I sat down this week to pick the brain of avid Eurovision fan Dean (@EscDean on twitter) from Aberdeen, Scotland! Certainly one of the more colourful responses I've received - enjoy his fresh banter:
Thank you for being our Aussievision fan of the week! Tell us a little about yourself!
It’s an honour! My name is Dean, from and living in unquestionably one of the top five cities in Scotland, Aberdeen (or Aberdean for the banter merchants among you). Interesting information about myself is probably limited to the fact I can solve a Rubik’s Cube, not blindfolded or in under 10 seconds or anything like that but it’s something I guess.
I’m proper into live music and going to gigs, by which I mean until March 2020 I was proper into going to gigs - it scares me to think how long it’ll be before I can once again jump on a bus for 3 hours just to see a support band I heard on a Spotify Daily Mix. I also occasionally dabble in poker, chess, snooker and I suppose I should mention my slight interest the Eurovision Song Contest otherwise this fan of the week title would be somewhat fraudulent.
~ I may have chuckled - as someone who has followed your on twitter for a few years now it's always interesting to hear what people are into outside of the contest! Certainly some firsts in there.... (Liv)
How did you get into Eurovision? What was the first year you watched?
I don’t think I can pinpoint a specific moment but there’s a weird array of songs that I have vivid memories of watching live in my youth: 'Once in a Lifetime' (Estonia 2000) and 'Weil Der Mensch Zählt' (Austria 2003) spring to mind. I’d have to fast forward to 2012 before I could safely say I got together with a few mates and watched the contest in full for the first time, which has since been an annual tradition.
In 2016 we took it one step further and made the decision to start watching back and ranking every year in reverse chronological order, it is now 2021 and we’re still only at 1959 thanks to some unbelievable levels of procrastination shown by one of the parties involved (I won’t publicly name and shame him but his name starts with Sh- and ends with -aun and rhymes with Shaun). Which leads to 2018 in which I made a Eurovision twitter account which has since proven to be an amazing yet abysmal decision at the same time (follow @EscDean to see me hyping up bands and not much else to be honest). Apologies for deviating from the question but that’s my Eurovision timeline to date!
~ Next time I'm in Scotland (probably a good 10 years at this rate) I'll be sure to give Shaun a good kick for you (only joshing) (Liv)
Whom is your favourite Eurovision performance and why?
Şebnem Paker - 'Dinle' (Turkey 1997). I may have tweeted about this song once or twice in the last 3 years, you’d have to double check. Okay but for real I can’t explain why I love it so much, I remember hearing the remix on ESC Radio before I’d watched the 1997 contest and thought "yeah this is quite good" and I wasn’t disappointed when I finally got round to seeing it. From the way she just owns the stage to the keyboard player hyping up the crowd and generally having the time of his life, the whole thing is just perfection.
~ Your 'Dinle' propaganda on twitter certainly helps propel it up the ESC 250 rankings every year - to be honest I thought it was quite average until you coerced me to try it a few more times and now I LOVE it!! (Liv)
If given the opportunity - would you be for or against Scotland having their own opportunity to enter Eurovision, separate from the UK? (Similar to Wales at Junior Eurovision) Why?
100% for! In all honesty I can’t bring myself to be patriotic about anything the UK does and so I’m really not fussed about whether they come first (haha) or last unless I’m actually a fan of the song, which has yet to happen this century. So it would be great to feel a sense of pride in being able to support Scotland at the contest, regardless of result.
Which UK artists would you love to see on the Eurovision stage?
I wish this was my dissertation question, but alas, it is not so I’ll just give you 3 artists I’d love to see represent Scotland and 3 for the UK.
Scotland:
Baby Strange (Pleasure City, Viewpoint)
Lucia & the Best Boys (Perfectly Untrue, Good Girls Do Bad Things)
Neon Waltz (Dreamers, Friends Who Lost Control)
UK:
Wolf Alice (The Last Man on Earth, Moaning Lisa Smile)
Foals (Two Steps Twice, What Went Down)
King No-One (Alcatraz, Roll of the Dice)
~ These feel like very 'you' choices! Love it - a lot of lesser known artists that would thrive at Eurovision! (Liv)
Which national final do you look forward to the most?
This is where my Eurofan status gets revoked, but for the last couple of years I’ve rarely taken the scenic route and watched an entire National Final, instead I just skim through songs individually either before or after the event.
In terms of song quality at least, Sanremo just oozes class throughout the line-up year after year, Eesti Laul usually has a couple of decent indie tracks that are right up my street and a shout out to Festival da Canção as well.
Would you prefer a national final like Eurovision: You Decide or internal selection?
For once I’d love to see a national selection of 20 or so artists which actually showcases some song writing capabilities over a diverse range of genres, as opposed to the soul destroying abomination that was You Decide. But knowing the UK there’s no danger of that happening in the near future, so for now I’ll sadly have to live with the 1% chance of me liking an internally selected song.
What is your opinion on returning artists? Is there one you would like to see again?
This year aside, in which it’s obviously a shame some of the artists weren’t given another chance, I wouldn’t say I have too strong an opinion either way. I think I’d probably err on the side of wanting to discover new artists, but I’d make an exception for someone I was a big fan of - Andrius Pojavis or Nika Kocharov would be magic to see again, as unlikely as that seems.
You are quite the meme connoisseur on twitter - is there a particular Eurovision related one that is your favourite?
Thank you for validating my entire existence. ~ *Screaming* (Liv)
It’s difficult to choose one specifically since they tend to outgrow themselves rapidly these days. So instead I’m going to dedicate this answer to Örs and the boys from Hungary during the 2018 season. Every day in May you’d wake up and a new interview would surface, providing some god tier meme-worthy content. I think to gift your music to the world and make people laugh along the way is a legacy to be proud of.
On the subject of 2018 memes I suppose I’m contractually obliged to mention Mr. Vanja Radovanović, I’m still not entirely convinced he was a real person, but moving on…
~ Some of my personal favourites of yours are below (Liv)
If you could pick only three performances to encourage new people to watch Eurovision what would they be:
I’ll go with 'Midnight Gold' (Georgia 2016) for people like me who rely on guitar music to stay alive, 'Water' (Bulgaria 2007) and 'Fai Rumore' (Italy 2020).
Which Eurovision song:
Is the best winner?
'Een beetje' (Netherlands 1959)
Has the best live vocal?
'Quédate conmigo' (Spain 2012)
Was the best UK entry?
'I Love the Little Things' (1964)
Was robbed?
Of victory - 'Hi' (Israel 1983)
Of qualification - 'The Real Thing' (Montenegro 2016)
Is your guilty pleasure?
'My Galileo' (Belarus 2004) / 'Moustache' (France 2014)
~ A LOT of people have 'Moustache' in this category ha! (Liv)
Is your favourite National Final song?
'Ciao' (France 2018) / 'Kaks miinust' (Estonia 2019)
And finally which Australian entry is your favourite…
'Don’t Break Me' (2020)
Thanks for having me! Forza Måneskin.
Bonus points for stanning Italy this year! Thank you for your small essay and good luck to your entrant James Newman with 'Embers' for 2021. Fingers crossed we see an Scottish indie rock band at Eurovision in your lifetime.