Viva la diva!

Well, that was exciting!

Conchita Wurst has won Eurovision 2014 for Austria - only the country's second victory, and a long time between drinks since Udo Jürgens took it home back in 1966.

And what a fantastic winner. Her victory speech was absolutely pitch-perfect: "This night is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom. You know who you are".

It's also a great response to the homophobia and hate spewing forth from counties such as Russia, Armenia and Belarus - all of whom petitioned to have Conchita removed from the contest or her song not broadcast in their countries.

Indeed, many are also interpreting the result as a very specific up yours to Vladimir Putin and the anti-gay laws he's introduced in Russia.

There was certainly not a lot of love for the Russians amongst the viewers of the contest, both in the stadium and in Copenhagen City Hall Square, where I was watching the show - the booing every time they received a point was intense.

Interestingly though, in spite of the homophobic rhetoric of many Eastern countries (which most pundits predicted would cost Austria the victory), Conchita picked up points from fans all over Europe - including Russia and Azerbaijan.

In the West of course, Austria was an incredibly popular winner - with celebrities such as Russell Brand tweeting support (playing on the fact that Conchita is basically him in a dress), and 12 points flocking to Rise Like a Phoenix.

The newspapers here in Denmark (and in Sweden, where I also spent a bit of time today after popping over the Øresund Bridge to Malmö) have also been delighted by the win - Aftonbladet even had a DIY cutout beard!

And really, despite all the politics, it was all because of the fantastic performance Conchita gave on stage.

Seeing Rise Like a Phoenix live during the semi final was amazing, and you had the feeling that you were witnessing a pretty special Eurovision performance.

And I'm not afraid to admit I was jumping about with glee outside the City Hall last night watching the results come in for the grand final.

All I can say now is, bring on Vienna 2015!

Some Final Thoughts...

With just a few hours left until the big show gets underway here in Copenhagen, everyone is completely in the dark about who's going to take out the contest this year.

If you listen to all the fans, and the roars of the crowd at Thursday night's second semi final, then Austria's Conchita Wurst is an absolute shoe-in.

However, as others have mentioned, Eastern Europe and pseudo-European nations Azerbaijan and Armenia are still incredibly homophobic, so that may mean she suffers in the televoting.

The Netherlands is another big mover in the betting markets after the success of their first semi final performance, with their country-esque song injecting something very different into the contest.

Both Austria and the Netherlands haven't been in contention at Eurovision since the 1970s - could it be time for a renaissance?

Then there's Sweden, consistently at the top of the betting for the past few months and with a slickly produced stage show and great singer.

But Sanna Nielsen is performing early in the running order, which might hurt her chances - plus the contest was only in Sweden last year, perhaps it's time to give someone outside Scandinavia a go?

And finally there's the UK. It's hard to believe they're actually in the running, but they are - and Molly has impressed crowds in all her rehearsals this week.

She's performing last in the running order, so will be fresh in voters' minds, and her song is catchy, anthemic and likely to grab votes from all over Europe. 

But then again, it's the first time voters have seen the song, and it's always harder for the Big 5 to win when they haven't had the exposure of the semi finals to build their audience.

So as you can see, it's all very up in the air, which means the voting is likely to be incredibly close...we might even have to wait until the last country phones in with their votes to find out the winner.

It all makes for the most exciting Eurovision in years, and I'll be here soaking up the atmosphere and reporting back tomorrow!

Eurovision Live!

I'm still coming down off the high from being in the arena to watch my first Eurovision Song Contest live. Well, the second semi-final, anyway.

And it's certainly a very different experience than watching it on TV.

For starters, the atmosphere in the room is incredible. There are flags from all over the world, not just those countries competing on the night.

There's also such a wide variety of people there to watch: gay, straight, male, female, young, old - you name it.

Another thing you notice - and this is something I was talking about with other fans after the show in the queue for boats to take us back to the city - is how friendly it all is. 

There's none of that pent-up aggression and macho bullshit you get at sporting events - which is probably a good comparison with the size of Eurovision. Everyone was respectful of all the competitors, and was just there to have a good time.

A case in point was the reaction to Austria's "bearded lady" Conchita Wurst. She was the crowd's favourite by a country mile, and the roar that went up when she was on stage was deafening. 

Every time she was mentioned in recaps the crowd went wild, and when she was being interviewed by the host you could hardly hear over the cheering.

Of course, I was also lucky enough to be there the night Australia provided the interval entertainment. 

While there were plenty of other Aussies there too, my little Australian flag certainly attracted attention, with plenty of friendly European fans coming up to chat to me about the contest - and being very impressed that I'd come all this way to experience it!

On to Australia's performance: it was lovably kitsch, and went down a treat in the arena. 

Jessica Mauboy's song was pure Eurovision, and proved that were we allowed to enter we'd give it a pretty good go. 

Plus she also had a great political statement featuring the Aboriginal flag, which was probably lost on most of the European audience, but would've given bigots back home an apoplectic fit. Fantastic.

Perhaps the best measure of how it all went is the fact that all the Europeans I was chatting to afterwards were all very keen to see Australia be allowed to compete for real.

Maybe one day...fingers crossed!

Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen...

Well, I'm finally here in Copenhagen, where Eurovision fever is raging - albeit in a typically stylish and restrained Danish fashion.

They've set up a "Fan Mile" that runs through the city's main pedestrian shopping street, featuring Eurovision activities along the route.

The biggest buzz is to be found at the Eurovision Village, where contest performers hold free concerts during the week leading up to the big show.

This afternoon we were lucky enough to catch two acts, fresh from qualifying at last night's first Semi Final - first up, Iceland's Pollaponk (aka the Scandi-Wiggles):

Then, it was time for the main attraction: Sweden's Sanna Nielsen, the lady who's currently running first in the betting to win the whole shebang on Saturday night.

This is Sanna's 7th attempt to represent Sweden, having failed to make it through at the Melodifestivalen selection trials for the previous six years.

So as a result of this, Sanna has a pretty high profile amongst the hardcore Eurovision fans - and it seemed like they all tuned out in Eurovision Village this afternoon to hear her previous Melodifestivalen hits, as well as her 2014 entry Undo.

There's plenty more entertainment lined up for the Eurovision Village over the coming days, including a concert by contest legend Johnny Logan - and if he's singing Hold Me Now (1987 Irish winner) you can bet I'll be there!

Good Evening Copenhagen!

It's finally here - today's the day I'm leaving on a jet plane bound for Copenhagen!

I'll be blogging as much as possible during the contest, including my impressions of Denmark and what it's like to be in the thick of the Eurovision action. You can also follow me on Twitter for more updates: @Kath_Uz

For now though, let me leave you with this "comedy song" as a preview, featuring the hosts of this year's show:

 
It seems like Kasper from Borgen and the gang have been watching Norwegian gem Get Ready to be Boyzvoiced for inspiration, and that can only be a good thing!

Australia at Eurovision

So, if you’ve been watching any SBS at all in recent weeks, you will have seen the promos heralding the fact that this year Australia’s finally got a place on the main stage at Eurovision.

Jessica Mauboy will perform her latest single Never Be The Same as the interval act during the second semi final at B&W Hallerne next Thursday, 8 May.

And, out of sheer luck, the second semi-final just happens to be the show I’ve got tickets to see!

It’s going to be fascinating to see how European fans respond to an Australian interloper at their competition, and I’ll definitely be reporting back on how it goes down in the hall.

If we were entering the contest for real, of course, Jess would be almost the perfect choice – a young, female pop singer with an international profile, she also embodies the diversity of modern Australia.

Of course, she’s actually not the first Australian to appear on the Eurovision stage. Here’s a few more that have done us proud:

Ireland – Johnny Logan – 1980, 1987 and 1992

He’s known as Mr Eurovision, because he’s the most successful artist in the contest’s history: winning for Ireland as a performer in 1980 and 1987, and writing the country’s winning song in 1992.

But, despite singing for the Emerald Isle, he was actually born in Australia – Frankston, in fact. (I know!)

His father was an Irish tenor, who travelled around the world making a living as a singer, but the family moved back to Ireland when he was just three years old - and the rest, as they say, is Eurovision history.

Incidentally, Johnny is giving a free concert in the streets of Copenhagen next week, and you'd better believe I'll be there singing along to Hold Me Now.

UK – Gina G – 1996 

You might remember Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit from the Australian charts back in the mid-nineties, but did you know that Gina G first performed this catchy little number at Eurovision?

Yep, Queenslander Ms G – real name Gina Mary Gardiner – represented the UK at the 1996 contest.

Many fans thought she was robbed when she finished eighth, behind ethereal (read: dreary) ballad The Voice by Ireland’s Eimear Quinn.

It was the last year the winner was selected entirely by professional juries in each country, with televoting introduced from 1997 – perhaps if she’d waited a year, the popular vote across Europe would’ve got her over the line!

UK – Olivia Newton-John – 1974

Before she got Physical and was the one John Travolta wanted, Australia’s own Olivia Newton-John represented the UK back in 1974.

And she didn’t disgrace herself either, finishing a very respectable fourth with the soppy number Long Live Love.

Unfortunately she chose the wrong year to make a splash at Eurovision, with the eventual winners sweeping all before them – you might have heard of them, and their little tune called Waterloo…

#1 NORWAY Carl Espen – Silent Storm

So, it's time to reveal my favourite song from this year's contest...and unsurprisingly there are violins involved. 

This year Norway seems to be entering Iceland’s traditional haunting Nordic ballad– which is lucky because Iceland has had a brain meltdown and entered the Scandi-Wiggles.

I love this one – and I’m incredibly excited about seeing it live in the B&W Hallerne during Semi Final 2 in just one week's time.

It’s big and dramatic, and sounds like the theme tune to a quality Scandi-noir crime drama (compare and contrast with The Bridge’s incredible opening title song Hollow Talk by the Choir of Young Believers).

I may just have to splash out on a Norwegian flag to wave on the night!