It's our weekly global search for some of Eurovision's biggest fans. This week we have the wonderful Sasha from London, UK with her distinctive red hair You may know her as @eurotrashsash on Twitter. Read her Q&A with us below:
Read her Q&A with us below:
What is your name and where are you from? My name’s Sasha and I live in London. I was born in the Midlands and decided to move down to London several years ago, in part because it has an amazing amount of Eurovision events!
What do you do or tell us something interesting about you? At the moment I work in admin but my degree is in linguistics and I’d love to move back into it somehow in future. I’ve always had a huge love for different languages and cultures since I was young.
Always in awe of those who specialise in and can speak multiple languages. Nice stuff! ~ Aussievision
When did you first get into Eurovision? I remember watching and enjoying the contest since I was very small but the first year I remember consciously identifying as a fan was 2005. I taped the contest onto a VHS tape (showing my age here!) and replayed it almost every day after school. I’d say my true baptism into the fandom was in 2013 when I went to the contest in Malmö. It sounds mad but before I turned up, I didn’t even know there was a fandom, websites, OGAE, Euroclub etc. Luckily I was taken under the wing of the more experienced Eurofans who showed me the ropes and I’ve never looked back!
Once you go through the looking glass there's no turning back... And we love the taping and re-watching... we've all been there (of a certain age)!
Which is your favourite Eurovision year and why? I love different years for different reasons. If we’re taking purely in terms of songs, I’d probably say 2015. There’s a lot of diversity and something for everyone, and a lot of powerful vocalists and productions.
Which Eurovision song:
Is the best? Anyone who knows me will know that my favourite all time Eurovision song is Adio by Knez, composed by the incomparable Željko Joksimović. I actually barely listen to the studio version, as the live version is perfection - I don’t think anything will ever beat the combination of the staging, the vocals and the power of the composition for me.
It was incredible, it's grown to be one of our all time favourites.
Is overrated? I don’t want to upset anyone! Off the top of my head I’ll say Je t’adore (Belgium 2006). I don’t hate it, I just never “got it”. But in a way I’m glad it’s so popular as the bar queue is deserted as soon as the first few notes play!
The silver lining of a shortened bar queue is music to our ears.
Was robbed? Too many to list so let’s go very recent. I think Ethno-Jazz Band Iriao and Vanja Radovanović deserved much better!
Hmmm....... we won't be harsh...... but no.... :P
Had the best live performance? Adio, but to avoid being repetitive I could also mention Lejla (Bosnia 2006) as being particularly well sung, composed and staged. A beautiful classic.
Did you last play? We Write The Story, the 2013 opening anthem if that counts. And if not, Nova Deca by Sanja Ilić and Balkanika.
Is your guilty pleasure? I’m a Joker by Anri Jokhadze is brilliant. But I don’t really believe in guilty pleasures. Enjoy enjoying what you enjoy!
Any other interesting honourable mentions? I’d like to do a shoutout to Nelly Ciobanu, the original inspiration for my lifelong love of red hair...
I think we may know the answer to this... but which countries (other than the UK) do you tend to support in Eurovision and why? I have become known for being a big cheerleader for Montenegro, and I do think they have some of the most beautiful authentic tracks of all time, and the effort put into most of their music videos is astonishing when you think about the small population. I also really admire how Georgia send something original every year and don’t necessarily try to produce something just to tick boxes. But I’d support any country depending on the song!
Love a small nation doing well, Montenegro is an amazing country with fantastic people. We visited after Lisbon and it was TO. DIE. FOR.
How do you think the UK is going with Eurovision, what's the status? I am immensely proud of SuRie. But if the UK genuinely want to do well, there needs to be vastly more people on board with the process who actually live and breathe Eurovision, not just “music experts” or people who turn up one day of the year to have a laugh. Say what you want about people like Christer Björkman, for example, but he truly does know his stuff. We also need a big change in national attitude. But I still live in hope! We have one of the most passionate and engaged
OGAE clubs in the world. We just need to build on and expand that energy.
Your club, events and fans are amazing. Always rooting for UK to do well! (And Australia has chucked a few votes your way recently!)
What national finals are you most looking forward to? I’m quite interested to see what Beovizijia and Montevizija come up with, as they usually have at least a couple of beautiful traditional style songs. I’m also really looking forward to hearing Jon Henrik’s song in Melfest.
Any prediction of what we might see in Tel Aviv this year? A technologically amazing production, crazily passionate fans and our empty wallets.
Think you'll be right on all three fronts...
What do you think of Australia being in Eurovision? I think the higher ups should have just been honest that Australia were now competing, as the “interval guest to special guest to full time participant” thing seemed a bit contrived to me. Having said that, I love the passion the Australian fans bring to the contest so I have nothing bad to say about that. The level of effort put in with including big stars and being so proud to compete is something the UK could really learn from.
We're keen for the clarification too, just from a different perspective! It's like, are we staying, I don't know, just stay quiet until they say we can stay for another year...
Any favourite acts in Australia Decides? I haven’t listened to many NF songs yet, it gets quite overwhelming! However I’m quite interested to hear what Leea Nanos will bring, as I love rooting for an underdog.
That's awesome! She seems super sweet and as a 'wildcard' we are keen to hear her song!
And finally... Tonight Again, Sound of Silence, Don’t Come Easy or We Got Love? I love Tonight Again, but I have to stay loyal to my queen Ms Jessica Mauboy and her incredible dancing!
Fine choice!
Thank you for joining us Sasha! Dovidenja!