Irish Nomad in Norway: A little bit of Irish in Oslo

19.5.10

A little bit of Irish in Oslo

A banner saying 'Hello' in Irish, one of many multi-lingual signs mounted on lamposts around Aker Brygge.

Next week the Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Oslo; or if you want to be technical about it, the adjacent kommune (where we live) in Baerum. For weeks now, banners have been flying all over the place inviting people to 'Share the Moment' of Eurovision 2010. Haven't really been interested in the contest for years but this year, given our proximity to it, and the fact that we'll be living outside of Europe for the next five or six years, I'm going to stay up, watch the final, and share the moment with my kids (who have been singing the chorus of the Norwegian entry for some time).

I had thought about trying to cover the event for a newspaper in Ireland but really that would mean staying up well past my bedtime and handing my children over to social services; I'm not that ambitious. There's also the small issue of moving to the other side of the world in six weeks and the unfinished novel putting demands on my time.

Next week though I'm going along to a reception at the Irish Embassy to meet Niamh Kavanagh who is representing Ireland at Eurovision with a ballad that quite frankly gives me goosebumps. Niamh won the contest before for Ireland in 1993. She's in with a good chance this year I think. Then again what do I know? I've hardly watched the contest since 1993.

2 comments:

Irish Mammy said...: My husband is such a gushing fan, he is crazy, watches all the Swedish entries, all the Irish entries and then every single countries' entry. He is already excited and very proud that a Swede wrote the Irish entry, how about that eh? I hope she does well, and I love the Dia Dhuit banner hilarious!; 10:14 p.m.
DianeCA said...: Yeah we are following along this year as well, although we thought last year was rather good too :-) And the telenor arena being in our local area doesn't hurt either. I will be posting about it in the coming days, and there may be a chance that I go to the semi final with some of the ladies from work as we are trying to get promotional tickets. If they are free...why not!; 11:44 p.m.