Welcome & Introductions!

Good evening Europe!!
Welcome to Eurovision Assemble's new forum! Here you will be able to discuss anything and everything ESC related in the lead up to Copenhagen 2014 (and hopefully beyond!)

This thread is for introducing yourself. Tell us some basic facts about you, how long you've been a fan of Eurovision, your favourite country in the contest, and any other hobbies and interests!

Hello!
I'm Leon, I'm from the UK!

I've been brought up with Eurovision, but only became a fanboy after 2009, saved from dropping the thing altogether after 2008.
I have a lot of hatred for the UK delegation and hope that one day the UK gets the ESC team they truly deserve.

Too many good countries for a favourite. I tend to favour the nordic countries.

Hi

I'm maddog (don't ask) and I'm from England.
2007 was my first Eurovision year. I discovered the show channel flicking and was captivated by Alenka Gotar singing Cvet Z Juga.

As with Leon, too many good countries for a favourite, but I could say Armenia, Norway, and Israel have a place in my heart.

Hey everyone, I'm Charlotte, from the UK.

My first Eurovision was 1996, and I LOVED Gina G. Then the UK won in 1997 and I was hooked. I didn't stop singing Love Shine A Light for months. From 2000 I started taping the contests to VHS and spent the months after May learning all the dance routines (my 100% Te Ljubam is incredible ) and I grew up looking forward to Eurovision more than I looked forward to Christmas. I started hosting boozy Eurovision parties from 2007, and it's an annual mainstay in my friends' calendars. They're good sports.

I tend to favour Iceland, Serbia and Georgia, I think purely because of the languages.

Outside of Eurovision I work in IT and spend my spare time knitting (as you'll find out if you look up my Tumblr - my username here is my Tumblr URL).

Anyway, glad to be here, roll on Copenhagen 2014.

Hola!

I'm Matt from California and 2008 was my introduction to the contest - it was love at first sight.

As for my favorite countries, I generally like the Nordic countries (especially Sweden and Denmark), Spain, and France.

First off can I just say that I'm really loving the choices in avatars, excellent work everyone  

I'm Alex, I'm from Canada.
my first Eurovision was 2008 and I've been a dedicated follower ever since. I'm on a bit of a Finland phase right now but I tend to side with the Balkans, as you probably can tell by my tumblr url hehe.

Hi everyone, I'm Caolán (it's Irish, shhh), from Northern Ireland - I would consider myself Irish, but living in Northern Ireland means that I have the unique privilege of being embarrassed by both the Irish and the British delegations

 I started watching Eurovision in 2006, much to the disappointment of my entire family, but it wasn't until 2008, when Laka sang with four women in wedding dresses, that I was hooked. I made my mum buy the 2008 CD, and the obsession has only grown since then.

My favourite countries are far and away France (my username is an Amandine Bourgeois lyric, but you already knew that), Spain and Italy, but I also have a soft spot for Portugal, the Netherlands, Finland, Estonia and Iceland. Also, thanks to Haba Haba, I have formed a deep, emotional bond with Norway that will remain until the end of time.

I love your avatar renocer-aux--batailles

Hello!
I'm Anabela (but I usually go by Arabela in the internets) and I'm from Portugal.
The first Eurovision I remember watching is 2006 and I've been loving it ever since. Only after Lena winning in 2010 I started following the contest more seriously and every year I get a little more obsessed.

I don't think I have a favourite country, (can I choose my own?). I'm not very familiar with the entries pre-1999 but that's something I'm planning to change in the future.

I'm not very good with this forum things. I'm more of a lurker than a commenter because I can never express myself the way I want to but I'm trying to change that.

I'm Lili, I'm from the US, and therefore also arrived late to Eurovision in 2010 (though 2011 was the first one I watched live, and 2013 was the first time I watched multiple NFs and found other people to talk about it with)

I study Russian and spent this summer in Russia, a part of my life which is reflected surprisingly little in my enthusiasm for said country's recent Eurovision entries. Moldova has charmed me quite a few times now. I really, really want Lithuania to get their shit together.

renoncer-aux-batailles wrote:... but it wasn't until 2008, when Laka sang with four women in wedding dresses, that I was hooked.

Excellent taste.  

Elanchana wrote:Hey guise! I'm Miriam - but you can call me Ela - from the US and I was lucky enough to be in Sweden when the 1999 contest aired... which is how I became a Eurofan. As an American I look at the contest from a mostly musical standpoint but I try to find ways to root for France or Sweden, my two countries of year-long residence, when possible. Some artists from Eurovision have found their way into my all-time favorites, like Dima Koldun, Vanilla Ninja, Natasha St-Pier, and Loreen. Oh, and I'm a singer/songwriter myself.

So awesome to finally have a forum!!

CaledonianBlues wrote:Hey everyone, I'm Charlotte, from the UK.

My first Eurovision was 1996, and I LOVED Gina G. Then the UK won in 1997 and I was hooked. I didn't stop singing Love Shine A Light for months. From 2000 I started taping the contests to VHS and spent the months after May learning all the dance routines (my 100% Te Ljubam is incredible ) and I grew up looking forward to Eurovision more than I looked forward to Christmas. I started hosting boozy Eurovision parties from 2007, and it's an annual mainstay in my friends' calendars. They're good sports.

I tend to favour Iceland, Serbia and Georgia, I think purely because of the languages.

Outside of Eurovision I work in IT and spend my spare time knitting (as you'll find out if you look up my Tumblr - my username here is my Tumblr URL).

Anyway, glad to be here, roll on Copenhagen 2014.

Yes!  More US fans!!

Hei, I'm Iiva and I come from Finland. I have watched Eurovision properly since 2006, but I remember watching our national selection in the early 2000s (Addicted To You and Takes 2 To Tango, anyone?). I find myself liking Swedish music both in Eurovision and otherwise. Also, I have tried to tell people how underrated Finland has been for the last forever in the contest, but people seem to not agree with me. Strange, that.

I'm very impressed by everyone's avatars. Does this mean I have to become creative too or what? :-P

bondjure wrote:Hi to everyone! I'm Bond and I am from Australia.

I'm relatively new to the Eurovision community but I have been a follower of Eurovision since 2007. I don't know as much about Eurovision as everyone else. I've never been to Europe so I really long to go to Eurovision one day, it sucks living so far away. My favourite countries in Eurovision are Estonia and Georgia. A little about me: I love history, culture, and astronomy (there's this thing called archaeoastronomy which I really want to study).

It was really nice reading where everyone is from and what they like about Eurovision. I hope to get to know more of you soon!

one learns very quickly. Most of my ESC trivia knowledge I picked up last year when I'd sit in residence and go through as many old contests as I could
Maddog's a proper gold mine of knowledge though, he's read quite a few books, and he'll surely have recommendations.

iiva wrote:Hei, I'm Iiva and I come from Finland. I have watched Eurovision properly since 2006, but I remember watching our national selection in the early 2000s (Addicted To You and Takes 2 To Tango, anyone?). I find myself liking Swedish music both in Eurovision and otherwise. Also, I have tried to tell people how underrated Finland has been for the last forever in the contest, but people seem to not agree with me. Strange, that.

I'm very impressed by everyone's avatars. Does this mean I have to become creative too or what? :-P

I've been going through Finland's old entries lately and you're very right, y'all were robbed in the 80s on numerous occasions

iiva wrote:Hei, I'm Iiva and I come from Finland. I have watched Eurovision properly since 2006, but I remember watching our national selection in the early 2000s (Addicted To You and Takes 2 To Tango, anyone?). I find myself liking Swedish music both in Eurovision and otherwise. Also, I have tried to tell people how underrated Finland has been for the last forever in the contest, but people seem to not agree with me. Strange, that.

I'm very impressed by everyone's avatars. Does this mean I have to become creative too or what? :-P

I have been an avid supporter of Finland's entries! 'Da Da Dam' was my favourite song in 2011. Also I think 'Työlki ellää' in 2010 was seriously under-rated!

*Alex wrote: one learns very quickly. Most of my ESC trivia knowledge I picked up last year when I'd sit in residence and go through as many old contests as I could
Maddog's a proper gold mine of knowledge though, he's read quite a few books, and he'll surely have recommendations.

It's very time consuming to go back and watch them all. However, I have gone back and listened to some rather great entries. Absolutely adore Anne-Marie David and a lot of Luxembourg entries. I would love to read books about it, even just having Eurovision as a gateway to learning about languages and cultures is pretty neat. Also it helped me with my European geography so much.

bondjure wrote:

*Alex wrote: one learns very quickly. Most of my ESC trivia knowledge I picked up last year when I'd sit in residence and go through as many old contests as I could
Maddog's a proper gold mine of knowledge though, he's read quite a few books, and he'll surely have recommendations.

It's very time consuming to go back and watch them all. However, I have gone back and listened to some rather great entries. Absolutely adore Anne-Marie David and a lot of Luxembourg entries. I would love to read books about it, even just having Eurovision as a gateway to learning about languages and cultures is pretty neat. Also it helped me with my European geography so much.

It's always great to hear how people get on with the 'old ' contests. I am slowly working my way up from the 60s-90s and then I will have seen them all. A general knowledge about Eurovision just... happens. We all know the greats, and the ones that stand out.
For a good book about contests stats and such, go for O'Connor.J.K. (2004). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History. London. Carlton Books Ltd. For a more academic approach go for Raykoff.I., Tobin.R.D. (eds). (2007). A Song for Europe: Popular Music and Politics in the Eurovision Song Contest. Aldershot. Ashgate. Keep in mind these are accurate to the date written. Look out for articles on many news sites, and by Dr Eurovision and others. Really good writing out there.

maddog wrote: It's always great to hear how people get on with the 'old ' contests. I am slowly working my way up from the 60s-90s and then I will have seen them all. A general knowledge about Eurovision just... happens. We all know the greats, and the ones that stand out.
For a good book about contests stats and such, go for O'Connor.J.K. (2004). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History. London. Carlton Books Ltd. For a more academic approach go for Raykoff.I., Tobin.R.D. (eds). (2007). A Song for Europe: Popular Music and Politics in the Eurovision Song Contest. Aldershot. Ashgate. Keep in mind these are accurate to the date written. Look out for articles on many news sites, and by Dr Eurovision and others. Really good writing out there.

Thanks, I'll check those books out if I can find them somewhere! I haven't really gone into the Eurovision websites yet so I should do that too. Even being a part of the community is something I'm still working on. Thanks again, I really appreciate it!

Hello, I'm Ajit and I come from Indonesia.

Before discovering Eurovision, I was into traditional music. There was a Dutch-Indonesian keroncong singer, Anneke Grönloh, and I listened to one of her songs, Jij Bent Mijn Leven (Netherlands 1964). That's how I first discovered Eurovision. I was only 10.
Eventually I explored other songs of that particular year (Germany being my favourite), and slowly spread out to other years, though still the older ones (it wasn't until 2011 when I had any actual interest in the more recent entries). I find myself familiar with all the old contests up to 1985, and 2010 onwards. This week I'm going to check out what 2009 has to offer.

I'm not exactly sure when I joined the Eurovision community, but I suppose it would be as early as 2012. You can find me on tumblr at intergalacticwifi (will temporarily change for Halloween in the 2 last weeks of October). My old url, ajitirj, redirects to the new one.

Anyway, here I am now.

Hi! I'm Erika and I'm from Italy.

I discovered Eurovision in July 2006 and it was a surprise because I had no idea such contest existed.
The first time I went to a live contest was in 2011, but long story short I had to leave the morning of the second semifinal.
The second time was better (pro tip: if you want to have fun don't be a member of a delegation), I really had a great time and oh, I got to touch Ott Lepland, so y'all can be jelly