What is your name and where are you from? Hi! I'm Cassidy Civet, and I'm from Vancouver, Canada for non locals, or Port Moody for people that know the area. Lived here all my life! What do you do or tell us something interesting about you? I'm a musician that happens to be a furry! Or the other way around? I've just released my debut album mostly consisting of songs I had once submitted for Eurovision! My job is as a movie extra here in Vancouver. My suit will be appearing in an upcoming Netflix movie, so keep an eye out!
Where might people know you from? They may have been watching the first ever Eurovision Fan Recap as part of the Eurovision Song Celebration taking the place of our regularly scheduled contest to honor the acts that didn't get to the stage thanks to the virus, and then gasped in a confused mix of surprise and shock to see a furry passionately lip syncing to Slovenia's entry "Voda"! That's where I'd say most people would know me from.
It certainly caught us by surprise but there was a lot of love out there in the fandom for your appearance! ~ Aussievision
Is Eurovision much of a thing among the Furry culture?
There are quite a lot of passionate Eurovision fans in the furry fandom! Eurovision has a large LGBT following, which is very similar to furry! It's all about inclusiveness and self expression through art and performance. Bet you can't tell which fandom I'm describing with those words!
What is one myth about Furry culture you’d like to bust?
Most anything you've ever heard from your local news station or cop shows. Don't listen to most media about furry. Trust a direct source. Imagine if you got your Eurovision knowledge just from the Father Ted episode! Where the source material is being used for jokes, even if in sincerity, I know especially in the UK that Eurovision is often looked at as a joke. Furry can seem like that to, but we are a real force for change with all the money we raise at all our conventions for charity and the people who find real friendships in the community! Talk to a furry and find out :D
So tell us how you got into Eurovision?
Story time! When I was in high school, I participated in these music chart Youtube videos, and one of them would put the flag of the country the song was from in the bottom corner. But when ESC entries came on (in 2014), the flag was a diamond! So I asked why and they told me about Eurovision! The first song I knowingly heard was 'Rise Like A Phoenix' which after listening to the rest of the entries that year remained as my favorite and predicted winner. But beforehand I had actually run into ESC entries in the wild and not known, such as 'Eres Tu' and 'Volare' (as they play into my Mexican/Italian heritage as classics), Waterloo (of course) and 'Fairytale', which was used in a warrior cats animation on Youtube that my friend had shown me back in middle school. So if I had looked into Fairytale years earlier, I may have been a fan for even longer! Ah well. I'm here now :)
We always love to hear about these small moments that steamroll into someone becoming a huge fan. Great to hear!
What is the overall interest for the contest like in Canada? I think the number of people that know it exists is higher than it may appear. Do they know when it's on? Definitely not. Did they stumble into it on a trip to Europe? Seems to most often be the case. Not to put my country down, but we don't have anything in the way of talent shows. No Canadian Idol, Canada's Got Talent, Canada The Voice, nothing. All we have is a show where singers fight for a pre-produced generic Pop song from LA (the show has produced 1 hit song so far in 3 seasons). So if the show was more known I'm sure people would gravitate towards it! Celine Dion being a past winner hasn't had any impact in the modern era of Eurovision awareness. Which is your favourite Eurovision year and why? 2016 I think. Jamala was an incredible winner, 'Utopian Land' remains one of my biggest guilty pleasures and rivals '1944' in terms of listens. Not to mention 'Love Love Peace Peace!' Sweden knows how to put on a show! Though I do want to see more first time winners.
It was an incredible year and incredible show. 'Utopian Land' though.... hmm...can you hear properly through that suit! ha!
If you could change one thing about Eurovision what would it be?
Oh boy this is how to anger a fan base. I have one big thing I'd definitely like to see changed, and that with 100% certainty is I would want for the song to be performed on the Eurovision stage to be the SAME as what's on the album. Russia and Turkey both won with song versions that weren't what was officially released, these are unexpected surprises and I don't think they should be allowed. France did it in 2019 with less success. Only exceptions would be where the music totally cuts out like Slow Down, Say Yay, Hvala Ne, etc as that isn't the same as changing the composition.
Which artist would you like to see return to the competition?
Hmm. Good question. I'm a very song based person, not necessarily singer based, so I guess if I could I'd bring back Hadise from Turkey 2009, cause that would likely mean that either Turkey returned, or that it would potentially make them want to return after seeing how well she'd likely do on a return. I can't really see her not doing well if she came back.
Good answer, think many would love to see Turkey back, including us!
If you could pick only three Eurovision songs to listen to for the rest of time, what would they be? '1944', 'Without Your Love' (Armenia), and 'Poupee de Cire, Poupee de son'! Which Eurovision song: Is the best winner? Best, most deserved, gosh that's hard. I love first time winners that shatter the mold, so I feel like along with my personal ties to the song and the precedent it set, I have to pick Amar Pelois Dos. Has the best live vocal? Of all winners or ever? '1944' for best vocals, and of all time probably 'Miracle' from Romania 2014, Paula Seling can nail those notes.
Starting to see how much love you have for '1944'!
Was robbed? 'Horehronie', 'Hear Them Calling', 'Falling Stars', 'Utopian Land', 'Igranka', ''Crisalide, 'Quero Ser Tua', 'Time' (Belarus 2015), 'To The Sky', many of the typical fandom ones I agree with. In terms of qualifiers, 'I'm Alive' from Albania 2015 should've done way better. I understand why they did poorly, mostly staging, I swear I've had ideas for all of these that would've made them sure qualifiers.
Now 'Falling Stars' and 'Quero Ser Tua' we can 100% agree on, much loved here! Is the best from this decade? I must say 'Amar Pelois Dos' still had the best rise to victory and meant the most to the contest. A beautiful song that proved there is no such thing as a Eurovision mold. Anything with the right heart can win, no matter the style. Is your guilty pleasure? 'Utopian Land' is a big one going by how poorly it did in the contest. I also think Portugal 2011 is silly and fun. Is your favourite National Final song (that didn't make it to Eurovision)? From this year, I'd say 'Me Tana', though I do have a slight history with the song as it was playing when I got into my car accident back on December 31st, lol. Of all time though, I'd say 'Zeig Diene Muskeln' by Laing from Germany 2015. Or 'Fighter' by BeatreeS from Belarus 2015. Your favourite/s for 2020? Norway, Bulgaria, and Iceland are my Top 3. We were gonna see a first time winner this year, I just know it. And I will forever be sad we lost this year to the pandemic. I'm sure the top 3 would've been Lithuania, Iceland and Bulgaria. Russia 4th I think, but would've won the Televote. Jury winner probably Norway or Bulgaria.
First time winner was definitely a strong possibility! Any other interesting honourable songs overall you'd like to mention? I'm an absolute music chart maniac so I can go on for hours. Some songs that were ruined by their revamps include 'Warrior' (Malta 2015) and 'Forever' (Belarus 2018), 'Clown' (Greece 1988) receives too much hate, as does 'S.A.G.A.P.O.' (Greece 2002). Shout out to 'Keep The Faith' cause I performed it in a talent show and got 3rd place, and shout out to 'Replay' and 'Chameleon' for the same reason cause last year I performed them both in fursuit and got 2nd place! 'It's The Night' by Antra Stafecka from the Latvia 2015 NF is a banger. 'Seven Seas' by Oliver Berkes and Andy Toth from the Hungary 2016 NF is amazing. Misunderstandings from the Slovenia 2015 NF is also amazing.
Like I said, literally hours but I must control myself. I've just got a decent memory for competition stats and I like a lot of music. 10,000+ songs on my iPod and growing!
Some amazing tracks in there, and some absolute howlers! And finally... Tonight Again, Sound of Silence, Don’t Come Easy, We Got Love or Zero Gravity? Oof, I'll have to say 'We Got Love'. It meets that line of smiley pop song and cheese that really hits me. Was it in my Top 10? I'm not sure, 'Zero Gravity' definitely was, but WGL just lasted more. And it's one of like 3 ESC songs I hear playing at my local mall in Canada so that's cool.
You hear 'We Got Love' at the Mall in Canada? That has made our day!
Well Cassidy Civet the Furry, thank you for joining us and for your time!