Globen B.E and Globen A.E by Sevket Yigit from the United States of America
It is 2009. We are in Stockholm for a week for vacation. Scandinavia has always been one of the places we wanted to visit and here we are in the capital of Scandinavia. We keep seeing Globen on the horizon crouching like an alien ship at the far end of Gotgatan in Sodermalm. We decide to pay a visit to this architectural marvel. It is a chilly April day walking over the bridge connecting Tunnelbana to the white globe which now looks more grey than white as we get closer. Everything looks deserted and quiet, not much of an energy in this neighborhood at this time of the year. The visit starts with a quick video presentation in the SkyView lobby (by the way, only thing I remember from this presentation is the famous “Welcome Europe “greeting delivered by the Swedish girl in the opening act of ESC 2000) Then we proceed to the slow climb with the SkyView elevator up to the top. The view is nothing but disappointing. I remember standing up in the air in vast grayness and see residential buildings all around. Is that all? Did I pay all that just to see Swedish suburban homes and project apartments? And we can’t even go inside the arena? Bummer. I am mad.
It is 2016. We are back to Stockholm and we will be in Globen arena not once but four times. Walking over the same bridge connecting the subway station to the arena again for the first semifinal, we hear the songs of this year playing as a welcoming gesture to the guests. There are people selling flags and earplugs (ha ha, no thanks! my eardrums are ready for the high notes). Someone hands me a free Austrian flag. It must be Eurovision serendipity because Zoe with her song “Loin d’ici” is my favorite.
During our four visits to Globen, it is a chain of amusing moments we experience with other people. Here are some, noteworthy of mentioning:
Security is tight this year in an anticipation of a possible terror attack. We are already used to living in these difficult times in USA and happy to see Sweden is taking this seriously. Going through the security, a girl approaches to me and asks me if she can check me. I say “Yes”. In many parts of the world, being checked by the opposite sex can be a big no no but in a very liberal country like Sweden where gender boundaries are completely eliminated who cares really. She gives me a thorough exam including my ass cheeks getting their share of delicate touch. Of course I am clear and I say “ Thank you, I didn’t know the ticket came with the free deep tissue Swedish massage.” It is all laughters afterwards.
It is the first semifinal that we are standing next to the pedestal on the right where Mans and Petra come every now then and do their presentations. I get a glimpse of smile from Mans while snapping a photo of him. Petra is having hard time to climb up and down the stairs with high heels biting her lips with distress but back to her normal smiley face when the camera light is on. We immediately become friends with the security guy by the pedestal and spend most of our time chatting with him. We say “Thank you for keeping everything safe and in order” to the security guy before we leave and he says which I think must be Swedish politeness “ Thank you for being responsible and making my job easy”. Ha ha..Did I really have a choice of being naughty?
It is the second semifinal I am seated next to a father and a teenager son who came all the way from a small village near Gothenburg to see their favorite which is no surprise Norway. Working with kids everyday at my job, I immediately click with the young boy. He is so passionate about Eurovision. He pokes me every couple of minutes to express his feelings and show his knowledge : “ Look at the dome, it is beautiful isn’t it?” “ Do you know Agnete is actually a Sami?” This goes on and on. I feel happy that a bright new Eurovision fan generation is blooming already.
On the final night, we decide to hang out in the Globen lobby for a while and visit some of the exhibits. There is an SVT exhibit and they are giving a free subscription if we get into a draw after answering some Eurovision related questions. It must be easy peasy you would think. The girl at the exhibit gives us the questions. One question is “ How many times did Sweden win ESC?” So I start counting all the Swedish winners starting from Herreys to Mans. I can see the girl’s raised eyebrows and the grin on her face. I know I am doing something wrong and not getting the answer correct. I keep reciting the winners several times forgetting ABBA each time. When I finally get it, it is a big explosion of laughters.
For me, timeline is divided into two as Globen B.E (before Eurovision) and Globen A.E (after Eurovision) now. The vast grayness and emptiness of Globen 2009 has now become a spectrum of colors and sounds in Globen 2016 with different timbres of human touch. The togetherness, laughs, chuckles, love and banter we shared under this globe has now made everything complete.