Portugal wins the Eurovision Song Contest

I can’t stress enough how historic this is. I was in the hall in Athens when Finland won, and one of my top three (unblogged) thoughts on this other historic night, back in May 2006, was indeed: “Now Portugal can win, too.” Fast forward eleven years, and bang, it finally happened. Portugal has won the Eurovision Song Contest. No other country has waited for its first victory this long, not even Finland. It was Finland’s 40th entry, “Hard Rock Hallelujah“, that took them to their first victory ever. “Amar Pelos Dois” is Portugal’s 50th entry. What an anniversary!

This was the first Eurovision Song Contest during which I had to check my blood pressure

For hardcore fans, the Eurovision Song Contest is inevitably linked to mental and physical health. And so it happened that I had a break during Cyprus and realised how hard my heart was beating. And as I’m slowly transforming from a middle-aged fan to an old fan, I thought, why not check my blood pressure, just in case. I was fine though. Even in the nerve-wrecking moments before the second-highest televote result was announced.

Germany and Spain got what they deserved

And with this, I don’t mean the singers, but the responsible persons behind their selection. The two countries with the most scandalous recent preselection history actually came last. Of course, the viewers and juries didn’t punish Spain for the highly questionable way in which Manel Navarro and his (definitely weak) song was chosen as the winner of the Spanish final. But the responsible ones behind this format got what they deserved. The same applies for Germany: Levina did a rather good job, but her song was definitely weak, and the people responsible for the German national final format got what they deserved. Again. And now it must finally be time for a total reboot in Germany, and I – and my fellow German fans – are clearly calling for personal consequences.

One of the people in this image is responsible for the German misery, and it’s not Levina. | image: Thomas Hanses (EBU)

I certainly have more things to say about the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. For now though, I’m going to lean back for a while and keep repeating these words a few more times: Portugal has won the Eurovision Song Contest.

Portugal has won the Eurovision Song Contest!

A historic night in Kyiv. | image: Andres Putting (EBU)