Our Search for the Island Biggest Eurovision Fan

Over the last few weeks, we have been searching high and low to find the island’s biggest Eurovision fan and we’re going to announce just who that is at 5pm this evening.

But we had so many amazing entries, we wanted to celebrate not only the people who gets our much heralded douze points, but as many people who love Eurovison as much Gef does as we possibly can.

For some, it isn’t only a love of Eurovison, but Eurovision itself plays a part in their own love story. Ella Goodwin’s whole family have loved Eurovision since she was a kid and growing up in Brighton, Abba’s win there started what she said is their ‘family Eurovision obsession’.

She told us: ‘I remember growing up watching Eurovision with my Mum and loving the cringe, the outfits, the camp of it all. Slowly it became tradition to hunker down with buffet food and boogie along to Eurovision every year, listening out for how drunk Terry Wogan got as the evening went on.’

Not only that, but in 2017, she met her now husband Theo and ‘knew he was the one when he also watched both semi-finals and the final too’.

Ella added: ‘Since moving to the Island its become our tradition to do the same! Last year, we got a Rylan & Scott Mills shout out on the live Semi FInal’s, which happened to be our anniversary, and to say we were thrilled is an understatement!! Eurovision was even incorporated into our wedding speeches by friends and our anniversary shout out on Eurovision 2022 has become our proudest couple moment to date!!’

Coming Together

Arguably no event brings Europe together in quite the same way as Eurovision and we wanted to celebrate all of you who told us about how the night brings your friends and family together to watch some god awful music and brilliant TV.

Whether you get a takeaway and plonk yourselves down in front of the box to drink along with Graham Norton (Karen Davies thinks he’s even better than Sir Wogan was!), having friends round for nibbles, or dress up as different countries, Eurovision is the ultimate you do you night of the year and we absolutely love it for that.

Here’s why you guys told us you love Eurovision:

Amaia Lyon loves it because it’s cheese and happy, while Yvette Hollows finds the ‘celebration of diversity and inclusivity which is incredible’.

Hazel Gelling-Ennet loves how songs that aren’t even sung in English become ear worms and the ‘joy that the whole competition brings to who who enjoy to watch it’.

Sarah Vincent has loved Eurovision since she was a child and says she forces her friends and family to watch it together and Maia Haddock loves how ‘everyone is accepted’

Rob Patterson said he just loves the ‘absolute circus of it, from the bad presenting and the cutting commentary by Terry Wogan and Graham Norton’. He said:’ Some brilliant songs mixed in with others that are off the charts daft and camp. The staging gets better every year and all attempts to make it less political fail miserably. There’s nothing else like it. It’s wonderful.’

For Amy Gravestock, it is a favourite night of the year that she shares with her mum, topped only by New Year’s Eve.

None of the entires signified bringing people together more than Voirrey Quirk’s, with her friend coming all the way across the Atlantic to go to the Grand Final. ‘My housemates at Uni also turned out to be huge fans and it was a major bonding topic – we were actually known for hosting a Eurovision Party every year where we all selected a county to support and dressed as/ brought food and drink from that country. I’m actually going to the grand final with these uni friends after not seeing each other for six years as they both moved abroad after we graduated – one of them is flying in from Canada just for Eurovision weekend.

We honestly wish we could detail all of the reasons you all told us you love Eurovision, it has been such a difficult process to pick a winner or even just to pick out some of the people we have highlighted here.

But while the process has been difficult, what we have absolutely loved is that even here, looking at a spreadsheet of entries, Eurovision has brought together a band of people from across the island (and Canada) who now know love Eurovision as much as we do.

From the outfits to the commentary to the bizarre entries (wait until you see Croatia) to how we all watch it at home, no one does this alone, it is an event which brings together millions of people from across Europe and, for some reason, Australia and we are all here for it.

No matter what you’re doing tonight, enjoy it and feel free to let us know how you’re celebrating on our  Facebook page later on tonight!