Christmas and New Year already feel like weeks ago and it’s only my third day back at work. So I thought I’d start my first blog with a look back at what I can honestly say was the best year of my life.
Without bumming you all out too hard, 2022 was not a great year for me, so I decided to go all out for 2023. I called it the year of “What I Want”, inspired by the MUNA song. So, I leapt into Eurovision more than ever before.
A disastrous journey to Stockholm to kickstart this mission meant I missed a live performance by the one and only Senhit. I still made it to the final of Melodifestivalen (on little sleep and lots of coffee) and boy was that worth the 24 hours it took me to get to Sweden. THEOZ, Tone, Nordman and of course Queen Loreen, every single act was spectacular and to be in the arena with almost 30,000 people just felt absolutely special.
Then Melfest Wknd, where I nearly had to question my sexuality after locking eyes with Klara Hammarström and witness the insanity of a Natalia Gordienko drag act – I knew I had found home in the crazy world of Eurovision.
It didn’t stop there – Eurovision in Concert, KEiiNO, somehow snagging last minute tickets to Liverpool for the Jury Final, Het Grote Songfestivalfeest and countless other gigs (honestly when did Eurovision acts start playing so many shows in Glasgow!?) The list just kept on growing and growing.
I did a tally, I finished on seeing 16 National Finalists and 71 Eurovision Participants (including 14 winners!) All of this was beyond my wildest imagination.
But by far the best part of 2023 was the people I met. People I now consider extremely close friends, and yes, Tomas that includes you. 2023 gave me a home, it gave me a place where I could be myself and feel like I wasn’t judged, a safe space where I could ramble on and make stupid jokes. So thank you friends, you know who you are, but you may not know just how loved you are and how important you have been for me this year.
