countries to get announced. First, the Australians coming fourth with a high score, but was it enough (again, being a new system, nobody had a reference guide)? Then the Poles won the extraordinary honour of bottom of the jury but third in the televote, a result Graham Norton defined as "irrelevant" (in the context of the voting not the performance itself). Then the tense finish, the moment the number of votes was revealed and the math geeks realised that Australia would not win Eurovision. Then when Ukraine was announced as the recipient of that score, it became a two-horse race between Ukraine and Russia.
Ukraine, the country that had missed the previous year's contest owing to the conflict in the east of the country between the government and Russian-backed separatists. Russia, the country that had been building up to a victory since 2012 and who in Sergey Lazarev had their best opportunity to do so. The cameras turn onto Sergey, the crowd falls silence except for the sound of hearts beating around the arena. At that moment, everybody made a split second decision as to who they wanted to take the victory. Despite having enjoyed and appreciated the Russian entry for much of the run up to the contest, in that moment I wanted nothing other than a Ukrainian victory after a stunningly raw performance by Jamala. The whole experience had been incredible but the most special thing was its climax, a country whose reputation and general outlook had been devastated by a needless conflict was going to host the biggest TV show in the world and as I told everybody around me that night, in the arena, on the T-bana back into the city or in the hostel, I will never downplay how lucky I was to have been there on the night that Ukraine won the Eurovision Song Contest.
This has been my entry of 'I Was There' showcasing my time at the 2016 Eurovision Grand Final in Stockholm. Now we at the Internationalist Eurovision Blog want to hear about your stories of traveling to the host city of a contest and what the atmosphere and experience was like. If you would be interested in writing a similar piece to the one above about your live Eurovision experience, please comment below and say which contest you went to and I will be in touch as soon as possible.
Thank you for reading this far! With the recent announcement of Tel Aviv as the 2019 host city, next year's contest draws closer and closer! Coming soon, we will have an article showcasing the city and what visitors will be able to expect when they travel there.
I had been a Eurovision fan since 2012 when during my first time watching Eurovision, I cheered on Jedward to an underwhelming placing in Baku whilst Loreen romped to victory. I knew from that moment that I was desperate to attend my first ever Eurovision Song Contest before too long. So when I finally managed to secure a ticket for the Grand Final at the Globen in Stockholm, I was over the moon. I booked my plane tickets and I was ready to go.
When the day of my flight finally came around in May of that year on the day before the final, I was giddy with excitement. It had been a national final process of many ups and downs (especially for those who remember that this was the year of Margaret and 'Cool Me Down') but I was ready to cheer on Barei and 'Say Yay' to upset the odds against the hot Russian favourite Sergey Lazarev. As I boarded my flight at Stansted Airport, I was immediately encouraged by the number of Eurovision fans who were also flying out for the contest. In the row next to mine, a Russian woman and a Swedish woman had overheard me say that I couldn't see a way in which Russia wouldn't win. The Russian woman was hoping I was right so that they could go to Moscow for the following May.
Stockholm Skavsta is in the middle of the forest an hour to the south of Stockholm. Arriving into the airport was necessary given that I was a first year university student with a low budget but despite this, I was still very excited. The coach pulled into the main railway station around midnight and I walked through the beautiful city to the old town (Gamla Stan) where my hostel was. I turned in for the night buzzing to wake up the next day.
When I woke up the next morning, I was eager to get my full experience and understanding of the city centre whilst taking in the EuroVillage and EuroClub despite the unusually cold weather for May (12 degrees C). The first thing you come to understand about Stockholm is the extent to which it is surrounded by water. Everywhere I walked around Gamla Stan, I was eventually greeted by the water around Stockholm which eventually feeds out into the Baltic Sea.
Walking back into the city centre, you were quickly hit by the number of Eurovision fans everywhere. People were walking around with flags, the radio stations were talking about the contest and the main department store in Stockholm (NK Stockholm) and created artistic tributes to the six Swedish Eurovision victors in the shop windows.
Stockholm had transformed for Eurovision and you could feel the buzz in the streets everywhere you went. The EuroVillage was held in the Kungstradgarden park and even though most of the action had finished, there was still a fantastic atmosphere about the place. I headed to the Euroclub straight after and that was even more impressive, a marquee/tent structure right beside the water on the Skeppsbron. This was the perfect place to relax whilst still feeling in the midst of all the hype of the contest. Fans were turning up to engage in the full experience of being in the city of the Eurovision Grand Final on the day it was happening but then there were also quiet periods where it was easy to sit and enjoy the views out onto the water and the free wifi. It was at this point that I thought a lot about how the events of that evening would play out. Russia was the clear front-runner and after a fantastic semi-final performance, it was difficult to imagine Russia not winning but I had a gut feeling that they wouldn't. With these thoughts rolling around my head, I went back to the hostel and got a couple of hours of sleep ahead of what I knew would be a late and energetic night of entertainment.
The night started back at the Euroclub where the DJs were beginning to play both Eurovision and Melodifestivalen hits. As I danced to the music, bringing my Spanish flag into the dancing wherever possible, I realised that this was the perfect year for me to have my first live Eurovision experience. The Swedes love Eurovision, they love their selection process and the whole experience is one that they grasp with both hands. I already had a sense of this from my time walking around the city but listening to this set, a perfect combination of songs that captured Swedish identity in music and Eurovision bangers I was reminded that few other countries embrace the contest as much as the Swedes do.
With my eye on the time and with my eagerness building, I crossed the island-like peninsula that is Stockholm's old town and boarded the T-bana (Metro) with my fellow Eurovision fans. This metro line fortunately brought us straight from the old town to the Globen 20 minutes south of the city.
Having seen many pictures, I had an idea of what to expect, but being outside the venue surrounded by flags of many European countries and Eurovision fans from all across the continent, the feeling of belonging that it can be so difficult to find for many fans of the contest was finally driving my heartbeat. I got a bite to eat from the shopping mall next to the arena and checking my ticket, I headed for my entrance. As we stood in the line, I turned around to see a steady stream of Eurovision fans heading for the neighbouring Tele2 Arena. Those who watched the contest will remember that in addition to booking the Globen for the main shows, the Swedes booked out the arena next door and screened the contest on a giant screen complete with the added bonus of small things (like the Swedish voting) taking place in the arena. This was obviously not the same experience but as a consolation prize to what was a brutal ticketing process, it was really well organised. Back in the line, masks of Jamie-Lee (that year's eccentrically dressed German act) were being offered to those of us queuing. I was standing excitedly in the brisk May Swedish Evening air waving my Spanish flag and with absolutely no idea of what was to come.
What was to come was in my opinion, the greatest Eurovision Song Contest of all time. The arena was perfectly shaped for everybody to experience the action. Mans & Petra were excellent hosts supported by an expertly written script by Mr. af Sillen.
Everybody brought their A-game on the night and it was interesting to see who had the arena rocking (as Graham Norton said, if it was purely down to audience reaction, Spain would have won the night). The interval acts were not simply there to kill time, but were intelligent, well considered and downright hilarious. Having watched the contest back with non-Eurovision fans, even they appreciate the humor. It is hard to see how 'Love, Love, Peace, Peace' will ever be beaten as a Eurovision interval act or how Justin Timberlake will ever be beaten as a mainstream, international artist to grace the Eurovision stage.
Finally, a voting sequence that many Eurovision fans were confused by and unsure about got underway and the jury vote sent Australia and Ukraine flying up the standings but with Australia in a firm lead. Everybody around me was beginning to consider what this meant. Would this mean more international countries invited to the contest? Was this the best chance for the UK to get to host a contest? Would they be transparent with the process. Then the public vote kicked off with a beautifully brutal nul points for debut finalists Czech Republic and from there, everybody fell in love with the new system. However, the moment that won everybody over to the new system came right at the death when Ukraine, Russia, Australia & Poland became the final four countries to get announced. First, the Australians coming fourth with a high score, but was it enough (again, being a new system, nobody had a reference guide)? Then the Poles won the extraordinary honour of bottom of the jury but third in the televote, a result Graham Norton defined as "irrelevant" (in the context of the voting not the performance itself). Then the tense finish, the moment the number of votes was revealed and the math geeks realised that Australia would not win Eurovision. Then when Ukraine was announced as the recipient of that score, it became a two-horse race between Ukraine and Russia.
Ukraine, the country that had missed the previous year's contest owing to the conflict in the east of the country between the government and Russian-backed separatists. Russia, the country that had been building up to a victory since 2012 and who in Sergey Lazarev had their best opportunity to do so. The cameras turn onto Sergey, the crowd falls silence except for the sound of hearts beating around the arena. At that moment, everybody made a split second decision as to who they wanted to take the victory. Despite having enjoyed and appreciated the Russian entry for much of the run up to the contest, in that moment I wanted nothing other than a Ukrainian victory after a stunningly raw performance by Jamala. The whole experience had been incredible but the most special thing was its climax, a country whose reputation and general outlook had been devastated by a needless conflict was going to host the biggest TV show in the world and as I told everybody around me that night, in the arena, on the T-bana back into the city or in the hostel, I will never downplay how lucky I was to have been there on the night that Ukraine won the Eurovision Song Contest.
This has been my entry of 'I Was There' showcasing my time at the 2016 Eurovision Grand Final in Stockholm. Now we at the Internationalist Eurovision Blog want to hear about your stories of traveling to the host city of a contest and what the atmosphere and experience was like. If you would be interested in writing a similar piece to the one above about your live Eurovision experience, please comment below and say which contest you went to and I will be in touch as soon as possible.
Thank you for reading this far! With the recent announcement of Tel Aviv as the 2019 host city, next year's contest draws closer and closer! Coming soon, we will have an article showcasing the city and what visitors will be able to expect when they travel there.
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