Today we had serious Eurovision business to finish. First on the agenda was the most important item, picking up our show tickets! This year, while the fan packages were purchased online, they were only available for collection from the OGAE representatives. So all around town, fans are furtively meeting with their club presidents in various locations to pick up their tickets. We met Roy, club president of OGAE Rest of the World, in the lobby of his hotel to pick up our tickets, reprinted OGAE membership cards (last year they swapped Chris’ and my photos) and our 2014 membership stickers.
Then he and Cole were heading into the Village to meet OGAE Iceland representatives, and they kindly took us to the nearby Eurovision Fan Cafe to purchase our wristbands for the week’s club entry, at the OGAE discounted rate. The Fan Cafe has zones with Eurovision-themed names, like the outdoor area is called Emmelie’s Forest. Cole is a South African singer who has been having a great time singing Eurovision covers in the Euroclub for the past week. Her aim is to release an album of duets with Eurovision artists singing different versions of Eurovision songs, so she has been meeting up with various artists to gauge their interest in being involved.
We left Roy and Cole at the Village, where OGAE Iceland had organised Eurovision Zumba. Apart from the OGAE in their primary coloured Pollapönk track suits, a few people had turned up dressed for Zumba. Otherwise it was just the tourists, the more enthusiastic stripping off their layers as they warmed up. Next up was the purchase of our 10 trip cards from the Central Station. After reviewing the various options, this seemed to be the cheapest and easiest way to ensure we can get over to Eurovision Island – and, importantly, return. Eventually, we worked out how to purchase these from the vending machines.
Once we were sorted, it was time for lunch. The Royal Smushi Cafe is right in the heart of Copenhagen, situated through the lane way between the iconic Danish stores, Georg Jensen and Royal Copenhagen. The name itself is good enough to eat! Smushi is a combination of sushi and smørrebrød – traditional Danish open sandwiches. That pretty much describes the food, Japanese / Scandinavian inspired food sitting on different types of bread, with exquisite attention to detail for the flavours, textures and presentation. The smushi are presented on flat platters by Royal Copenhagen. The cafe’s decor is cool designer-kitsch, cosy but not overdone, with a gorgeous, elaborate painting on the back wall.
So tonight is semi-final 1. The word about town is that Armenia is a favourite, along with Azerbaijan, Sweden and, surprisingly, Latvia. But who knows what will happen? All we know for sure is that 6 contestants will leave the contest tonight. Based on the recorded versions, my bottom 6 would be Iceland, Belgium, Latvia, Albania, Russia and Ukraine, but things could change based on the live performances. And some of these are favourites.