Good Evening Europe might not be the largest Eurovision website in the world. After all, we are just a couple of middle aged chicks rambling away from the top of our heads. But we do claim to have the best readers to be found. Every year we are so amazed that the glorious Eurovision fans drop by us, and some even return year after year. Meet one of our favorites, Conor McGoldrick:
Name, age, where are you from (we will welcome alternative facts here if needed)?
I’m Conor McGoldrick, 45, in the UK, and I do Clinical Research Compliance here at the University of Birmingham – although I have a degree in music. Which I then throw in the face of anyone who dares to disparage Eurovision to me.
Why do you love Eurovision?
Eurovision showed me that before the internet arrived there was more (& better) music outside of the very ego-centric UK. Plus, it’s just a really happy event that we can rely on, and it’s also a family tradition we inherited from our parents.
Tell us about a favorite memory related to Eurovision (Bring it on, the dirtier, the better)!
Hiding behind the bar (not very well!) in a Euroclub one year when I was being stalked by a creepy Greek back-up singer – I felt I could do better… ha ha.
Did you meet any Eurovision artists? Who was your favorite encounter and why?
Quite a few over the years – I made a lot more effort when I was single. My favourite might be Dana International here in Birmingham in 1998, she was quite lovely. And she signed my programme.
And what Eurovision artist would you invite for dinner if you got to choose freely?
Those Russian grannies from 2012, Buranovskiye Babushki – because they’d probably bring all the food. Actually, are they even still with us? (!) I’d better check Wikipedia first…
What is your favorite entry ever?
Minn hinsti dans by Páll Óskar (sorry, Marcin!) – loved him when he first came on stage with it for Iceland in 1997, been a massive fan of everything he’s done ever since.
What is your favorite entry this year?
I’m going to say Italy purely for the dancing, and because it puts Sweden’s treadmills to shame…. Bulgaria is quite good too, and surely Australia deserves something by now?
What is the ultimate fan behavior?
For me, it’s when my four sisters & I (and all the rest) get together for a Eurovision party – which we do 3 or 4 times a year for some reason. We just watch old ones taken off YouTube while my sisters sing over each entry with any song it reminds them of (or failing that, just Extreme’s ‘More Than Words’ over and over again) until everyone has basically passed out… It’s an Irish thing.
If Eurovision suddenly decided politics were allowed, what would be your first political statement?
Get rid of that Brexit nonsense – and convince the Icelandic President, Guðni Jóhannesson, to come over and run the UK. He seems nice.
Are you going to Kyiv or do you have other plans for the final? What are your expectations?
Not going to Kyiv – but then that’s what we have GEE for… I shall spend the evening serving badly-made cocktails to drunken sisters and friends, I imagine – and then watch the whole show properly when no-one else is around the next day. And I’m expecting drama, nonsense and downright filthiness. Fingers crossed…!