Eurovision 2001, Copenhagen - the full story!
We were there!!! This is the story of the most surreal thing that ever happened to me and James... We travelled to Denmark with only tickets to the Eurovision previews, completely oblivious and unprepared for what was about to happen to us... Within hours of arriving in Copenhagen (via Sweden), James and I somehow managed to get ourselves interviewed by Danish DR TV, who gave us tickets to the final...yey!
Our interview can unfortunately still be found on the net, so anyone wishing to laugh at this should see the Official Song Contest Site. (Clip entitled 'Two fans from UK')
The journey
Apparently the DR TV crew wondered why we had come all the way from England when we didn't even have tickets to the final. It's obviously not because we are mad.
If arriving too late to get beds in a hostel, don't panic! 5-star accomodation is always available at Malmo airport...
The event
I think we spent more time inside Parken stadium than outside it on our 3-day Copenhagen trip - for 2 previews and the final of Melodi Grand Prix, and although we saw AQUA only 10 minutes each time, it was SO worth it!!! I should explain at this point, James and I had different motives for coming to Denmark - one of us is a big fan of Eurovision, one a massive fan of AQUA (but the other has since been converted, hehe...)
No cameras were allowed in the stadium (or fireworks; a shame as I would normally take a firework or 2 to a concert) so unfortunatley no pics of AQUA's performance - but it was AMAZING!!! I hope you all saw it on TV! I've never seen them live before so I was like - WOW!!! They are brilliant performers, and although the singing was a mixture of live and pre-recorded, this was made up for by the energetics of Lene and Rene's dancing! AQUA's set also featured Safri Duo, which mixed surprisingly well into the new arrangement of AQUA's songs! The only disappointment was the absence of a new AQUA song; I was hoping there would be something from the new album. I've since read (but not sure if this is true) they were planning to play 'Shakin' Stevens is a Superstar' and then release it as a single, but the idea was scrapped, as was the entire new album; we will probably never know why...
But we were oblivious to this at the time, and the best bit of our trip was still to come... I still can't believe this happened until I look at these photos for proof (and even then it's like I've cut a photo of me out and stuck it on a photo of the band, this doesn't seem real!)... but I promise it is!
The Aftershow Party
The aftershow party! Definitely the highlight of our trip! (And my life?!) First time me or James had met AQUA and they were so the nicest people ever!
Apologies for the absence of photos of James with the band, but I was not in a fit state to operate a camera. (incidentally: due to excitement not alcohol!)
2 hours after the party, and it was back to Malmo airport to fly home. Back on the train from London, and having had no proper sleep for 3 days, the thought of my university finals exams beginning in 20 hours time seemed depressingly ominous. But whatever the outcome of the exams, I thought it will still have been worth it to meet Aqua...!
Disclaimer - The opinions expressed here about Eurovision/AQUA are those of the webmaster and don't necessarily agree with those of James (!)
Note - Thanks to those who made this dream possible for me, if you're reading this; you know who you are :-) although maybe you'll never know how much this meant to me...