For this week’s Eurovision fan of the Week we spoke to Valerie, aka @valerieselau on Instagram, who comes to us from New Zealand. Valerie shares her love for Eurovision, Stefania and Dami Im and reveals Kiwi artists she would love to see on the Eurovision stage one day.
Thank you for being our Eurovision fan of the week! Tell us a little about yourself...
I'm Valerie Selau and I currently live and was born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand. I'm a Kiwi Samoan with Asian and European decent and my nickname is Val (which it's everybody's call me Val). I have 2 sisters and I currently live with my parents but now, I'm a household operator and a social media critic too. Auckland is the largest city but also a multicultural city, New Zealand has 5 million people and it's the next door to your country, Australia as neighbors. And this is the first time, I have to share a taste of my world with you guys.
When did you first get into Eurovision?
When I just heard about Eurovision for the first time in my life was I just watching TV in my bedroom with my sister and I just saw it on TV in 2008 since I just studying and graduated in Intermediate school. In 2009, I just watching the 2009 edition of the contest was televised here in New Zealand for the very first time ever and I felt like I was a real fangirl right now and so as my family. It's a very long time ago since I just discovered Eurovision since I was a young teen and that's why this is my story starts.
Which is your favourite Eurovision year and why?
My favorite Eurovision year is 2016. It's one of my favorite Eurovision moments of my favorite highlights before the Olympics. My favorite Eurovision artists from the 2016 edition are Dami and Sergey but also Amir and Poli too. Their level of talent was absolutely unbelievably phenomenal but also their high expectations are very grueling and very surprising but everything has changed because of the final result. But after all, everyone deserves a winner.
~ I agree 2016 was an awesome year!! (Kyriakos)
What is your favourite entry from Eurovision 2021?
It's very hard to choose from all the wonderful artists from this year and in my opinion, I'm going for Stefania from Greece and her song Last Dance was absolutely masterclass .. absolutely love it because this is my first time, listening to her song .. I felt like it's so uplifting, 80s jam packed, upbeat and so grooving dance banger that I just wanna to jump around and dance around like crazy. Overall, it's my favorite song to hear that.
Which artist/s from your country would you love to see on the Eurovision stage? Which song/s best showcases that artist?
There's so many possibilities for one of my favorite Kiwi artists and other Pacific artists will be definitely Six60 and Sol3 Mio. In my country, they had so many genres but showcasing their languages and cultures like Samson Squad, Hayley Westerna, Drax Project and so on. That's all about connecting with different genres, languages and storytelling through music.
Sol3 Mio has 'I See Fire' from their second album - On Another Fire. It's a very strongly good than Ed Sheeran's version with crossover operatic taste with a symphonic arrangement (inspired by 'Scream' by Sergey) And another one was 'The Greatest' by Six60. It's a very brilliant song to hear, I just heard that so many times since 2019 and it's a very upbeat, relatable and uplifting song. Both songs are represents my country, my blood and my passion about who I am.
~Great choices!! (Kyriakos)
If you could change one thing about Eurovision what would it be?
There's one thing that everyone could change at Eurovision to make it better is the scoring from Jury.
~Ditto! (Kyriakos)
Which Eurovision song:
Is the best winner?
Definitely it's Måneskin. Their song was absolutely my favorite Eurovision winning song of the all. Nothing compares!!
Has the best live vocal?
Stefania. She has the best vocals out of those wonderful artists from this year is way better than others.
Was robbed?
Dami Im 2016. She's one of my favorites but also one of my favorite Eurovision artists of all time .. because she was so close than another one. She deserves more than everything .. a gold medal at least.
Is your guilty pleasure?
My guilty pleasure is You're The Only One by Sergey Lazarev. I just can't stop thinking about this song because it's one of my favorite Eurovision songs of all time but also one of the best bangers like any other artists from over around the world. He's an outstanding artist but also a great person too and boy, that's a jam.
Is your favourite National Final song (that didn't make it to Eurovision)?
My favorite National Final song is Monument by Keiino from Norway. It's absolutely bloody good song but they're just so close to get a second chance but Tix won and they lost. But anyway, it's one of the best National Final songs so far this year and this one is my favorite songs I just heard that so far this year.
And finally which Australian entry is your favourite…
Lastly, Sound Of Silence by Dami Im as herself, it's one of my favorite Eurovision songs and artists ever since I just heard that song for 5 years ago and I'm just wanna reliving my favorite Eurovision year again and again.
Any other titbits or comments you’d like to make?
As a longtime fan for nearly 2 and a half decades, I have a wonderful memories about Eurovision for all those years and I'm so grateful to being part of this community especially fans from around the world and I'm so blessed to have those wonderful artists, countries and delegates too. They're still conquered the best for all. Thank you Aussievision for inviting me to share my story and getting know about me. Arohanui and Faafetai tele Lava.
Thank you Valerie for your time to talk to us. Hope to see those Kiwi artists at Eurovision one day!!