Tim: The winner. Of Melodifestivalen, and of Eurovision itself. Deserved?
Tom: Yes.
Tim: Oh yes.
Tom: And I think anyone who knew the tracks in advance could have called it. It’s the only one in there which sounds like it deserves to be at the top of every chart in Europe.
Tim: EXACTLY.
Now I’ll be frank: there were others I preferred. Jedward did well for Ireland, I enjoyed Malta with their on-stage DJ and fancy footwork, and Gréta Salóme & Jónsi’s Iceland performance was a highlight for me. But this— this victory is manna from above for us Eurovision fans. Because here we have a winner that’s acceptable worldwide, by the general populace.
Tom: The UK had Love Shine A Light back in the nineties, and – of course – Lena’s Satellite did the same for most of Europe if not the UK. This is the trouble with the British entries: we keep sending somewhat-silly entries, and we keep getting knocked down.
Tim: I don’t know about silly entries – Blue last year took it seriously and did well, and everyone involved genuinely thought The Hump had a good chance this year. But you’re right that people think of it as silly, but maybe that’ll change a bit. Because people can comment on how Eurovision’s ridiculous, or a terrible collection of music, or that the best song never wins, but then we’ll say, “But what about Loreen? That went top 10 all across Europe, got a great deal of radio airplay and was big in clubs all summer long, and that’s a Eurovision graduate.”
Now, I’m perhaps exaggerating a bit, and possibly getting my hopes up too much. But this was at number 1 on iTunes in the UK within eighteen hours of being performed. This is a big tune, and possibly, and hopefully, this generation’s Waterloo.
Tom: I’m not going to go that far: Waterloo’s what I’d call a “wedding disco song”, and perhaps only one or two tracks every year graduate into that kind of utterly mainstream, known-by-everyone success. (Recently: I Gotta Feeling and Party Rock Anthem.) But is it going to be the summer’s European hit? Almost certainly. And it deserves to be.