Twelve Points to Vienna
What an amazing time to be in Vienna. Not only because you can marvel at the traffic lights showing gay, lesbian and straight couples (apparently, Salzburg is getting three!), but the beautiful city hosted the "Life Ball" last week, and is now hosting the 60th Eurovision Song Contest. The contest, which has been broadcast every year since 1956, is one of the longest running TV programmes in the world and one of the most watched non-sporting events.
It was started in the 50s by The European Broadcasting Union – based in Switzerland – when they set up a committee to try and find ways of bringing countries, in a wartorn Europe, together.
My very first memory of the Eurovision Song Contest is when I sneaked downstairs to watch the final of the 1967 contest. A bare-footed Sandie Shaw was the first British performer to ever win with "Puppet on a String". She became quite famous after that, as did many other artists who, after winning the ESC, managed to further their careers.
One very catchy tune was sung by the Italian, Domenico Modugno, in 1958, who came third with "Nel blu dipinto di blu", better known as "Volare". Udo Jürgens will be sadly remembered with his song "Merci Cherie" which won him the contest in 1966. Unforgettable, ABBA, won in 1974, with "Waterloo"; Celine Dion, sang the French language song "Ne partez pas sans moi", in 1988, while the Spaniard, Julio Iglesias went on to sell over 300 million records, worldwide, after winning with "Gwendolyne", in 1970.
In my opinion, all these performances were amazing but none of them can top last year’s winner. Many countries awarded Conchita Wurst the maximum 12 points, with a whopping final score of 290 points! The "bearded lady" hit the headlines, all over the world, after her incredible performance of "Rise like a Phoenix". It was a great achievement, both for her and Austria, as this was the first win for Austria in 49 years!
What we saw last year should teach us all a lesson for the future: never judge a book by its cover. When the 25- year-old Conchita took to the stage, she looked absolutely stunning in her golden, sequin dress, which apparently she designed herself. However, when she opened her mouth to sing the thought-provoking song "Rise like a Phoenix", she sounded like Shirley Bassey. I was truly flabbergasted, covered in goose pimples and knew immediately that she would win.
Since the Eurovision Song Contest started, there have always been political points to be made. This time was no exception as the European public voted in their millions for Conchita, whom Russian politicians demanded be banned from the competition. Most people will admit that this is a brilliant song, and Conchita deserved to win, but her win was also a protest against Russia’s anti-gay crack-down. The Russian contestants were booed by the audience, while they were performing, and Conchita got her message across. While petitions were signed in Belarus and Russia to delete her performance from their broadcast, she was victorious.
Her victory was seen as a triumph for tolerance across Europe: tolerance for anyone who is or looks different. As a tearful Conchita was awarded her trophy she dedicated her victory to "everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom" and responded to her critics by saying "strange that a little facial hair causes that much excitement". "We are unity and we are unstoppable." While being interviewed in Ireland, where she spoke perfect English, she said: "They don’t have to love me, just accept me." Good Luck Vienna and Conchita.