This is my favorite game

(and it's not the song from The Cardigans)

People who know me, know that I like Eurovision Song Contest a lot. That's why I dedicate this entire place to Eurovision and its artists. (Do you want to know more about Eurovision, then go to EBU's Eurovision page or go to the official website for Eurovision 2003.
For those who want to know more about me, go to this page.

I know this isn't the world's most updated site... but when I get some time I'll write about MF 2002, Ume� 2001, Cologne 2001 and the convention in V�xj� 2002.

Hamburg 2001
Well I'm not going to bore you with describing the whole trip, I'm just going to write about what happened the day of the convention.

I woke up somewhere between Sa�nitz and Berlin. That may sound strange because it's a real detour, but since I had to be in Hamburg by 10 and there are no good night trains between Copenhagen and Hamburg, I decided to go that way. The stop in Berlin didn't cause me any troubles. I waited an hour for the Hamburg train. It took 2 hours to go from Berlin to Hamburg and no stops, so I could relax a bit. In Hamburg, it took almost an hour to get to the place where the convention was held, Music House, mainly because I had some problems with my inner compass that day. I had to be at Music House that early because I competed in the Karaoke Contest with Jag ger dig allt (Swedish final 1995) and I had to practise on stage before the evening.

This photo was taken when I performed the song during the evening.

After I practised and talked some to the other people there, I had to find the hotel, to get a welldeserved shower and to put some make-up on. It wasn't that easy to find it, because I still had problems with the inner compass... but I eventually did! About 15, I came back to Music House and almost one of the first people I met then, was the only other person from the chatroom there. About 17 CET, the evening got started... with the karaoke! During the draw earlier that day I had got no 1, so I had to start the whole thing off. I was really nervous and I hadn't warmed my voice up that much... so the performance had some faults... but I did my best. There's really not much to say about the karaoke, it was something you have to see.

After the "fun" part, the real artists got up on stage. First out was Christer Bj�rkman, who talked about and sang the 3 songs he has performed in the Swedish final.

Christer and me in a party mood later that evening... with Die for you (Greece 2001) played in the background.

After him came the 2 big stars of the evening, first Mary Roos, who really is a great artist, and then Joy Fleming, who really can sing. I said to a friend when I got back home, that if I had some of Joy's voice and some of Mary's artistic performance, I would be very happy. Last, but certainly not least, Fabrizio Faniello, Malta 2001, came and sang some of the songs from his CD.

After his performance on stage, Fabrizio stayed to write autographs and to be photographed, which can be seen here.

When Fabrizio had stopped singing, the EuroDisco started... and was still going on when I left the building.

Is there more to say about that convention? I guess so... but that you have to find somewhere else.

ESC 2001
Despite the fact that 25.000 tickets were sold to ESC 2001, I didn't buy one! Actually I don't care about watching it live, because I will hear about it so much more from those who were there.

Well I said that in November 2000, but I went to Copenhagen just to feel the atmosphere and to meet friends... It's the only time during the year that almost all my Eurovision friends are at one place... so I went there.

It really was a long day because I had to get up at 5.30. The train was supposted to leave at 7.16, but it was delayed more than half an hour. Luckily for me, usually the train takes a half an hour stop at one station, so I got to Malm� actually some minutes ahead of time. That gave me time to exchange money and to look up where the train to Copenhagen was. It was actually the first time I went over the �resund-bridge, the bridge between Malm� and Copenhagen, and I really enjoyed the view. When I got to the main station in Copenhagen, some friends met me there and we went to Tivoli to have a good time.

This picture is taken at Tivoli by Felix and the people on it are (upper row) Tommy, Sara, Eyal, Jonas and (lower row) Andrew (Simon's brother), Simon and me.

After a while, some left, but Sara, Felix, Jonas and me went on two rides and chatted some more. At 3 I thought that we was going to meet two other friends, but we met up with Henke, that said that one of those wasn't coming and when we SMS:d the other, she sat in a pub with two other persons. (So unfortunately, we never met those persons.) We went to eat something (at McDonalds) and when we got back to the main entrance to Tivoli we saw 3 others friends which we talked to before they had to leave for Parken (where Eurovision took place). Simon came back and had a Swedish tie and a big Swedish flag, which got some attention from a group of Swedes, who apparently had had something to drink before getting to Copenhagen.

Everyone except one from Tivoli met again at 16 CET, but now Christina and one of her friends joined us. Because there was some time to kill before they had to leave for Parken, they went to eat.... at McDonalds... but now I didn't buy anything. We met Gijsbert there and after that we went back to Christina, because she didn't eat with us. Gijsbert told us that he was waiting for �sta, Anneli and Martin, so we waited for them... but some had to leave for Parken, so I waited with Gijsbert. They showed up... and went to eat... but now it wasn't McDonalds, but Burger King (and now I bought some coffee). They left for Parken at 6 and I had to wait for 2 hours before I was meeting Jonas again (who didn't had a ticket as well). During those 2 hours I did some studying and took a walk up and down Str�get.

Jonas came a little earlier than 20 CET and then we went to R�dhuspladsen because we thought they were going to have a big screen TV there... but it turned out that they weren't allow to have that... so we sat in the lobby to Jonas' hotel during ESC (which wasn't bad because they had a computer and a coffee machine together with the TV so we sent 2 messages to the EuroNet MB.

After ESC we expected some phone calls... but it turned out that some people went back to the hotel. We sat down at McDonalds (again) and what do you know... I meet some friends from the Swedish OGAE club, which I wasn't expecting. :-) We met Christina and her friend outside Cosy Bar, and when we was going back to the Central station, we met Tommy and Roger, so while Jonas had to get some sleep I went with Tommy and Roger to... ... McDonalds. After that I sat down at the Central station and was so tired I slept some, but very lightly.

About 6 AM I met another friend that I didn't expect to meet there... Andreas, who I worked with at Globen last year. We sat down and talked until my train was about to leave. Then I first went to Malm� and then back to Falkenberg, but on the train to Falkenberg I was so tired that I slept to Halmstad (and then I called my mother).

This was my Eurovision weekend... and was it the right song that won? Not according to me, because the best song by far was Greece, but I like the winner, Estonia, and I think I'm going to get a ticket next year, but if you live you'll see about that.

ESC 2000
For you who want to know how my Eurovision week was, here is a short description of it (in Swedish unfortunately since I originally wrote it down in an email to a friend).

M�ndag: Kom till Globen och efter en hel del trubbel fick jag min ackreditering. Jag fick se scenen och de sista repetitionerna f�r dagen, men mest hade vi problem med v�rt lilla b�s, som inte s�g s�rskilt trevligt ut innan vi hade satt ig�ng. (Jag tog en f�re-bild, men ingen efter-bild, men det finns det andra som har tagit.) Vi trodde att vi skulle komma ig�ng vid 2-tiden, men det dr�jde till 5. Kv�llen, dvs efter 21, spenderade jag och de som jag jobbade med p� ESC-baren (p� hotellet) och naturligtvis fanns det n�gra som hade h�rt mig sjunga tidigare och som ville h�ra mig sjunga s� jag sj�ng (lite motvilligt, eftersom jag hade gl�mt delar av texten) K�rleken �r. Eftersom baren var en liten tr�ffpunkt s� h�rde vi delegationen fr�n UK spela och bland de som fanns d�r var s�ngerskorna fr�n Belgien, Malta och n�gra till (som jag inte kommer ih�g nu).

Tisdag: B�rjade jobba 9 med att f�rb�ttra b�set och stannade kvar p� Globen tills klockan n�rmade sig 15, f�r 16 tr�ffade jag n�gra chat-kompisar p� Centralen. N�r alla hade kommit gav vi oss av till Globen igen f�r att tr�ffa n�gra till (och f�r att jag hade gl�mt min pl�nbok n�r jag gick). Sedan bar det av till Vasamuseet d�r det var cocktail-party f�r delegaterna, och d�r tr�ffade jag bland annat en som st�r med i Gregorian Songs som �vers�ttare (Kris Boswell) och n�stan alla artisterna fanns p� plats. Mest st�hej var det runt Stefan Raab och Roger Pontare.

Bilden kommer egentligen fr�n Ninas hemsida och de som �r intresserade av att l�sa hur hennes vecka var kan g� dit.

Onsdag: F�r en g�ngs skull sovmorgon, men jag var p� plats vid Globen vid 11-tiden f�r att se repetitioner. Fick sedan veta att man kunde �ka med p� en sight-seeing i sk�rg�rden och den fick jag �ka med p� (efter lite st�hej f�r mina kompisar). S�ngarna fr�n Sverige (det var d�rf�r alla reportrarna var d�r), Danmark, Irland, FJR Makedonien (h�rdes eftersom deras mobilslinga var b�rjan p� deras refr�ng) och s�kert n�gra till. V�l tillbaka var det bara att b�rja arbeta men bara fram till 19, eftersom alla repetitionerna var slut d�. Vi kom inte d�rifr�n f�rr�n 20 eftersom vi skulle l�mna v�ra saker i informationen och sakerna (en TV och massor... i alla fall f�r oss... av kassar) s� vi fick v�nta p� en k�rra. N�r man v�l kom till vandrarhemmet var det inte bara att ha en lugn kv�ll utan det var att kl� om snabbt och ge sig av till TipTop d�r UK hade sin fest. F�r min del var det nog lite f�r mycket folk men de flesta hade nog roligt d�r (jag hade ont i f�tterna!). Roger var inte d�r, men en hel del annat folk som drog folk till sig, dvs Stefan Raab och hans delegation. Goran fr�n Kroatien och n�gra mer artister var d�r, men den som m�rktes mest var herr Raab, eftersom minst 10 TV-kameror f�ljde hans steg, och mest m�rktes det n�r DJ:n b�rjade spela Wadde hadde dudde da? eftersom alla TV-kameror pl�tsligt riktades mot honom. Jag tr�ffade �nnu mer "galet" folk, dvs schlager-tokar d�r, och jag stod ute och pratade med n�gra under tiden som vi v�ntade p� att vi skulle �ka hem.

Torsdag: trots en sen kv�ll s� var det en tidigt morgon f�r min del. Jag var nog p� Globen under hela dagen, men jobbade egentligen bara till 14, eftersom de som hade det andra passet kom d�. Dessutom intervjuades jag av P4 Stockholm och lyssnarna fick st�lla fr�gorn till mig och mina kompisar (som tur var fanns Leif Thorsson (f�rfattaren av Melodifestivalen genom tiderna p� plats f�r jag var lite orolig f�r en fr�ga). Vi, dvs tjejerna som jobbade i disken (f�r nu s�g det ut som en disk och inte som ett b�s) tjatade p� en som k�nde de lettiska killarna f�r vi ville att de skulle komma och tr�ffa oss, men hur det gick �terkommer jag till senare. Jag s�g n�gra repetitioner, bland annat Sveriges, men mitt omd�me om den f�rb�ttrades inte, och sedan �kte jag fr�n globen vid 7, eftersom vi var n�gra som skulle tr�ffas hos en kompis som bor p� Liding�. Vid t-stationen vid Globen tr�ffade jag en till som skulle dit s� jag beh�vde inte �ka till vandrarhemmet och b�rja ladda min mobil. Vi var d�r hela kv�llen och s�g p� v�r "lilla" chef p� TV (i Kristins program) och chattade med de som fanns uppkopplade.

Fredag: b�rjade jobba tidigt igen. BrainStorm kunde inte komma, men vi fick signerade kort, s� vi blev lite lyckliga. Jag slutade lite tidigare eftersom genrepet utan publik var vid 14 och vi ville ha bra platser. Efter genrepet var det bara att bege sig till Centralen eftersom min mamma var p� g och jag hade lovat henne att jag skulle vara d�r n�r hon kom dit och det var jag. Dessutom fick hon tr�ffa n�gra kompisar till mig eftersom n�gra hade st�mt tr�ff p� Centralen kl 18 och eftersom jag hade min Eurovision-t-shirt p� mig s� var jag l�tt att k�nna igen, f�r de som inte hade tr�ffat mig innan (t ex n�gra fr�n Nederl�nderna). Efter detta och efter det att vi hade tagit det lugnt p� rummet gick vi omkring p� S�der och hade det lugn och sk�nt. Det b�rjade regna n�r vi var p� v�g mot rummet igen. Jag somnade ovanligt tidigt, men det skulle ju vara en l�ng dag dagen efter.

L�rdag: SOVMORGON! men vi var �nd� vid Globen vid 11-tiden (och det visade sig att Aktuellts 18-s�ndning hade bilder p� mamma och mig n�r vi g�r igenom s�kerhetskontrollen). Schemat under dagen var inte s� bra eftersom det fanns glapp d� ingen var i disken, s� jag jobbade n�r jag kunde den dagen. Mamma och jag satt p� parkett och s�g genrepet och sedan var det bara att �ta lite och sedan bege sig in i Globen igen. Jag jobbade fram tills 20.30 (under tiden tappade mamma sin biljett, men eftersom hon var i Globen d� fick hon se evenemanget) eftersom jag skulle upp 4 v�ningar till etage 7. Jag var p� etage 4 n�r en r�st ber�ttade att snart l�ses d�rrarna, s� jag skyndade mig upp, med mina flaggor i ena handen och mina skor i andra (efter onsdagens besv�r var det inte n�gon id� att ha de p� sig n�gra l�ngre stunder). Jag kom upp, men sen uppstod problem nummer tv�.... Var ska jag sitta? Jag hittade inte sektionen, men efter en stund (och Melodifestivalen hade inte b�rjat) hittade mamma, Kahnberg och hans syster och sedan var det bara att sitta ner och ta det lugnt. Efter�t var det bara att bege sig till disken igen f�r att f� det som var mitt och sedan �kte vi n�stan direkt hem till rummet (planerna var att vi skulle sitta i baren, men jag tror att vi gjorde r�tt).

S�ndag: eftersom t�get s�derut gick 12.18 s� fanns det inte mycket fritid utan jag och mamma �kte n�stan direkt till centralen och satt d�r och v�ntade p� att t�get skulle komma. Jag hade mycket packning med mig till Stockholm men jag hade mer packning med mig hem.

Ungef�r s� var min Stockholmsresa... och �nd� var det d�r ca h�lften av vad jag gjorde.

1999
I was planning to go to the Swiss OGAE Convention in Basle the 9th October. For further information about the event, go to Eurovision Club Switzerland.Unfortunately I can't go there, because I can't afford it right now, but I was really looking forward to it.

During a couple of days this summer I tried to write a Swedish version of the Slovenian entry this year, For a thousand years, which in my version is named "I tusen �r". If someone would like to have the Swedish lyrics, please e-mail me and you'll get it from me personally.

This year's entries:
1. Sweden; Charlotte Nilsson: Take me to your heaven, 163 points :o) !!!
2. Iceland; Selma: All out of luck, 145 points
3. Germany; S�rpriz: Reise nach Jerusalem, 140 points
4. Croatia; Doris: Marija Magdalena, 118 points
5. Israel; Eden: Happy birthday, 93 points
6. Estonia; Evelin Samuel & Camille: Diamond of night, 90 points
7. Bosnia-Herzegovna; Dino & Beatrice: Putnici, 86 points
8. Denmark; Michael Teschl & Trine Jepsen: This time I mean it, 71 points
8. Netherlands; Marlayne: One good reason, 71 points
10. Austria; Bobbie Singer: Reflection, 65 points
11. Slovenia; Darja Svajger: For a thousand years, 50 points
12. Belgium; Vanessa Chinitor: Like the wind, 38 points
12. United Kingdom; Precious: Say it again, 38 points
14. Norway; Van Eijk: Living my life without you, 35 points
15. Malta; Times 3: Believe 'n Peace, 32 points
16. Turkey; Tuba �nal: D�n artik, 21 points
17. Ireland; The Mullans: When you need me, 18 points
18. Poland; Mietek Szcz�sniak: Przytul mnie mocno, 17 points
19. France; Nayah: Je veux donner ma voix, 14 points
20. Lithuania; Aist�: Strazdas, 13 points
21. Portugal; Rui Bandeira: Como tudo comecou, 12 points
22. Cyprus; Marlain: Tha ne erotas, 2 points
23. Spain; Lydia: No quiero escuchar, 1 point

Now that you have read how the contest ended, you might want to know how I spent it. I had actually planned for some Euro-friends to meet that day and to have a great day and see the ESC. It turns out, in the end, that everybody else had something else planned so I went alone to a friend in the same part of the country. We had a lot of fun watching a lot of things connected to the Eurovision. Neither of us had Sweden as No 1, he had Cyprus and I had the Netherlands, but that didn't matter when Sweden won as just knowing that there is a chance to see it live next year made the Swedish victory so much fun. To celebrate the victory we drank a Swedish bear called Bl�Gul, since we had said that if Sweden won we would drink it. (But it didn't taste any good.) Just after the victory I had to phone home to my mother since she is almost as much Eurovision fan as me and then it was time to e-mail friends and to update this page. That was my Eurovision day.

Some days in the life of a Eurovision fan (also 1999)
The 27 February I was in Stockholm, watching the Swedish final to the Eurovision Song Contest. For me, it's not just to hear the songs live, but also to meet old and new friends and to have a great time, which I had. I didn't hear all the songs before the contest but I heard the entries of Martin, Christer Bj�rkman, ai and a piece of Arvingarna. The best of those was Martin and the worst ai. Before the final I waited for some friends at the bar, because one of them had my ticket, but he didn't show up. At the ticket it said that you should have taken your seat at 20.15 but still no ticket. I saw him some minutes later and could go in. After hearing the songs live, my favorite was Crosstalk and "Det g�ller dig och mig" and the song I thought would get 0 points was ai and "Bilder av dig" and I still think that. It's a good song that Sweden sends to Jerusalem but "a traditional Swedish schlager" which may get points from Denmark, Norway, Germany and other countries in the northern part of Europe but not so many from the south. Some of the other songs, like Crosstalk and Dr�mhus, would have had a better chance at winning but Charlotte sings a good song.
This is what I think and if there's someone out there who thinks other wise, mail me.

During last Easter I visited my parents in Falkenberg and I was surprized when my mother told me that Christer Bj�rkman and the Herrey brothers were in town. In the newspaper it said that Herrey's would perform on Saturday evening and R�tt l�t vann (with Christer and Richard) would perform on Sunday evening. I went there on Saturday evening and saw both R�tt l�t vann and the Herrey's, in that order. I even talked with Christer about the Swedish final this year and what he thought about it. He wanted Martin to win with Yeah Yeah Wow Wow, but he also said that there were many very good songs this year and on that I agree with him. So you could say that I had a very nice Easter weekend, because those performances were definitely something that I would pay 80 SEK to see, and I was lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time.

Go to the first page here.

Links to other sites on the Web

EuroNet

If you have information about Eurovision and/or any of the artists, please mail me

� 1997 Annika

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