I’m still not over the joy of Eurovision. Can we have it more than once a year?

The arts and entertainment industry came together to provide a moment of real international community feeling, writes Katy Brand

Maneskin of Italy appear on stage after winning the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands (Reuters)

For a brief moment last week, it was as if nothing bad had ever happened, and we were all back in an age where the most important thing in the world was the Eurovision Song Contest.

I confess that the last time I actually felt like this, I was about 11 years old. When one grows up and discovers “irony” and its importance in British culture, we appreciate the whole thing in a different way – a way that means you can watch it and still feel a bit superior about everything. To be cynical about Eurovision is to be truly English.

But not this year, it seems, if my Twitter feed was anything to go by. From where we were sitting, the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 looked like a party we wanted to join. There was an innocence to the excitement. It was like old times. Our entry, valiantly written and performed by James Newman was as bad as is now traditional, but that was OK. Nul points, yes, but the fact was that, like the nerdy kid in the weird jacket at school, it just felt great that we were invited at all.

It was, as ever, a huge kitsch feast. Each act arrived on stage and we had little idea what to expect, but like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, each performance held its own unique delights: Iceland, with their on-trend geek look and funny dance moves; Germany, with their tiny silver ukulele and giant swearing-finger costume; lots of ladies in sparkly leotards being Beyonce for one night only; a Piaf-lite French woman being all moody and classy; an Italian rock band with a big needle – for their stitched leather costumes.

It was fun; it was light; it was joyful. It was a show well done.

For the first time in months, I actually went to bed with a smile on my face. And once again, the arts and entertainment industry came together to provide a moment of real international community feeling, of some form of mysterious healing, of a sense of belonging to something bigger than ourselves. Just as it always does.