Hundreds of students from colleges across the university tuned in to the Eurovision Song Contest last Saturday, joining an estimated 125 million viewers around the world who watched the contest broadcast live from Malmö, Sweden.
The show enjoyed unprecedented popularity in Oxford this year with more than a dozen Eurovision parties being held in JCRs, college bars and even the Union. Colleges known to have hosted either an official or unofficial Eurovision party include St Hugh’s, Exeter, Jesus, Hertford, Balliol, Lincoln and Keble, amongst others. Emmelie de Forest representing Denmark ended the night at the top of the scoreboard with her song ‘Only Teardrops’. The UK, represented by 80s pop-star Bonnie Tyler, came in 19th with only 23 points.
Harry Davies, who organised this year’s party at Exeter, said, “Exeter turned out in force for Eurovision this year, about 50 people came to the JCR throughout the night. The room was covered with European bunting and giant flags. Most people were given a mini-flag of their chosen country to wave, crayons so they could show their allegiance facially, and also a score-sheet, so they could rank the performances in categories such as ‘The Likeability Factor’ and ‘General Amazingness’. 26 daring students entered a sweepstake and it became pretty vocal and competitive during the scoring, but it was brilliant to see so many people get involved with what really is the greatest three-and-a-half hours of television mankind has ever created.”
An Exeter first year also praised the work of their JCR, commenting, “It was a great success…We passed a motion earlier this term to pay for food and drink as well as decorations and it acted as a great pre-party to the bop we had later that evening.” Adam Ward added “Despite the Eurovision rule of not being able to vote for yourself, Exeter definitely deserved douze points for its Eurovision party.”
A first year from St Hugh’s said, “Nearly every seat in the JCR was full, and in my experience the JCR hasn’t been as full at any point this year so far…A number of finalists empathised with the sentiments expressed in Greece’s entry ‘Alcohol is Free’. “
The UK’s low position on the scoreboard has once again raised questions about whether Britain’s continued participation in the competition is worth it. One second-year Jesus medic said, “It’s impossible to dislike Eurovision, even though we keep losing. Of course it’s a shame about Bonnie, until you remember that it’s not 1983 anymore and nobody really cares.”
