In this week’s edition we are reviewing each of the Eurovision songs newly selected across the continent and finding the best extras from the world of Eurovision that you don’t want to miss. Our column, Robertson’s Reflection, this week looks at the news of fans getting access to the EuroClub and Fan Cafe complex, and reviews what this means for the Contest not just this year, but also in the future.
Because what if it’s not a Stockholm reprise in 2017? The odds suggest it could be a Warsaw or Gdansk, or dare I say a Sochi next year. These are cities where the thought of a schlager dance floor would be buried even in the most hidden away gay bars known to man. None of types of towns would be disappointed with hosting such a major event, but the realisation of exactly what the fanatics want who come along with the Contest just wouldn’t exist.
I remember meeting Miroslavs Kodis, President of OGAE Latvia, when I interviewed him at my first Latvian final in 2014 when the club was brand new. ‘What is fan club?’ is what he said the common response when trying to attract new members. Certainly the TV executives in Eastern Europe come from an era when the only fanatics they would recognise would be those who stood on terraces each Saturday afternoon, and that entertainment like Eurovision could have the same breed of ultra fandom is culturally queer.
Keep reading the rest of the Newsletter for more EuroClub snippets and hopefully we will get to see many of you this May!