This year’s Melodifestivalen final marked my 25th National Final that I have attended in person. I have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel around many of the various competitions around Europe, and it’s a privilege that I am very grateful for. Most of those visits have been under an ESC Insight wing, and I can only hope that the vague attempts at educating, informing and entertaining you have been worthwhile.
This article is a little memoir of my memories attending different National Finals around Europe, and, I hope, it might inspire some of you to include a National Final or two in any future travels you have around the continent. There are few better ways for Eurovision fans to throw themselves into a different culture, even within the framework of the Song Contest is the world so broad and diverse.
My First National Final
The first National Final I went to was the 2010 National Final for the United Kingdom. I was still at Durham University where we had a Eurovision Society (which has relaunched the last year!), and the BBC accepted a wild application for places at the National Final!
It meant I had the pleasure of listening to ‘That Sounds Good To Me’ three and a half times in the audience which was goaded up to be excited for the TV cameras. So excited did we get that my now BetEurovision co-host believed that the UK would be “top 15 minimum” in Oslo.
We shook hands on a deal that resulted in him buying me a pint at our Eurovision Society party in May after the results trickled in.
Durham University Eurovision Society members at Your Country Needs You 2010
The National Final Most Often Visited
That would unsurprisingly be Melodifestivalen, which is held each year nowadays in Friends Arena, roughly a one-hour walk from my home in Stockholm. Tickets for this event used to be hard to come by, but as Melodifestivalen has started to stagnate in recent years, it is quite easy to attend. Friends Arena isn’t the greatest NF for the musical atmosphere; it is just a little too big in that regard for the acoustics to really shine, but as a spectacle, it is majestic.
My top Friends Arena tip for first-time visitors is to go for the cheap seats at the far back corner of the arena. Do you see much? No, but from the back, you get a vantage point over 30,000 people below you having the greatest time of their lives.
The view from the back of Friends Arena during the 2014 Melodifestivalen Final (Photo: Ben Robertson, ESC Insight)
Another big plus of Melodifestivalen, especially the final, is that it combines with MelfestWKND. While not a full-on pre-party, MelfestWKND often has a couple of this year’s Eurovision artists and a couple of National Final favourites, which is made possible because it always circulates at the end of the National Final season.
Greatest Excitement in the Arena
It was probably my first Melodifestivalen, my only one in Globen, back in 2012. I was giddy with excitement anyway, but heading to the arena, we found out that our fan club tickets had been moved to be in front of the stage, one row in front of the legend that is Svante Stockselius.
Now, Melodifestivalen was special for another reason as well: our Eurovision winner. Before Loreen performed, you could not hear anything from the hosts as they introduced her to the stage, such were the quite un-Swedish roars and cheers from the crowd. To this day, I believe that both Loreen and Danny Saucedo would have comfortably won in Baku, and that head-to-head battle to represent Sweden was one of the most exciting I have seen anywhere.
I may have got so caught up in the emotion of it all I couldn’t choose and voted for Molly Sandén. Oops.
The Trip With Last Minute Planning
The trip to London for Your Country Needs You 2010 was a last-minute affair. We only discovered we had tickets for the broadcast at the start of the week. The show was a Friday night viewing, and with train tickets in the United Kingdom an extortionate cost for cash-strapped students, some of the members with cars agreed to drive us down from Durham and split the petrol costs.
Now, I’d only been to London once before at this point in life, and most of the rest of us were equally inexperienced in capital city life, and on driving off the M1, we lost contact with each other’s groups. Up came a Top Gear-esque mad dash between different transport options as we went separate ways in the cars to try and get ourselves to the BBC studio first. My group, completely lost as we entered north London, headed for the only visible landmark we knew off the motorway with tube connections to central London, Wembley Stadium.
I think we lost the race, but we all got in for the good times.
The Greatest National Final Trip
In 2015, a lucky turn of events caused there to be 24 hours between a Saturday night Eesti Laul in Tallinn and a Sunday night Supernova in Riga, which were only separated by a 4-hour Lux Express coach journey.
I booked a National Final weekend away through two National Finals through one provider. Back in those days, ferry company Tallink Silja ran boats from Stockholm to both Tallinn and Riga. Through their website, I could book a Friday night boat to Tallinn, a Saturday night hotel in Tallinn, a Sunday night hotel in Riga, and then a Monday night boat back to Stockholm.
Oh, and I met this guy.
Ben Robertson interviewing the Riga Beaver (Photo: Dace Grande)
Biggest Procession
That Eesti Laul in 2015 was probably the most one-sided I’ve ever witnessed. We knew Stig Rasta and Elina Born had the song, and we knew that the Estonian public knew it was finally time to send Stig to the Song Contest. They took over 70,000 televotes in the superfinal, over the 19,000 the other two competing acts received combined, and such a landslide was little surprise.
However, it was the fact that all around Tallinn it felt like every second billboard had a picture of Stig’s face on it, and even within the arena, there was a huge banner up the main staircase, visible on the TV broadcast as Stig and Elina sheepishly made their way from the Greenroom to the stage to collect their prize.
Yes, I was present at arguably bigger landslides (such as Loreen’s at Melodifestivalen with ‘Tattoo’), but with the superfinal being televotes only, nothing was ever going to stop ‘Goodbye to Yesterday’ from going to the Song Contest in Vienna. And hasn’t that song aged well?
Best Party
This party might not have been the most rowdy, star-studded, or generous with the free booze (the less said about the unlimited punch in the VIP area after a certain Eesti Laul, the better), but I have to say that the best party for any Eurovision fan has to be the one organised at UMK in Finland.
For me, the greatest party experience isn’t the one that is the most glitzy, loud or OTT, instead, it is the party where everybody gets to be a part of the fun they want to do – and that’s why Finland’s nine hour-long extravaganza of pre-party, live show and after-party in the same venue is just such a brilliant concept. As this Eurovision circus continues to get bigger and bigger, we seldom find venues where all of us can party together in the same place, and seldom do we find venues with so many activities as those that are provided by the UMK experience.
It’s definitely the one I would recommend – just the right amount of crazy and party.
Different Experience
I attended the National Final for the 2015 selection of Moldova’s Eurovision Song Contest entry. Journalists attending the show, certainly those from abroad, were a novelty, so the oversized accreditation the ESC Insight team received gave us the designation O. O, meaning organiser, giving access to all areas. There were a handful of occasions in and around the venue where local cameramen and lights operators would come asking us questions in the belief that we were somewhat in charge of proceedings.
During the show itself, we stood in a zoned-off VIP area to the side of the stage with what appeared to be a Who’s Who of Moldovan celebrity culture as the acts, including big Eurovision names like DoReDos and Sunstroke Project, battled for a trip to Copenhagen.
Most bizarre, though, was that after the final there wasn’t a big after party or celebration or even a press conference. Instead after a short commercial break the broadcaster brought over a dozen people following the contest onto stage for its Question Time debate about all that happened during the show. Our ESC Insight Editor, Ewan Spence, was asked to be a part of the panel, but, speaking only a limited amount of Moldovan, he didn’t get a chance to utter a word during the one-hour-long televised debate.
The winner Edvard Romanyuta on stage in the Final of Moldova’s search for a Eurovision artist (Photo: TVM)
Most Disappointing In-Person Experience
While this National Final chose a very strong act for the Eurovision Song Contest that year, being in the audience for it was a lowlight of my National Final adventuring. When Latvia changed their Eurovision selection show from Eurodziesma to Supernova, the show moved from a theatre in Ventspils to the broadcaster’s TV studio on an island on the Daugava River in Riga.
The TV studio in question had no reserved seating, so we were sardined onto uncomfortable steps to sit through the show’s three-hour broadcast for a four-song selection show. Not only was that rather torturous, but the promised interval acts for the show, including Latvian megastars Brainstorm, were pre-recorded, so rather than see them in person, we watched them in the studio on a TV screen.
Thankfully our Riga Beaver friend was there for some ad break joys.
The One That Got Away
Estonia wasn’t wrong to pick ‘Play’ in 2016. It was a natural follow-up to ‘Goodbye To Yesterday’, and Juri Pootsmann was a great performer with one of the most interesting voices in the competition. The package that went to Stockholm didn’t work, but last place in the Semi Final is harsh for a well-written number.
However, another song lurking in that 2016 Eesti Laul final got away. Perhaps it was too modern for its time, it would have been asking too much or juries and televoters, or it screams ESC Insight but nothing else, but ‘Seis’ by Mick Pedeja should have gone to Eurovision. Seeing this live was an absolute privilege. I’d never seen an audience so captivated by three minutes of tranquil and mesmerising music, matched by ahead-of-its-time lighting effects that would have made this stand out in Stockholm.
I’ve included the song in my “working in the classroom” playlist when I was still teaching, and no track worked better for getting my students to focus on their academics. It’s still an utterly brilliant and talented piece of creative music.
Most Family Friendly
There is no denying that the Icelandic view of the Eurovision Song Contest is the most family-friendly in Europe. This is partly helped by the nation’s time zone, meaning the Eurovision Grand Final is a 1900 start local time, making it prime-time entertainment for even the youngest of Eurovision fans. It’s little surprise that’s replicated in the type of acts Iceland sends to the Song Contest, with Pollapönk, Daði Freyr and even Hatari being colourful characters that can resonate with children as much as adults.
When I attended Söngvakeppnin I was amazed not just at how many children were in the arena, but how many children were around at the Eurovision parties. The local OGAE in Iceland differs from most in that it is majority female in membership. Still, it also differs in how many family groups all gather together as Eurovision fans there. The OGAE pre-party warm-up I attended was dotted with little Icelandic children everywhere.
While an expensive destination Reykjavík is also a great family-friendly city, and if you do end up bringing up a Eurovision-loving child of your own, this would be a great choice. Melodifestivalen also works (and has tons of kids attending, especially for the rehearsals), but arguably, the sheer scale of the event might be a little daunting for a first visit.
Most Passionate Fans
Unsurprisingly, my award for the most passionate National Final supporter goes to the Spanish fans in Benidorm. Although only a couple of thousand get inside the arena, you could be mistaken for it being 20,000, such is the energy contained in the sports hall where Benidorm Fest is held.
The Spanish Eurofans and their vivacious energy can only be admired. Sure, there have been times when the crowd perhaps too easily turned on the production team as they booed and jeered, but such passion does come from a place of love and on the flip side, there is no crowd better at supporting an act or host than the Benidorm Fest one when the times comes.
I think Benidorm Fest’s peculiar voting system also dictates part of the energy. Televoting is only worth 25 per cent of the total points awarded, and in contrast, 50 percent of the score is made up by an in-arena eight-person jury. I was present for Blanca Paloma’s victory last year and the deafening noise that followed her magnificent three minutes was a roar aimed directly at those jury members to make sure they chose ‘Eaea’ as their representative in May.
Most Split Crowd
The 2014 Melodifestivalen final was one of the closest head-to-head battles in the history of this competition, as Sanna Nielsen, most often the bridesmaid of the Melodifestivalen final, competed for victory against Ace Wilder, the newcomer, and her infectious pop hit ‘Busy Doin’ Nothin’‘.
Ace Wilder won the jury voting, but the televote and those loyal points to Sanna pushed her over the line and ensured ‘Undo‘ went to Copenhagen. Now, many in Friends Arena were delighted that Sanna would finally get her chance to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, but many others were not. I was sitting up in the cheap seats for this one, and within seconds of Sanna Nielsen’s victory, the entire top tier was at least half empty.
Ace Wilder was the kid’s favourite, and with most families in the top tier, they left before Sanna’s reprise with their tired and upset children.
The One Still On The Bucket List
If we are counting it as a National Final then the obvious answer here would be the Sanremo. The Italian show, which chooses a Eurovision representative as a by-product, stands out for how different it is to the rest of the world’s National Finals and the press rituals that go alongside it. Not only do the journalists get a very important say in who the Sanremo winner ultimately is, but the stories of hoards of journalists descending on the bar en masse between ad breaks and press conferences that take a whole afternoon would be something to behold.
A couple of National Finals I haven’t ever been able to get myself to have been in Ireland and Portugal. The Portuguese final often clashes with Melodifestivalen, and thus, I prioritise the behemoth on my doorstep. Still, I suspect Portugal’s Festival da Canção would be a classy affair and a world away from the glitzy and glamourous façade that adorns Melodifestivalen. I also think the Irish final would be great to attend, hopefully it will improve its production beyond that the Late Late Show can offer but regardless both the fan community and the team from RTÉ are giving off a fresh vibe for Eurovision that would be great to witness, and also great fun.
A big pile of supermarket goodies in the hamper wouldn’t go amiss either.
The One I Missed Out On
I attended the final of the Melodi Grand Prix 2016 live in the Oslo Spektrum. It was fine. The winner was a local star who finally got their turn to represent the nation, but ‘Icebreaker’ and its tempo changes didn’t work. While some of the competition was fun and/or creative, Norway didn’t have their finest edition of the party here.
That’s because the finest edition came the year before. To celebrate 60 years of the Song Contest, Norwegian broadcaster NRK threw the kitchen sink at the show with great productions with dozens of people on stage, big-name artists and the option for all the acts to use the live orchestra. All four acts using the live orchestra qualified for their superfinal, and all four of them were brilliant compositions (yes, even the cheesiest ‘All Over The World’ by Tor and Bettan) that provided great Saturday night entertainment and one of the most dramatic voting sequences in National Final history.
Greatest Live Feeling
I attended the Festivali i Këngës that chose Albania’s selection for Eurovision 2016, so rather than roast dinners with the family Christmas was spent on the beach in Dürres before the live show.
Being inside the Pallati i Kongreseve in Tirana was magnificent. The wall of sound of a full orchestra playing some of these tracks was fantastic, and I could have listed about ten of the songs that I thought were brilliant compositions on leaving the hall. When I returned to my family after the show, I remember excitingly hooking up my laptop and telling my lovely wife about all the songs that got away she had to listen to.
I looked like a fool. Down the web stream, none of the songs sounded as powerful as what I had heard days prior. None of the music got you off your seat. The biggest glow-up for an Albanian entry isn’t the customary three-minute edit for the Song Contest; it’s the original version with the full orchestra in Tirana—but you have to experience it live.
And that ends my stories for now about the National Finals I have had a pleasure in attending in my history. Do you have any stories worth sharing yourself? Comment below!
Congrats on your 25th! I have only managed four – three in the UK and one in Estonia!
Eesti Laul 2017 was the one where loads of UK Eurovision fans were at and it was also the first where I had press accreditation. Kerli was my favourite there as a competing artist and interviewee – she was also one of the only artists to ask me a question in response to mine in a press conference (about Bjork of all things!). The Saku Suurhall was a great venue, especially as the Final coincided with my 50th Birthday and I was asked to be a ‘stand in juror’ in the afternoon family show. Sitting in the restaurant as the show went on was a novel experience, to be sure!
The UK 2016 show was my first National Final at the O2 in Camden, followed by 2017 at the Hammersmith Apollo and then 2018 at the Brighton Dome. Memories of those? Returning to an area that I had lived in 24 years earlier in 2016, effectively watching for free in 2017 (unexpected restricted view behind the jurors for those in the accessible area) and by chance meeting relatives of one of the acts there, and seeing the crowd help sweep SuRie to victory in 2018, plus meeting Greta Salome and Emmelie de Forest in my hotel foyer!
After reading that you attended over 20 selections made me realize how fun was to attend them. Never analyzed them as proper TV shows, but as a medium to select for Eurovision. That changed during the pandemic: songs and shows are being commented as if we were all pros!
Last year a colleague of mine attended Benidorm, so I took the step and attended this year’s edition. But before! After finding out Luxembourg’s comeback and the announcement of a final, I waited like crazy for the ticket release. The hype was all in with local artists, even though the quality of the songs was rather unbalanced. The show was worth the weekend getaway, though. I sat two rows behind Christer Björkman!
And for Benidorm, getting tickets to the venue was quite a failure. At least I got to watch it as the ESC final in Liverpool and Lisbon: big screen on a main square. Some locals even told me that the event is bringing back the town’s touristic glory. Hope it will be like that over the years, even though there are still artists trying to get more fame by criticising the festival rather than showcasing their songs on it.
If that happens, I’m planning on escaping for a Festival da Canção next year. Also if Leipzig or Dresden will host any Deutsche Finale from now on, can’t wait to watch it live!