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Rhyl Journal
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Rhyl Journal
Eurovision? I love it like Christmas despite what people say
Stockholm 2000 was the first Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) I remember watching and getting hooked on for the madness, melodies and mishaps. As a child, the contest quickly became a highlight of the year for me. Fast forward 16 years, as I stood in the same arena almost to the day, partying with the masses for Stockholm 2016. Although I was a trainee journalist at the time, this had nothing to do with work, but more so me finding my own feet in a foreign country at the helm of the world's largest live music event by myself. See just a mere nine years ago, Eurovision felt more accessible to me as a long-time fan, but since then ticket prices have soared, and even members of the fan network OGAE have struggled to secure seats via its ballot. Hotel prices skyrocketed to thousands of pounds and last year in Malmo, Sweden, political unrest left many feeling unsafe and on edge. So, here's the thing: has the contest that everyone loves to hate actually converted more mainstream TV viewers into Europop lovers in recent years? Quite possibly so. And is that a bad thing? Absolutely not! The power of Eurovision (wait for the cheese) is to bring people together, to create unforgettable moments and put an annual time capsule of music back in the spotlight. This not only stands for past winners; but those who fell at the hurdles of the semi-finals (Denmark's Lighthouse X - Soldiers of Love, 2016) those who made a triumphant return for their country after several years (Ireland's Niamh Kavanagh – It's For You, 2010) and the purely iconic (Sweden's Charlotte Perrelli – Hero, 2008). As for the UK, we try, that's for sure. Big up Sam Ryder, who not only restored our Eurovision reputation but led us to Liverpool 2023 – and what an amazing experience the city offered ESC fans from across the globe. Overall, the UK is largely the laughingstock of the competition; and in the week leading up to the final it's hard not to come across someone who gives the 'well we always do rubbish anyway' speech. But that hasn't always been the case. Taking political voting out of it for one minute, I think we need to take a leaf out of the Swede's book. Their pre-selection for the competition, called Melodifestivalen, is now almost as well-recognised as Eurovision itself. The likes of Loreen and Mans Zelmerlöw have turned Eurovision songs into chart-topping hits in the UK, turning the tide on what was once seen as a formal song competition in front of an audience of suited and booted professionals at Brighton Dome. Recommended reading: Who are Remember Monday members? UK's Eurovision act What prize does the Eurovision winner get at the end? Who are the Eurovision Big 5 and why they automatically qualify? But the special part of all of this is that Eurovision continues to create memories every year. The flashbacks of enjoying Eurovision with loved ones who have now passed away, having a tipple and picking up your phone to vote for a song from a country you've never heard of before (oops) or dressing up as Conchita Wurst. Really, Eurovision is like Christmas, minus the turkey on our plate, but instead with Dustin the Turkey on our screens.
Irish Daily Mirror
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
Eurovision's Linda Martin gives words of advice to EMMY ahead of song contest
Eurovision winner Linda Martin has told EMMY the song contest is the most 'powerful platform' she will perform on. EMMY and her brother Erland visited former Eurovision winner Linda Martin's dog shelter, the Dublin Dog Hub, when they were in Dublin recently. Linda told EMMY before the Norwegian singer flew to Basel, Switzerland: "Enjoy it because it's going to go past in a flash. And speak to everybody, speak to the newspapers and magazines, the radios, anything. "Speak to them just so they know who you are and what your song is about and get your song out there because it's vitally important, but do enjoy yourself. 'I know on the stage you're going to be nervous. Because you'll be aware that there's 400 million people watching, you know, but this is the most wonderful platform you could ever imagine. 'I mean, where would you ever be seen again by so many people? So there's going to be managers looking in, there's going to be promoters, there's gonna be record labels looking at everything and just use it and go forward. Embrace it. Because I love Eurovision. 'I got stuck into it straight away and EMMY, I'm still working because of that Eurovision contest, you know. You're so beautiful and friendly. Both of you. We'll be cheering for you on the night." EMMY said: "Thank you for letting us visit your dog shelter." Linda added: "It was a pleasure. Seriously, it was. A pleasure to have you here and we just wish you the very, very best of luck. And like I said to you earlier, if you win, you're right. 'You have to come back and live in Dublin. And then I'll have a job here for you !It's been lovely. Thank you for coming to this afternoon. It's been an absolute pleasure and go and win for Ireland.' The OGAE Irish fan club have created t-shirts with Laika the dog on them to support EMMY - all proceeds go to Linda Martin's dog shelter. Since opening its doors on February 1, 2024, Dublin Dog Hub has rehomed 225 dogs. Linda and her team gave EMMY and Erland a warm welcome and a beautiful bouquet of green, white and orange flowers to wish EMMY luck. EMMY finished her second dress rehearsal on Thursday a week before she hits the stage for the second semi final with her song, Laika Party. Speaking after her second rehearsals, EMMY said: 'We definitely have done some change and even after the first rehearsal, we had to do some changes because of the size of the stage and the prop that we didn't know of. 'So yeah, there's got to be changes, but trying to keep the core of the Eurovision performance, or some elements of it.'
Irish Independent
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
‘Embrace it' – Ireland's Eurovision hopeful Emmy gets advice after visiting former winner Linda Martin's dog shelter in Dublin
Emmy will represent Ireland at Eurovision 2025 later this month in Basel, Switzerland with her song Laika Party, which is about a dog sent to space by the USSR. It was after attending a song writing camp in Emmy's native Norway last summer where she met Irish songwriter Larissa Tormey and the pair collaborated to write their Eurovision 2025 entry song for Ireland. She and her brother, Erland, visited former Eurovision winner Linda Martin's dog shelter, Dublin Dog Hub, when they were in the capital recently. Ms Martin, who won the contest in 1992 for Why Me? told Emmy: "Enjoy it because it's going to go past in a flash." She and her team gave Emmy and Erland a warm welcome and a bouquet of green, white and orange flowers to wish Emmy luck. Ms Martin also advised 24-year-old Emmy to 'speak to everybody', including newspapers, magazines and the radio. 'Speak to them just so they know who you are and what your song is about and get your song out there because it's vitally important, but do enjoy yourself. "I know on the stage you're going to be nervous. Because you'll be aware that there's 400m people watching, you know, but this is the most wonderful platform you could ever imagine,' she said. Ms Martin added: "I mean, where would you ever be seen again by so many people? So there's going to be managers looking in, there's going to be promoters, there's gonna be record labels looking at everything and just use it and go forward. "Embrace it. Because I love Eurovision. I got stuck into it straight away and Emmy, I'm still working because of that Eurovision contest, you know. You're so beautiful and friendly. Both of you. We'll be cheering for you on the night." Ms Martin said it was a pleasure to have Emmy at her dog shelter and wished her the very best of luck. "And like I said to you earlier, if you win, you're right. You have to come back and live in Dublin. And then I'll have a job here for you !It's been lovely. Thank you for coming to this afternoon. It's been an absolute pleasure and go and win for Ireland.' The OGAE Irish fan club, which is the Eurovision fan club in Ireland, established in the 1990s, has created t-shirts with Laika the dog on them to support Emmy, with proceeds from the sales going to the dog shelter. Emmy previously tried to enter Eurovision twice through Norway's pre-selection contest Melodi Grand Prix. She initially entered at age 14 for the youth version of the competition before entering again in 2021, where she placed third and narrowly missed out on representing Norway at Eurovision that year. She follows in the footsteps of Bambie Thug, who came in sixth place last year with their song Doomsday Blue, scoring a total of 278 points, marking the country's highest placing since 2000. The Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest is set to take place on Saturday, May 17 from 8pm.
