It is heralded as “the most watched, loved, hated, talked about, campiest, overdressed entertainment show in the world.” Welcomed to Eurovision.
A showcase of spectacle (which more than often trumps the talent), Eurovision is a song-of-the-year contest that began all the way back in 1956 as a way to heal post-World War II Europe. Jump to today and it is the largest battle of the bands on the planet. Participant countries have their own national singing competitions beforehand, and those winners head to the international sing-off that is “Eurovision.” Ironically, it is more than just Europeans hitting the stage; any country in the European Broadcasting Union and its transmission areas has a shot at the gold. Asiatic countries such as Israel and Azerbaijan regularly participate, and singers can come in from abroad to represent EBU countries.
While most critics tend to write Eurovision, and the songs, off as monumental fluff, the contest is immensely popular and has some notable success. ABBA can thank their conquest of the world thanks to winning in 1974 with “Waterloo.” In 1988, a gawky Canadian teenager with bad hair whom nobody ever heard of sang under the French flag and blasted everybody else right off the stage. Her name was Celine Dion.
To be sure, Eurovision is not a gay event. At least, on paper. De facto, it is one of the gayest contests outside of Rentboy’s Man of the Year and is a major round-house punch for LGBTQ rights, a fact chiseled into stone when Austrian drag-queen-with-a-beard Conchita Wurst came out on top last year.
Per contest rules, the winner’s country hosts the following contest, so this year, on May 19, 21, and 23, all eyes will turn to the Imperial City of Vienna to see who will fill Wurst’s stilettos. Don’t worry about needing Google Translate, while Eurovision is a veritable Tower of Babel when it comes to languages, most of the songs are sung in English — even if the singer can’t actually speak a word of it and learned the sounds phonetically.
Now for the practical aspects: Eurovision is a ticketed event, so do not think you can just waltz right in. Vienna itself isn’t known for being cheap, and Eurovision is guaranteed to jack up the prices. Start booking your hotels now. Lucky for you, organizers have a pre-selected, and fairly exhaustive, list of locations where you can set up shop on the website.
For more information, go to eurovision.tv.