Eurovision 2007: And the Winner is - Serbia!

Started in Switzerland in 1956, the annual Eurovision Song Competition has become almost as important to European culture as World Cup Fotball. Every year, each country in Europe sends one act to compete with the rest of the continent. The songs must be completely original in order to enter. The winner each year then hosts the competition the following year. Finland's Lordi won in 2006, so Eurovision 2007 was held last night in Helsinki at Helsinki Stadium.

All over Europe, folks not lucky enough to have tickets stayed glued to their televisions while each finalist act performed. At the end of the program, we got to call in and vote for our favorite. This cost around 5SEK, or under a dollar, for each vote. Since we are in Sweden, we could vote for anyone except the Swedish entrant, The Ark. The winner this year was guaranteed a short 4-country tour, so the competition was particularly hot this year. Additionally, most winners end up with a recording contract. ABBA won in 1974, and look where it took them...

The voting this year was fast and furious, with Serbia's Marija Serifovic taking the top prize with her song 'Molitva,' written by Sasa Milosevic with the musical score by Vladimir Graic. It was a fairly rockin' number which had the audience more excited even than previous years. I do not speak Serbian, but what had everyone so keyed up and ready for a standing ovation was that the theme of the song had to do with lesbianism. It was a brave move on Serifovic's part, and it paid off for her and her 4 back-up singers.

This is going to be a tough act to follow next year, when the competition will be held in Serbia. Usually talent is the main factor in this song Fest, but with this winner it appears that politics are going to take a bigger seat. The rest of the world should take notice. The winds of change is in the air. Europe has spoken, and spoken loudly: Prejudice against Gay and Lesbians will hopefully soon be a thing of the past. What a great note to close out this competition on. This win was well-earned.

*statistical Info from http://www.eurovision.tv