An introduction

This is my very first blogpost. On this blog I will post Eurovision or Eurovision-related news, thoughts concerning Eurovision past and present, and comments on current events.

The name, before anyone wonders, pays tribute to my all-time favourite Eurovision act and song "Love Games" by Belle & The Devotions, who represented the UK in 1984 ending 7th. Looking back at themes of the songs in Eurovision through the years, that is what it's all about, isn't it? Love in one form or another...

So who am I? Will tell you a little about myself. I am a 34 year old guy, originally from Norway, currently living in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. I have been a Eurovision fan ever since I saw my first contest in 1983 as an 8-year old. In mysterious ways it fascinated me and I fell in love with the contest from then on. I felt it was more than just a song competition: it was about all the different cultures taking part (which was more obvious in the earlier days when you had to sing in your own language) and their different song traditions, the languages and the feel of each country through a 3 minute song, the performances - good or bad, the costumes and the atmosphere of each event. No years were alike. In later years I have been able to collect the songs I grew up with from Eurovision on CD and DVD, and in many ways I feel these songs have become part of the soundtrack of my life...

So what is my taste? Below you can see my Top 5 each of the years from I started watching (my favourite years being 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986 & 1988):

1983: 1. Sweden 2. United Kingdom 3. Luxembourg 4. Yugoslavia 5. Netherlands
1984: 1. United Kingdom 2. Sweden 3. Ireland 4. Spain 5. Italy
1985: 1. Norway 2. Sweden 3. United Kingdom 4. Denmark 5. Germany
1986: 1. Belgium 2. Norway 3. Sweden 4. Switzerland 5. Yugoslavia
1987: 1. Norway 2. Sweden 3. Finland 4. Ireland 5. Italy
1988: 1. Switzerland 2. Norway 3. Sweden 4. Germany 5. Luxembourg
1989: 1. Norway 2. Yugoslavia 3. Denmark 4. Finland 5. United Kingdom
1990: 1. Italy 2. Spain 3. United Kingdom 4. France 5. Ireland
1991: 1. Sweden 2. Norway 3. France 4. United Kingdom 5. Finland
1992: 1. Ireland 2. Norway 3. Sweden 4. Malta 5. Israel
1993: 1. United Kingdom 2. Norway 3. Ireland 4. Sweden 5. Netherlands
1994: 1. Norway 2. Ireland 3. Germany 4. United Kingdom 5. Malta
1995: 1. Norway 2. Israel 3. Spain 4. Sweden 5. United Kingdom
1996: 1. United Kingdom 2. Ireland 3. Norway 4. Sweden 5. Croatia
1997: 1. United Kingdom 2. Italy 3. Estonia 4. Ireland 5. Russia
1998: 1. Sweden 2. Israel 3. United Kingdom 4. Malta 5. Croatia
1999: 1. United Kingdom 2. Sweden 3. Iceland 4. Norway 5. Belgium
2000: 1. United Kingdom 2. Estonia 3. Norway 4. Latvia 5. Denmark
2001: 1. France 2. Sweden 3. Greece 4. Estonia 5. Denmark
2002: 1. Malta 2. United Kingdom 3. Estonia 4. France 5. Sweden
2003: 1. Sweden 2. United Kingdom 3. Norway 4. Turkey 5. Iceland
2004: 1. Sweden 2. Malta 3. Ireland 4. Russia 5. Serbia & Montenegro
2005: 1. Netherlands 2. Greece 3. Malta 4. Estonia 5. Norway
2006: 1. Belgium 2. Sweden 3. United Kingdom 4. Germany 5. Greece
2007: 1. Switzerland 2. Serbia 3. Ireland 4. United Kingdom 5. Belarus
2008: 1. Norway 2. Slovenia 3. Sweden 4. Iceland 5. Switzerland

I hope you will find my blog interesting, and that my background will bring a different insight/angle to this contest. Please feel free to comment on any of my posts. You can also find me on www.esctoday.com as Scottish Eurovision Fan.