James Barbour

Eurovision: The fun and the serious

I used to love the Eurovision Song Contest.  I'm exactly the right age to just about remember Bucks Fizz's win in 1981 with 'Making your Mind Up'.

Well this week, Eurovision fever has well and truly gripped Moscow.  I arrived back in town from Barcelona on Saturday, on the same 'plane as the Andorran entry, and the road on the way in from the airport is festooned with brightly-coloured Eurovision banners.  In fact, all the city's major roads are - there are even Eurovision symbols painted on the tarmac itself in many places.  Visitors have descended on Moscow this week from all over Europe and beyond, with even more expected to arrive before the final on Saturday.  Tickets for even the initial heats are, I understand, changing hands for several hundred Euros.

Eurovision is, of course, a great showcasing opportunity for each of the 45 countries involved.  So ever since Dima Bilan won Eurovision 2008 for Russia, we've been planning how to make the most of it.  Jade Ewen, Britain's entry, has already visited Moscow a couple of times, as have delegations from her record company and from the BBC.  Media coverage here of the contest as a whole - and the UK entry in particular - has been huge.

Eurovision's not without its controversies, of course.  Georgia has withdrawn from this year's contest, in protest at the banning of its song, "We don't wanna put in".  Terry Wogan has abandoned his traditional role as the BBC's commentator, in protest at 'bloc voting'; Graham Norton takes over the hot seat of what Wogan denounced as a "camp, foolish spectacle".  Well, foolish it may be, but you'd struggle to find anyone in Moscow this week who's not excited.

Except, perhaps, for Moscow's Mayor, Yuri Luzhkov.  Eurovision has a huge gay following, and many of the people flocking to Moscow this week - along with members of Moscow's LGBT community - are hoping to take part in a gay rights parade on Saturday, the afternoon before the Eurovision final.  Mayor Luzhkov has explicitly banned such parades, which he views as "satanic" and "weapons of mass destruction".  If the parade goes ahead despite the ban, and clashes result, things could turn sour.

This would be a huge shame for Moscow.  The city went to fantastic efforts when it hosted the Champions League Final last year.  Tens of thousands of British football fans came to Moscow, had a fantastic time, watched a great game of football, and went home happy.  More than that, Moscow demonstrated to the fans - and to the whole world - that it was capable of organising a world-class event which ran like clockwork.

Let's hope nothing happens on Saturday to undo the PR coup Moscow's Champions League Final represented - although we've a consular team on standby just in case.  In the meantime, if you're coming to Moscow - or if you're already here - and you're thinking of taking part in Saturday's parade, take a look at our travel advice.

Today, though, the focus remains strictly on fun.  This evening we've taken over the VIP area of the 'EuroDom', a huge exhibition hall in the centre of Moscow which has been turned into a focal point for Eurovision events.  Lord Lloyd Webber, Jade, Graham Norton and a cross-section of VIPs and society journalists, will all be there to wish Jade well at the finals on Saturday.  Whether this will be enough to overcome the 'bloc voting' remains to be seen. 

At least, thanks to Lord Lloyd Webber, we know she's got Prime Minister Putin's vote.

Posted at 20:40 14 May 2009 by James Barbour  |  Comments[1]