Hej København!

As any long-time Australian Eurovision fan knows, the Holy Grail is to make the epic trek to Europe to see the contest live.

For the past 10 years or more, as soon as the confetti stops falling on Grand Final night I've made the same declaration to whoever I've managed to rope in for a Eurovision party: that I'd head to whichever country had won the following May to witness the glitzy spectacle first hand.

(Well, almost every year...)

In 2014, I'm finally making good on my promise.

Yep, I'm heading to Copenhagen in May...and until those tickets arrived in the post today I don't think I believed it was actually happening.

But it is, and I will be there blogging live from Denmark – home of Princess Mary, delicious pastry and excellent television dramas.

So stay tuned for plenty of excited posts in the weeks to come as I delve into all things Eurovision 2014!

I've got Eurosong Fever, Ted!

Welcome to my new-look Eurovision blog, all shiny and rebranded and ready for Copenhagen 2014.

However, before delving into the depths of this year’s contest, I thought I should explain the new blog title.

Behold the origin of the term ‘Eurosong Fever’:

That clip is of course from the inimitable sitcom Father Ted, featuring a shemozzle of priests banished to a windswept island off the Irish coast.

(If you haven’t seen it, what’s wrong with you? Look it up RIGHT NOW!)

Perhaps the show’s finest episode – ‘A Song for Europe’ – centred around the hapless Father Ted and dimwitted Father Dougal entering the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest.

Now, this was of course in the midst of Ireland’s record-breaking Eurovision-winning 1990s hot streak, and rumours swirled that the country couldn’t afford to host the show yet again and so sent deliberately rubbish acts.

As a case in point, may I present Ted and Dougal’s incredible My Lovely Horse:

Given its cult status, I’m sure if Ireland brought that tune to Denmark in May they’d be racking up douze points all over the continent.

They’d just have to lose that sax solo.