Eurovision Song Contest 2011

Since I have such a passion for music from all around the world, I really wanted to share a little bit about the Eurovision Song Contest. It just took place again last Saturday, May 14th 2011 in Duesseldorf, Germany. Last year Germany won with a song from Lena Meyer-Landrut, called Satellite, and therefore earned the privilege to host this massive event this year.

The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the longest running television shows in the world. It was on the 24th of May, 1956, that Europe saw the first ever Eurovision Song Contest. After 54 runnings, the contest is one of the most typical European traditions and without doubt, Europe’s favorite TV show! After more than five decades featuring some 1,100 songs, the contest has become a modern classic, strongly embedded into Europe’s collective mind. You might even say that the idea for “American Idol” came directly from the Eurovision tradition. In 2005, the Eurovision Song Contest celebrated its 50th anniversary by picking the best entry to date. The event was won by the legendary Swedish group ABBA and their song Waterloo. The band had originally won the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden in 1974 and became one of the most successful bands worldwide, selling more than 370 million records. Some 50 countries took part in the Eurovision Song Contest over the past 54 years.

My whole family would always get together and watch this performance every single year – we did not miss one – and I loved all the different kind of songs, costumes and languages the artists would display and perform. It was so cool to bring all the countries together in one gigantic show and at the same time learn something new about each country – there were countries I had never even heard of before, not to mention their locations?! It definitely brought all communities closer together – since we are all one and not separate from each other!

This year’s first prize was awarded to the country of of Azerbaijan with a song called “Running Scared” by the duo Ell/Nikki. (Germany took 10th place)

Here is the link to the official website if this is something that might interest you – which is all in english language – where you can listen to this year’s songs, learn about the history and statistics, hear interviews and get other interesting information.

– Angela

May 23, 2011 at 4:47 am holisticgesundheit Leave a comment