Cultural value = a joke?

X-factor? Yes
Britain’s got talent? Yes
Strictly come dancing? Yes
Dancing on ice? Yes

Eurovision Song Contest? No
Pff so much for cultural value…

So, coming from Sweden there is this thing about Eurovision Song Contest. It’s HUGE over there. Build ups for weeks with quarter-finals, semi-finals and then eventually the final so that the Swedish people can decide which song they want to represent their nation in the oh-so-important Grande Finale!

For years and years while living in Sweden I, together with my friends, family and of course all the media, have always, every single year, been looking forward to the middle of May and the big moment when we might do as well as we’ve done four times in the Eurovision Song Contest so far… For years and years I’ve been hosting and going to different types of Eurovision Song Contest parties with near and dear. We’ve been having proper three-course meals, a bit too much to drink and the oh-so-important TV on, showing the programme the entire world (or Sweden anyway) seems to be talking about. And as the show takes us through all the interesting (because that’s what most of them are) we are sitting there, eager with our pens in our hands, scribbling down what points out of 12 we think that specific act deserves… A fantastic evening with a very cultural aura surrounding us.

Then I moved to England…

The other night I was talking to my sister, who was very excited about the weekend. I asked why and she told me it was the EuroSong Contest. I felt like an idiot. I have always been aware of it. For almost two decades I have been excited and full of expectation, watching and cheering, singing and dancing along with it, but this year, I almost forgot about it!!

As I got aware of it, I told my boyfriend that whatever we are doing on Saturday night we have to reschedule because we (that’s what I thought anyway) have forgotten that it is THE night, it is EuroSong Contest! He just shrugged his shoulders and looked at me. Obviously, what I thought was a European cultural thing that everyone in Europe watched with excitement, was nothing else than a little thing that happens in my tiny Sweden bubble. Obviously, no one here seems to care about it all. Obviously, I will have to watch it on my own on Saturday…

What does make me a bit thinky though is that ‘everyone’ in Britain watches X-factor, Britain’s got talent and the dance shows running on TV frequently. But when it comes to a huge event that involves the entire Europe with all its nations, it’s equal to nothing. Pff, so much for cultural value. Sometimes I miss Sweden… Very much!

Mads
x