The European Bier Café is located at 120 Exhibition Street Melbourne VIC 3000 and is on the corner of Little Collins street and Exhibition street.
On the 17th April I attended the OGAE Australia Melbourne 2021 Eurovision Preview Party with a friend. The preview party was held in a function room on the 1st floor of the European Bier Café located at 120 Exhibition Street Melbourne VIC 3000. the room had an interesting style choice with blue being a main colour. There were a few tables and booths that had score sheets and Eurovision bingo for everyone to enjoy. A portion of the crowd dressed up in Eurovision costumes including some of the organisers. I didn’t know that I would see @Danietreg in person as I watch her you tube videos.
Before the previews they showed covers of previous songs on the screen done by people at home. The event started at 8pm and went till 11:30pm and the food at the event was good and people could get drinks from the bar with money or a drinks token. The songs were shown in running order with each of the semi finals and then the big 5 and the host country.
Semi final 1
The countries that had the biggest reactions with the crowd were Lithuania, Russia, Australia and Ukraine. A few people had done their homework when it came to the dance for Lithuania and there was one person with a costume based on the national final. Australia was always going to be popular with an Australian crowd. I was surprised and very happy with the response to Go_A’s song, with people dancing, singing and clapping along including myself. There were even 2 people in the PPE from the 1st video for shum.
Semi-final 2
The countries that had the biggest reactions with the crowd were San Marino, Iceland, Finland, Latvia and Switzerland. The song used in the video for San Marino sounded like a remix was used because it sounded strange and out of order compared to the studio version. I was glad that Iceland, Finland and Switzerland had a great reaction with the crowd as they are some of my favorites.
It was great to hear fan chant and the screaming of the end note of the Finnish entry. I knew that Latvia would be a crowd pleaser so I was in a minority that night because the song is not to my tastes, as I said in the running order of semi final 2.
Big 5 and Host Country
The countries that had the biggest reactions with the crowd were Germany, Italy and the UK. Italy was the biggest out of the big 5 because they were singing along to the chorus and clapping along. It was hard to not dance while Germany was on because I don’t see it a competitive song. I was surprised with the reaction to UK entry so I was happy the crowd liked it.
After all the songs were played there was 15 minutes in which to cast our votes to find the favourite of the night. During that 15 minutes Eurovision classics were played and the crowd sang and danced to each song. The country that won the vote was Lithuania, with Ukraine coming second. It was a breath of fresh air to be around people that have the same level of passion for the Eurovision Song Contest that I have. This event has left a great impression on me, which will helped me to decide to join OGAE Australia. Overall my friend and I had a great night and I was impressed with the level of organisation for the night.
the World Acording to Rose 