Here in the Eurovision Fam we want to feature YOU! No, not all of you, but a few YOUs in the Eurovision Song Contest fandom. We’re reviving a well-loved past feature format, where we highlight and center the voices of individual fans who are not from Eurovision participating countries.
Beginning today, and for the next few weeks, you will get to know a little more of each member of the current Eurovision Fam team. Today, we’re featuring Lili, who is part of our video team and one of the hosts of our weekly streams on Sundays!
Check out the latest Eurovision Family Member:
Lili
Where are you from?
DC Metropolitan Area, United States
When and how did you discover the Eurovision Song Contest?
On May 18, 2009 a friend of mine who was a Norwegian Exchange student came into class really excited because they had won Eurovision. She showed me the performance of “Fairytale”. Later that day I went through, all the songs from the final and fell in love.
What is your all-time favorite Eurovision Song?
It is pretty much a tie between “Dansevise” by Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann (Denmark 1963) and “Intet Er Nytt Under Solen” by Åse Kleveland (Norway 1966)
Who is your favorite Eurovision winner and why?
Jamala, her range as an artist, vocal talent, and style are all so great, while “1944” isn’t my favorite winning song of all time she’s easily my favorite winner.
What is your favorite Eurovision Contest year and why?
2009; it’s just such a great year, in the final there are more than half a dozen songs that I could make a case for why they should have won, there are no bad songs in the final, you get a good mix of pop bangers, traditional ballads, and the contest just felt so big. When you watch the contests from the 00s back to back, it’s obvious that there was a massive shift in the contest that year.
If you could change one thing about the Eurovision Song Contest what would it be and why?
An option for live music. I totally get why we have play back, but some genres work better when the music is live. When it comes to a rock band for example, you lose some of what makes a live rock performance so great when the music is on playback. Just imagine “Zitti E Buoni” if the instruments were live for example.
What do you LOVE about being in the Eurovision fan community?
It is a global fandom of music lovers with a history that goes back more than sixty years… it’s kind of like the musical equivalent of being a Star Trek fan.
What is the hardest thing about being a fan NOT from a participating country?
The time zone difference, on Saturdays from January-Early March I have to have afternoon plans cancelled in favor of National Finals. Getting to have that pushed back to later on in the evening would be nice… except for when it comes to Benidorm Fest, Sanremo, and Festival da Canção; with those three midday starts are to my advantage.
Connect with Lili: