The ultimate fan behavior is traveling to as many national finals as possible and getting tickets for every preview party and every live show in May including dress rehearsals, says Kylie Wilson. Guess that makes her pretty close to an ultimate fan – or part of the Eurovision royalty, we’d say. Let’s present her to you:
– Name, age, where are you from?
– Kylie Wilson. 29. Wales, UK via New Zealand.
– Why do you love Eurovision?
– It’s a tough question. I think it’s mainly to do with the fact that I’m fascinated with the concept of lots of different countries competing against each other with songs. It’s like the music equivalent of the Olympics! Only you don’t get the Americans and the Chinese hogging all the glory…
– Tell us about a favorite memory related to Eurovision (Bring it on, the dirtier, the better)!
– Another tough question! I think I’ll go for my first memory: I first watched Eurovision in 1999 and me and my little sister only tuned in halfway through (so we were annoyed when it turned out that we missed the UK’s performance!). I remember Sweden winning and thinking “that’s pretty cool”, oh and of course Dana International falling flat on her backside at the end!
– Did you meet any Eurovision artists? Who was your favorite encounter and why?
– Several. Probably my favourite encounter was one that happened by accident: last year after the first semi-final, I went straight from the arena to the press centre where the press conference was taking place. As I was trying to find a seat in the conference room, I ran into one of Douwe Bob’s bandmates, I congratulated him and then he started chatting to me. He was telling me that the band were really happy and they spent the whole day before the show just relaxing by listening to classic rock music. He was a pretty cool guy and I have to say that our little chat did help me cheer up a bit as I came out of the show bawling my eyes out in my “Hear Them Calling” t-shirt.
– And what Eurovision artist would you invite for dinner if you got to choose freely?
– Probably Verka Seduchka, because if you’re having a dinner party, you’d need to invite someone who will be guaranteed to prevent things from getting boring and tedious as dinner parties tend to do. And of course everyone would be having an awesome party afterwards.
– What is your favorite entry ever?
– “Silent Storm” from 2014. I relate to the lyrics far too much and I’m a sucker for a twinkly piano. There’s so much raw, unrefined emotion in the song and the performance that never fails to grab me. I’ll unashamedly admit that I’ve ugly-cried to this song several times over the years.
– What is your favorite entry this year?
– Belgium’s “City Lights”. I just love the lyrical imagery and this wall of synths it creates that take my mind elsewhere. The chorus also kind of reflects on my current state of mind in regards to a personal situation I am dealing with at the moment, so you could say that it’s come at the right time for me.
– What is the ultimate fan behavior?
– Traveling to as many NFs as possible, getting tickets for every preview party and every live show in May including dress rehearsals. I know a couple of people who actually pull this off, that takes serious dedication!
– If Eurovision suddenly decided politics were allowed, what would be your first political statement?
– Pineapple on pizza should be banned globally.
– Are you going to Kyiv? What are your expectations?
– Yes I am! I don’t really know what to expect from the place, other than wasting too much time failing to understand all the Cyrillic street signs, haha. I’m hoping that we get a well-done and fun show with minimal drama, we’ve had more than our fair share of drama these past few weeks and I’m already all drama-ed out.