Written by David Thielen (USA)

The first Eurovision I attended in person was Malmö and it was beyond anything I could have imagined. All of it was incredible but of the acts, Zlata had me in tears her song and presentation was so beautiful. And then Cezar, where I left the semi-final thinking OMG what was that, and not liking it at all. And then over the next couple of days it grew on me to the point that it was my second favorite in the final.

And then came Copenhagen. There were a lot of songs I thought were brilliant. But none reached me like Zlata and Cezar. I figured part of that was the first time. And part was that while there were about 10 that I wanted to see win (including Moldova who came in last in their semi), none were as special. And so maybe it was the acts. I did have a wonderful time there and a lot of the music was everything I expected, but no beyond wonderful moments.

So for Vienna I expected once again for it to be like Copenhagen, wonderful but nothing that was beyond anything before. And then…

Monika’s entry from Poland – my god. One of the most uplifting beautiful songs/story I have ever seen. The song by itself is beautiful. The way it was staged was brilliant. One of the most emotional songs ever.

Il Volo’s entry from Italy – possibly the most amazing act at Eurovision ever. And what made it better is I went in thinking their entry was good, but not the best there. Then they came out as the last act, and pulled me in, more and more and more. And by the end they blew me away, far beyond any of my favorites up to that point.

And the list goes on. Russia, France, Sweden all had songs that most years would (or at least should – what were the voters thinking with France) have easily won. Serbia when they broke it open half way through had me jumping and shouting and basically going nuts. I’d say over 30 of the entries were world class.

So there will never be another entry like Zlata or Cezar. But there will also never be another entry like Monika or Il Volo. And that means next year in Sweden I can again expect what I found in both 2013 & 2015 – something absolutely magical.