MGP/ESC

You can't ignore it, whether you want to or not. It's everywhere! On the news, online, on the radio.. It's getting closer; the countdown is coming to an end. All of Europe's eyes are turning towards Norway. The biggest event of the year is within an arm's reach. This is what we've all been waiting for! THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST!

Don't you just love how it's possible to put all the one-line-movie-trailer-chliches into the wonders of the Eurovision Song Contest (or Melodi Grand Prix as we call it in Norway). Unfortunately, it's all true. This is what Europe goes completely nuts over once a year, and since Norway was the winner last year, we get to host the competition this year. The day when Europe stands still and all eyes are - literally - on Norway, is the 29th of May.

I'm not a big ESC enthusiast so I'm not really up to date when it comes to the songs, the show and participants, but my eye caught a headline on one of the tabloids online which I could not ignore. I bet the combination of curiosity and, for once, a good headline is to blame, but I'm glad it did. The Ukrainian contribution "Sweet People" turns out to be an ideological promotion of global responsibility in the typical Michael-Jackson-Earth-Song-spirit. The singer, Alyosha, recently made a music video to the song recorded in a town close to the nuclear disaster of Chernobyl in 1986.

I think it's great that a major event like the ESC is being used for ideological purposes and to send a message. Once again it makes you reflect upon and consider the coincidental fact that we live in a peaceful part of the world, and how lucky we truly are.