It’s no wonder Sweden won last year. Loreen had a great song in “Euphoria” which she performed very, very well. In ten or twenty years time, I’m pretty sure it will be regarded as one of the “great moments” of Eurovision.

Even though “You” by Robin Stjernberg isn’t in the same league, of course I’ll be supporting Sweden in this year’s contest. I figure following Eurovision is like following a footy team – you choose your team and you stick with them through good and bad.

It’s not that “You” is bad, it’s just that it’s not as good as “Euphoria”. I quite like the song actually. I think it’s very catchy, had a terrific “yodel” piece in the middle, and I think Robin has a good voice. I hope he does well, especially as I have fond memories of being in the audience when he emerged as the winner in the nail-biting Swedish final. The last time I attended a Melodifestivalen final was the year Sweden failed to quality for the first time ever for the Eurovision final. I hope I haven’t jinxed him.

In contrast with previous years I have no great plans for watching the contest as it’s replayed on Australian television on Sunday night. Instead, I’ve decided to get up early and watch it live via Swedish TV. I can understand how important it is for countries where English isn’t widely spoken to have a local translation. But since the contest is almost completely delivered in English (with occasional bits of French), I don’t feel the need (personally) for having an additional English-language commentary.

And besides, I’m sick of spending all those Sundays avoiding the news with our delayed telecast. I think it would be great if SBS offered a live feed (without commentary) on the Sunday morning for those freaks (like me) willing to get up early to watch it. The hard-core audience is small enough so that it wouldn’t have much of an impact (if any) on the Sunday night screening.

Lycka till Sverige!