Happy Canada Day!

Okay, I'm a little late actually writing this. I did actually start the post on Canada Day, because it was honestly pretty exciting. Blog posts do take a bit of mental bandwidth, tho, even when I'm trying to convince myself to dash them off like it's 2004 again. I'm giving myself a bit of grace, tho, since this is my 11th blog post this year, a number of posts this blog hasn't seen since 2013. And I've still got nearly half the year to go.

Anyway...

Canada's going to Eurovision! Woo!

This is a bit weird for me. But I can't help but feel excited. I've gotten more and more into the contest since I started watching it when it was on OMNI in 2018 or whatever. When the budget item to "explore participation in Eurovision" was put forward last year, I honestly didn't expect it to go anywhere. Like maybe CBC would air it and send hosts, like Australian broadcaster SBS had been doing since the 80s. Do that for a few years, build the audience and then maybe see about getting special permission to join, like Australia did.

But nope! CBC full-on joined the EBU, giving it the right to participate (and also giving it access to the member news content, which is arguably more important). And then Mark Carney's all like "We're going to Bulgaria, baby!"

It's a weird world.

I am honestly looking forward to being in the fandom as a member of a participating nation. I put my name down at Canadian Fans of Eurovision and I'm enjoying the anticipatory fandom feelings. Of course, this isn't my first rodeo, but these things can be fun and I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

I'm also enjoying the speculation from Eurovision fans about who we might send, and discovering some cool new artists in the process. (I'm less enjoying Canadians' speculation, because people have no idea how this actually works, but I want to stay positive here). I'm filled with a mix of excitement and dread at what the CBC might come up with for a national final, because I think it'll also expose me to music I haven't been exposed to before and I think it'll be fun, even if we pick someone terrible and they bomb out in the semis.