Eurovision is an annual music competition where each country in Europe submits one song to be performed live and then vote for a winner. It's been around since 1956 and is one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world. It's launched European groups into stardom like ABBA (Sweden, 1974) and helped strengthen the international career for artists like Celine Dion (Switzerland, 1988).
In Germany, the national contestant was selected in an American Idol-esque TV show called Unser Star for Oslo (Our Star for Oslo) where Lena Meyer-Landurt from Hannover won. As she got further and further into the competition, the interest in Hannover grew and grew. When she won, her leading song "Satellite" became an overnight hit in Hannover and throughout Germany.
Tonight was the final round of Eurovision, hosted this year in Oslo, and there was a public viewing in Hannover on Trammplatz in front of the Neues Rathaus. After watching the competition at a friend's house, I was lucky enough to make it to the huge event for the tallying of the last few votes. Needless to say, when it was announced that Lena won, everyone went crazy and I definitely got hugged and high-fived by a few strangers (what is this, a Hannover 96 Bundesliga game?)! It was definitely a cool experience and something I wish we had in the US!
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you win! lol
ReplyDeleteMomma Mia! You have to like ABBA now.
ReplyDelete