Eurovision

What a glorious event

ABBA has won it.

Celine has too.

You may question why Celine participated in Eurovision, considering she is Canadian.

You may question why Azerbaijan, Israel, and Australia are allowed to participate, considering none of them are remotely located in Europe.

Short answer: Because it is Eurovision, where the point system is the same one used by Dumbledore at the end of Harry Potter and the contestants are about as ridiculous as one can find.

It is a fantastic competition/party where all of Europe gets hugely invested in national pride as represented by their country’s selection of who may sing a song about Edgar Allan Poe, giving a wolf a banana, and partying in their sweater. (All of these were actual songs from the last two years.)

I love it, and it slightly saddens me that, as an American, I have to watch it on the sidelines.

I have not listened to the songs for this year as I am waiting for a watch party later today; as an American with European mutt heritage, I’m conflicted about what to wear. So, I will simply list the countries according to something I like about them:

In order of the finals performance, we have…

1. Sweden — they have a Swedish historical museum in Philly that hosts an Extra-ABBA-ganza event each year featuring an ABBA dance party and drag queens. Leaning hard into your ABBA history is worthy of high marks in my book…