Story of ESC (That's Eurovision)
[Måns]: Well, it's a multinational competitionWith a collaborative missionSo much like the Olympics in a way[Petra]: Sure, it's rather less athletic[Måns]: Though just as energetic[Petra]: More colorful, and what's the word?[Måns (spoken)]: Theatrical?
[Petra]: We make music and friends with every nation[Both]: And bankrupt the hosting TV station[Måns]: To help to shore up a post-war Europe, in 1956, it all began[Petra]: The set, I'm rather certain, was nothing but a curtainThere were only seven countries and one camera-man[Måns]: But then it started growing now Australia's ours![Petra]: We're a big black hole sucking in all the stars![Both]: We'll take over the world and then conquer Mars!That's Eurovision!
[Petra]: It's an annual celebration of our cultureIt's the highlight of our year[Måns]: And a victory can catapult youJust look at my career![Petra]: Yes, so we see..You get to share the stage with me!We're all excited, the fans unitedFrom Reykjavík, Riga and Rome[Måns]: At Eurovision, there's no derision cause wherever you come fromHere is home!
[Fan #1]: For loving Eurovision, I get bullied at school[Fan #2]: But when we come together, I don't feel a fool![Fan #1]: Cause for one week a year, we're pretty cool![Fan #1+2]: That's Eurovision!
[Petra]: Getting votes from your neighbours is a sure way to get your song disgraced[Måns]: But when Sweden gets 12 points from Norway, it's clearly just good taste[Petra]: That gimmicky factor, the wacky, the weirdCéline on a tractor, Conchita's beardPirates and penguins and puppets on stringsThese are a few of my favourite things!
The singers come together like songbirds of a featherFor victory they hope and pray and beg[Måns]: Wait there in the green room, an often rather mean room, wishing all of our competitors break a leg[Petra]: The impact of the show I cannot overstate[Måns]: No matter where you go, it's a source of debate[All]: But it's something you either love or hateThat's Eurovision!
[Petra]: And the interval act is your one big chanceTo fail to live up to Riverdance!
Where else can you hear Romansh and Luxembourgish sung?We've had two songs with sign language and three in made-up tongueAnd Antillean Creole, Norwegian, Võro, VienneseNeopolitan, Catalan, Udmurt, Montenegrin and Maltese[Måns]: Ancient Greek, Albanian, Slovak, Ukrainian, Romani, Russian, RomanianCrimean, Slovenian, Hebrew, Armenian, Arabic and Lithuanian[Petra]: Portuguese, Macedonian, Breton, Estonian, Pontic, Icelandic, Croatian, Bulgarian, Georgian, Italian, Bosnian, Latvian, Corsican, Serbian, German, Hungarian[Both]: Polish and English and Irish and Finnish and Swedish and Spanish and DutchSamogitian and Turkish and Danish and French[Petra]: Tahitian, though not very much![Måns]: And though I don't know Czech, Swahili, Azeri or Greek[All]: Music is a language that we all know how to speak
That's Eurovision!It's your decisionThough not taking part is a crime[Måns]: Douze points or zeroYou'll be a hero of our time![All]: In the Eurovision family, we do it 'glitz and glamour-ly'Cause rich in kitsch and hammily is best!This is My-rovisionAnd His-rovisionAnd Her-rovisionAnd Your-rovisionBienvenue, välkomna, be our guest!At the Eurovision Song Contest!