Our international fan of the week is Danny from Belgium aka @belchi90 on Twitter.
What is your name and where are you from?
My name is Danny and I'm from Antwerp, Belgium.
Tell us something interesting about yourself?
I speak five languages: Dutch, French, English, German, and Spanish. I was raised both in Dutch and Spanish because my father was Belgian and my mum is from Chile. Being able to speak those languages, I had decided to enroll in university back in 2014 to maximise my English and Spanish proficiency. I'd like to believe that it has certainly helped!
Five languages is super impressive, we can barely speak English! ~ Aussievision
When did you first get into Eurovision?
The first Eurovision song that I came in touch with was "Love Shine a Light" by Katrina & The Waves, and ESC 1998 was the first contest that I vividly remember. I was 8 years old back then. Funny story: I thought Dana International was so beautiful that I wanted to marry her. When I was about 14 years old, I brought it up again and my mum said that she was a transexual woman! We both ended up laughing, but I still have fond memories of that edition and my love for Dana International is still strong. Fabulous person, a real DIVA!
What is your favourite Eurovision and why?
My favourite Eurovision has to be 2003. For the simple reason that we nearly won! The voting was really exciting, but then Slovenia screwed us over and I was very upset. I mean, I am happy for Turkey, because they really deserved to win, but come on.. TWO POINTS! Speaking of the contest itself, I didn't even know Latvia at all. The show was amazing, the songs were of high quality (I nearly liked all of them!). Yes, Eurovision 2003 will always have a special place in my heart, despite the horrifically intense voting!
Fantastic year - our all time favourite one, super close scoring and the drama of t.A.T.u
Which Eurovision song:
Is your favourite?
"A Million Voices", by Polina Gagarina.
Is over rated?
"My Number One", by Helena Paparizou. I will never understand why that one won!
Wow interesting choice!
Was robbed?
"Sound of Silence", by Dami Im.
That is the correct answer!
Had the best live performance?
"Lovewave", by Iveta Mukuchyan. That one was really iconic.
Did you last play?
"City Lights", by Blanche
Is your guilty pleasure?
"Beautiful Song", by Anmary. 2012 was such a great year as well, but the Latvian entry is still stuck in my head.
Any other interesting honourable mentions?
Georgia 2015 for the iconic word "oximated". Also, the most 'cringey' Eurovision song IMO is "O Julissi" (Belgium 2008). It really made me wanna migrate as far away as possible!
Do you follow the national finals? If so have any songs caught your attention so far this year?
Yes, I do follow the national finals, or at least I try to. I've got three songs that really caught my attention and they are from the same NF. "You and I", by Asmik, "Puerto Rico", by Kamil Show, and "Poison (Ari Ari)", by Tamar Kaprelian. These three songs are already on my phone's playlist. As for other NFs, I don't really have any big favourites, except, perhaps, "High on Love", by Debbi (Czech NF)
What do you think of Australia being in Eurovision?
I think Australia is a very nice addition to the contest. As long as you guys keep sending high quality songs (except 2017, which I hate, I'm sorry), I will let AUS stay!
You will let us stay hey? Haha ok we'll try and send you a banger!
What do you think of our artist this year – Jessica Mauboy?
I really liked her performance of "Sea of Flags" when she was a guest performer. Other than that, she is still quite unknown to me, and I refuse to look at her repertoire. I would like to be surprised!
Sea of Flags, Tonight Again, Sound of Silence or Don’t Come Easy?
"Sound of Silence" by far! This song is amazing from A to Z and I was really upset when it didn't win. In my opinion it was miles above everything else, and Dami gave a KILLER performance. I'm still very proud of having cheered for Australia!
Anything else you’d like to share?
I'd like to wish everyone a very happy New Eurovision Year with, hopefully, many good songs. Apart from that, there is one thing that I need to get off my chest: Dear EBU, BRING BACK EUROVISION WEB TV!
Thanks for your time Danny!