The EUROfiasco Top 10 for 2024

QUICK LINKS: Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

As (all being well!) hopefully unveiled today - here are the ten songs (plus a pair of outsiders) that float our boat this year. There's a good level in bops, and at the same time no one obvious standout - which all bodes well for a pretty exciting Eurovision!

We head off tomorrow for a week that hopefully will be drama-free and full of the joy that our beloved contest can bring. 

And good luck Olly - you're bringing a superb, radio-friendly, catchy-as-hell banger to the stage and if we can stage it well and get a decent draw then we could be in with a shout of a good placing.

As to who will win... Croatia? Netherlands? France? Italy?... it really could be any of 10 or so songs at this stage. Bring it on!

What's Another Year?

Yes, it nearly has been a year since the last post on this blog.. which was before Eurovision 2023. It says a lot about the sorry state of this website that we've not said a word about a contest that was actually hosted in the UK for the first time in 25 years, the first one we've ever been to, the one we thought would never happen...

But the reality is, yes, updating this website - which was already happening pretty infrequently - has fallen off a cliff, and I guess we just have to accept that. Life is busy! And we've not been that prolific on other social media either so don't think that the website has been abandoned in favour of other stuff...

Anyway this won't be a comprehensive round-up of 2023 either, but it is important to say that it really was epic. Not just as a contest - although the BBC absolutely rose to the challenge and delivered one of the best Eurovisions ever, without question. But also as a city. Liverpool was the absolute antidote to Tepid Turin, in every way. The entire city was going for it - every bar, every shop, every restaurant - they all had Eurovision branding and were marking the contest in some way. It was absolutely amazing, and even writing this now 11-and-a-lot months on I feel a bit emotional about it all.

I won't attempt to include much here except to note that we did make the telly - somewhat unexpectedly - by featuring in the opening titles of the 5pm news on the Saturday of Eurovision final day! 

And at about the time that was going out, we were in fact dancing in the foyer of the Pullman Hotel, being watched by Jan Leeming and a host of others who were on their way in and out of the building for the official BBC party.

Just two anecdotes across an amazing week. Oh - Samantha Janus! Performing at Euroclub! As we lived and breathed! We never thought we'd see it.

At our peak we were a motley crew of around 20, all looking to soak up some UK-at-Eurovision action. 4 of us were lucky enough to be at the final itself, while the gang had a great time in the Euroclub watching the final (and doing the dance). 

And now, we are but moments away from a return to Malmö, 11 years on from our 24-person-strong delegation! We'll be a more mangeable six people this year, which is probably for the best given some of the challenges there may be this year given #worldevents... but we will have a ball, I am sure.

The blog will fire up into life again for the Top 10, fear not - mainly as I'm about to write and schedule the post. But I can't promise much more in the way of updates for the next year - we may just have to accept that situation... and keep an eye on Instagram for a bit more of a topical flavour.

Celebrating the Young Heroes by the Riviera

For the first time, we put in an appearance at Junior Eurovision. Mainly because it was in Nice, and it's always nice to have an excuse to be by the seaside. And it really was glorious for late November!

France were the rightful winners as they had an absolute bop, and they seem to be basically acing Junior now. There were quite a few other bangers too, and overall it was a lot of fun to see a smaller-scale Eurovision up close! Catch a flavour of it all on the Instagram stories.

Great that the UK is still in this and doing pretty well by the way - 4th place not to be sniffed at in the slightest.

The EUROfiasco Top 10 for 2023

QUICK LINKS: Spotify | Apple Music | Vimeo | YouTube

Well, in a blink of an eye, it’s almost time for Eurovision! Possibly when we posted that last update before the end of 2022 there was a sense that we might post a little more often on here but.. well, who were we kidding if we thought that was likely?

But here we are - less than 24 hours from our departure to Liverpool - and who’d’ve thought this time last year that we’d be saying that eh? - and with the Flag-Waving in full swing, we can, in the spirit of the day, crown a King and/or Queen as the anointed EUROfiasco champion. And, in fact… it’s a Queen of Kings. What could be more appropriate?

Yes, Norway are our pick for 2023. But look it’s a close run thing and this is one banging line up of a top 10, and an incredibly strong 1-2-3 Nordic genius top selection. We can’t wait to see it all live and in the flesh in the coming week; and dance the night away on the Liverpool dance floors as we enjoy (nearly) every song of Eurovision 2023 and all that’s gone before.

And, of course, our Mae is one of those. She has absolutely leaned in to Eurovision like the champ that she is, already in the pantheon of legendary UK acts, whatever happens in the coming week - and of course, we hope, secretly and quietly, for something special - because she and the song deserve it. We’ll be wearing our T-shirts with gusto of course, all (at our peak) 15 of us who will be amongst the Liverpool crowds. You can as ever keep up with the things that we remember to post on our Insta. And we’ll see you on the other side!

(The links to our top 10 are all at the top of this post as you can see. You can also find the full 2023 EUROfiacso playlist over here on Spotify; a selection of all the stuff that caught our ear during the national final season).

The Calm Before the Storm (won’t last forever)

Well inevitably the ‘considered deep and meaningful thoughts’ never did follow in time, but at least that was trailed in the last post so our reader was hopefully not too disappointed.

The biggest thought being… OMG!?!!??11! The UK is hosting Eurovision in 2023. I mean, while it did half cross our minds this may be a thing after Ukraine won and we came second, I don’t think we dared to believe - and even when the BBC/EBU announced ‘talks’, there was still a nervousness that we’d somehow let this opportunity slip by (and Spain was waiting with eager eyes in the corner for that to happen!)

But no - the BBC/UK government managed not to mess it up, and after much fun over potential host cities (we were gagging for Newcastle to win, for many reasons, not least the convenience given key EUROfiasco members have well-appointed accommodation there) we are all set to descend on Liverpool in May 2023.

It still feels quite surreal to be honest… so in the new year we will be doing our best to make it feel real! 

And we are supremely confident that the BBC will play their co-hosting role well - it’s Ukraine’s win, we know, and that won’t be forgotten. Excited to see how that’s brought in.. as well as what a BBC Eurovision in the 21st century looks like! Again, how surreal to even be contemplating it. Certainly wasn’t on the cards this time 12 months ago, pre-Sam, post-Nul Points.

On the subject of Sam - what a year he’s had. As well as the aforementioned singles chart success and his ace performance at the Jubilee Party… he’s been everywhere, and has ascended to National Treasure status already. Capped - so far - with a Number 1 album just last week. 

ONE GIANT LEAP to Number One! 🎉

Congratulations @SamRyderMusic on your chart-topping success! 🚀

We had a special @officialcharts surprise for Sam! 🏆 #TheOneShow 👉 https://t.co/RoFB5iBhv9 pic.twitter.com/FO8RFob3cm

— BBC The One Show (@BBCTheOneShow) December 16, 2022

And then on NYE he’s got his own BBC1 show! (And the BBC are then showing the recent Amsterdam Eurovision concert straight after midnight - again, how things have changed - let’s hope the ratings are decent enough).

We can’t let this post wrap up without mentioning our Junior Eurovision success either. Freya Skye (semi-connected to one of our EUROfiasco parish members incidentally) sent an absolute bop-and-a-half, and was rewarded with a WIN in the public vote. And should really have won the whole thing - there were some strong songs, but the Jury votes were a little erratic in our view… but France will put on a good show again we’re sure.

But what a return for the BBC to Junior Eurovision. And what a year overall - a jury vote win, and a public vote win… a 2nd place, a 5th place… and a year ahead hosting Eurovision.

Of course the stressful part is coming up - getting tickets (ha!), finding somewhere vaguely affordable to stay (good one!), working out which events to get tickets for (the answer being: all of them), and trying to help of all the broad EUROfiasco Family to do the same. Think we need a little Christmas break first. 2023 is going to be a big one!