Before September 1 hits, and we get sucked into everything Eurovision/Junior Eurovision, we wanted to take the opportunity to give our readers a chance to get to know our team a bit better. There’s no other way to do this other than to do a series where we introduce ourselves. In this part, it is the turn of Features Editor, Rosie.
Hello everyone! I’m Rosie! I’m a charity worker and sociology lecturer from the UK (sorry!)
Name: Rosie Hodsdon
Age: 26
Pronouns: She/her
You can find her posting on:
Twitter: @eurosievision
Instagram: @pictureswithrosie
How did I get into the Eurovision Song Contest?
I’ve known about Eurovision for about as long as I can remember! I don’t remember my life without it, certainly. My earliest memory of the contest is watching Jemini perform in 2003, so how I ended up a fan of the contest I have no idea! As a child, it was the one night of the year I was allowed to stay up late, and as someone who has always been into music and theatrics, it enchanted me. As I got older, I began to appreciate the ethos of the contest more, and that is now my main reason for following it – that and the fantastic music.
What point did I consider myself as a “Eurofan”?
Back when I used Tumblr, I used to live-blog each Eurovision night, and started to find a community through there. From there, I moved to Reddit around 2017, and to Twitter not long after! I started hosting Eurovision parties at university, watched the semi-finals and the more I engaged with it, the more I loved it. There’s something very special to me about the night that is dedicated to everyone who believes in a future of peace and freedom – for everyone.
How has my life changed since becoming a Eurofan?
I’ve met so many incredible people in the Eurovision fandom, and that’s probably the biggest and best thing I’ve found about joining it! I’ve attended some amazing events (like Manchester Calling above), though I’ve yet to make it to the actual contest in person. I now describe my music taste as “weird European music in languages I don’t really understand”. Finally, I get my chance to live out my childhood dream of being a journalist with the team at TES, and that’s also pretty awesome!
What are my favourite Eurovision Songs and Countries?
This is such an incredibly hard question to answer! There are certainly countries who have very strong records for me – I love almost anything Italy or Ukraine sends, and I admire Georgia for their risk-taking and diversity. Australia almost always sends something that brings me joy. I love countries and entries that are not afraid to try something new, different or out-of-the-box (even if they don’t always work), and if a song has a powerful message or meaning in its lyrics, I’m almost certainly going to be ranking it highly. I also have a soft spot for folk-inspired music, big band/swing music, opera, a good rock song and anything that brings a bit of violin.
These aren’t necessarily my all-time top 5 (that probably changes daily anyway!), but hopefully these selection of entries I adore gives a bit of how diverse my taste can be!
- 🇨🇭 Hunter of Stars – Sebalter (Switzerland 2014)
- 🇮🇹 Non mi avete fatto niente – Ermal Meta and Fabrizio Moro (Italy 2018)
- 🇬🇪 For You – Ethno-Jazz Band Iriao (Georgia 2018)
- 🇮🇸 Hatrið mun sigra – Hatari (Iceland 2019)
- 🇬🇪 Visionary Dream – Sopho Khalvashi (Georgia 2007)
What are my favourite National Final songs?
I’m pretty new to National Finals, and only started following them avidly after starting up on That Eurovision Podcast! However, I know some by fandom osmosis, as well as being able to share a few of my favourites from the most recent seasons.
- 🇮🇹 Amare – La Rappresantante Da Lista (Sanremo 2021)
- 🇳🇴 Monument – KEiiNO (Melodi Grand Prix 2021)
- 🇮🇹 Ringo Starr – Pinguini Tattici Nucleari (Sanremo 2020)
- ⚪️🔴⚪️ La-Ley-La – Chakras (Natsionalniy Otbor 2020)
- 🇸🇪 Norrsken (Goeksegh) – Jon Henrik Fjällgren (Melodifestivalen 2017)
What are you looking forward to in the next Eurovision season?
I’m both excited and a little terrified to be following an even bigger national final season than last year, what with so many internal artist selections in 2021! I’m keeping my fingers crossed about actually being able to go to Italy next year and experience my first Eurovision in person – I’ve already done plenty of Duolingo! I can’t wait to get to know our new artists and songs, and to see what direction the contest takes under RAI’s direction. Finally, I’m delighted to be going into another ESC season with the TES team. Get ready for more controversial opinions!
What do you think of Rosie’ favourite songs? Want to learn more about our team? Let us know in the comments below or on social media. Don’t forget to follow ‘THAT Eurovision Site’ over at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
