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The Canberra Times

Ron Cerabona

Celebrating Eurovision's glorious excess

Canberra Eurovision Voyager

Eurovision Song Contest devotee David Cannell will be barracking for Australian band Voyager this year.

The Perth synth-metal band competed in the second semi-final on May 12 with their song Promise and made their way to the grand final.

When asked why, he doesn't mention patriotism or the quality of its entry.

No, there's another reason.

"One of the band members is the cousin of some people I know in Canberra," Cannell said.

That might sound like an arbitrary, even capricious, criterion but it's just the kind of thing the Eurovision Song Contest is all about.

Fans seldom, if ever watch it to appreciate the high aesthetic standards of the artists and their music.

On the contrary, they revel in the event's bizarre excesses and frequent bursts of toe-curling bad taste and hope each year will top the one before in sheer kitschy craziness.

This year's contest, the 67^th, has 37 countries strutting and singing their stuff in the hope of victory.

Liverpool beat 19 other cities to host the event on behalf of last year's victorious country, Ukraine (it won for Kalush Orchestra's Stefania), because of security concerns caused by the Russian invasion.

Cannell - by day a part of the Learning Experience team at Questacon who's frequently seen on Canberra stages in his spare time - has been hosting his annual Eurovision party for the better part of 20 years.

Each year, Cannell's friends brave the freezing Canberra weather to gather at his home in their Eurovision best, imbibe a warm chocolatey beverage or two in front of a blazing fire, and savour the on-screen spectacle.

Eurovision superfan David Cannell has hosted a Eurovision party for at least 15 years. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong

They will maintain a media blackout to avoid spoilers and watch the repeat of the finale on Sunday night.

But seeing it unfold is only part of the fun.

There will be a glitter booth where people can pose for fabulous photos festooned in their finery and from the start of the night participation, rather than passivity, is a key part of the experience.

"We have a prize for costumes and a voting sweep - we assign people a country as soon as they turn up," Cannell said.

Believing that the Eurovision judges often get it wrong, they have their own votes in such categories as costume changes, key changes, and for what Cannell described as "extreme silliness", of which there is never any shortage.

Among Cannell's own favourite Eurovision acts have been Finnish group Lordi's Hot Rock Hallelujah, which won the contest in 2006 - "It had demons, goblins and ogres, it was amazing" - and Norway's 2022 entry, the unforgettably titled Give That Wolf a Banana from the duo Subwoolfer (who look like the Blues Brothers wearing stylised yellow wolf masks).

While his heart is with Voyager, and Australia, Cannell - who said he would change costume at least twice on the night - thought this year's winner will probably be Scandinavian.

"Finland or Sweden - that's the hot tip."

The 67th Eurovision Song Contest is on live until Sunday May 14 at 5am on SBS and SBS On Demand, with the prime time broadcasts at 7.30pm. See: sbs.com.au.