Garrett Mulhall, editor-in-chief at Eurovision Ireland, asked me to write down 10 reasons why Stockholm should be the hosting city of ESC 2016. You can find the article HERE. He also asked Ludvig Alfredsson at Poplight to list his 10 reasons why ESC should be held in Gothenburg. You find them HERE.
In August SVT will announce their decision. What a surprise if we end up in Gävle-Sandviken or in Linköping.
10 reason why Stockholm gets 12 points from me:
1. Stockholm is built on islands, some say 14, some say 17. How often do you have a chance to do island-hopping in a Eurovision-capital?
2. Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. Our slogan is "Capital of Scandinavia" according to Stockholm Visitors Board. You may also call us "The Venice of the North" or "Beauty on Water". Isn’t that a perfect image for a ESC hosting city?
3. Stockholm is the engine in the Swedish tourism industry with airline connections to 50 countries and with a hotel capacity around 20.000 rooms a night.
4. Stockholm is one of the world’s favourite, award-winning gay and lesbian destinations. Imagine Eurovision music flowing from the gay-friendly establishments to attract the huge international ESC-crowd.
5. The Eurovision slogan in Vienna was "Building Bridges". Believe it or not – it has been adapted among the political parties in Stockholm city council. Both the right and left wings agree for once and will cooperate and do their utmost to bring Eurovision to Stockholm. Hurrah!
6. In Stockholm modernity meets tranquillity – just like a line-up of Eurovision entries.
(Photo: Sören Andersson/mediabank.visitstockholm.com)
7. Recycling idea number 1. The Globe is still one of the landmarks in Stockholm. It has passed 16 years since this building hosted Eurovision year 2000. It’s not the most updated venue when it comes to facilities but I’m sure the press area can be placed in a tent nearby… Recycling is trendy and we would love to “ESC-recycle” the Globe.
8. Recycling idea number 2. Ask Nokia to become one of the sponsors. We can reuse their old slogan "Connecting People" and save some money for the Swedish broadcaster SVT. To connect people should be the aim in the world of Eurovision. Okay – this recycling idea might also work in Gothenburg but the response will be bigger in Stockholm. After all Stockholm has about 2,2 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area while Gothenburg has about half of this number.
9. Cooking is fun. With Eurovision in Stockholm I will stay at home for two weeks, busy cooking for my friends who need a break from the Eurovision-mania. Sorry – but I will have no time for artist interviews or Eurovision-reports. Just a small request dear friends! Please bring you own booze and wine. Alcohol is expensive in Sweden.
Photos: Lilian, Alexandros Liapis, Sören Andersson/mediabank.visitstockholm.com
