In German traditions

A guide to celebrating the Eurovision Song Contest in Germany

picture guide to celebrating the eurovision song contest in germany

You might have heard about the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC already and that it is a biiiig thing in Germany. If you want to understand this event and get the most fun out of it as possible, you should check out my little guide about celebrating the Eurovision Song Contest in Germany:

First of all – and to avoid mails from my German readers 😉 – of course not EVERY German loves the Eurovision Song Contest. But a lot of us do, me included 🙂 So let me explain what the contest is about :

Eurovision Song Contest in Germany – Waht is all the fuss about?

The Eurovision Song Contest is in fact the longest-running annual international TV song competition. It started back in 1956, can you belive this?! So forget about trends American Idol and such! 😉 Singers from counties that are part of the European Broadcasting Union can participate – so don’t be confused to see countries that are not part of the European Union in the competition, those are two different things!! Since 2015 even Australia is taking part, simply because the contest is such a big thing over there, too. 😀

After preselections of the songs – in the member countries themselves and by a jury afterwards – every participating country submits a song. On ESC-night, those songs will be performed live on tv. This is obviously the best part of the show :-).

Afterwards the voting part begins. The people of all the member countries can vote for the song they have liked the most – just not for song from their own country. There is also a professional jury in every country that casts their own votes. Each country has one or more representative(s) who announce the points live on television. This part always takes veeeery long. Finally, the country with the most points wins the contest. The winning country will also be the host of the contest in the coming year.

Eurovision Song Contest in Germany- Why is it such a big thing?

Well, this question is tricky. In my opinion, the Eurovision Song Contest is loved in Germany mainly because it is such a fun event! When do you get the chance to listen to songs from so many different countries? And a lot of artists put on a show which makes watching their performances even more entertaining. For me, the Eurovision Song Contest manifests what Europe really is about: being different and celebrating this difference! Plus, it’s all about music and who doesn’t like a good song, right?! 🙂

Eurovision Song Contest in Germany- How to make it an even greater event!

Moritz and I have come up with a very fun tradition: Each year we try to put together a buffet that consists of food and drinks from as many participating countries (or countries that could participate – in case I didn’t want to wait till the results of the semi-finals to find out which products I should buy :-)) as possible. Thanks to this tradition we have tried things we would have probably never considered taking from the shelf in the supermarket if not for this event. Believe me, it is a lot of fun trying all the different food and drinks from this All-European-And-Beyond buffet!

So here’s what I found in the supermarket for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2017:

Eurovision Drinks

Eurovision Song Contest drinks

  • representing Switzerland: rivella Lemonade
  • representing Australia: Bundaberg Ginger Beer
  • representing Hungary: Balaton Red Wine
  • representing Portugal: Antonio Lopes White Wine
  • representing Denmark: Carlsberg Beer

Eurovision Buffet

Eurovision Song Contest buffet

  • representing Germany: Swabian noodles (Spätzle) with lentils
  • representing The Netherlands: Old Amsterdam Cheese
  • representing Greece: Dolmadakia Stuffed Wine Leaves
  • representing Spain: Spanish Olives
  • representing Poland: Cwikla Beet Root relish
  • representing France: French Onion Soup
  • representing Austria: Vienna Sausage with mashed potatoes
  • representing Bulgaria: Djuwetsch Mixed Vegetables
  • representing Italy: Bruschetta

Eurovision Dessert

Eurovision Song Contest dessert

  • representing Belgium: Waffles
  • representing Bosnia and Herzegovina: Eurocrem Chocolate Dessert
  • representing Iceland: Skyr Yogurt

Eurovision Snacks

Eurovision Song Contest snacks

  • representing Serbia: Munchmallows
  • representing the Czech Republic: Karlsbader wafers
  • representing the UK: Salt and Vinegar Crisps
  • representing Croatia: Domacica cookies

21 items representing 21 counties! Not too bad! I 2016 I only had 13 different products.

Real pros don’t buy stuff from the convenient food section in the supermarket of course but prepare everything themselves. ;-P Due to a lack of cooking skills and time I became a huge fan of the international food shelf in our local EDEKA supermarket :-)!

Next to the buffet, we always have a list of all the participating countries and play jury ourselves. The artists get points for their songs, their performances and their dresses. Usually, we come up with a very different result, compared to the one from the voting procedure. 🙂

I hope you have as much fun watching the ESC as we do! If you organize an Eurovision Buffet, too, please sent me a picture! 🙂

Mellivinginstuttgart

Hello and welcome to "living in Stuttgart". I am Mel and I love this beautiful city. There are so many things to explore, I can't wait sharing them with you. So come along and let me show you Stuttgart the way I see it.

You may also like

Lunch at Weindorf 2015

Posted on August 29, 2015

Previous PostWhere the locals go to have a piece of cake: Café KönigX
Next PostExpat Interview with Christian from The English Tearoom

No Comments

Leave a Reply