#STORYOFMYLIFE – Day Two with James from EI

In this series, we’ll be talking to someone and asking them to pick five songs (over five days) that mean something to them. These may not be their top five songs of all time – merely songs that attach to a specific memory or time in their life.

We continue this series with James from Eurovision Ireland. What’s his second choice, and what’s the story behind it?

Severina – Moja Štikla

People often talk about how the Eurovision Song Contest is a family show – we tend to focus on the friends who love the show alongside us, so we sometimes forget there are new fans coming through all the time – much like my nephew, Jack.

Some of you might remember Jack’s Junior Juror pieces for Eurovision Ireland when he was younger, where I’d play him songs heading to Junior Eurovision or the adult’s contest and ask him his thoughts. It’s fascinating hearing music and seeing performances through the eyes of a child, finding out why they love something – even as simple as someone wearing their favourite colour! I still remember some of his more outlandish remarks, like berating Eleni Foureira for being able to see her knickers on stage and or asking why Dervish couldn’t sing… ouch…  

His interest in Eurovision came about as a result of me sharing songs with him. First things I liked, then things I thought he’d like, anything colourful and whacky, like Verka Serduchka and Dustin the Turkey… this moved on to explaining the competitive element of the contest and that one country would get the most points and win. Jack was fascinated and asked if we could watch that night – but as it was months till actual Eurovision would be on our screens again, I set up a mini-Eurovision for him instead! I printed scoresheets and chose six songs I thought might keep his attention – including Croatia’s 2006 entry, Moja Štikla by Severina.

Even if you speak Croatian, a fair chunk of the lyrics are nonsensical (Afrika, Paprika, anyone?) but it’s a fun little romp that ticks a lot of Eurovision boxes – a bit of local sound, a bit of bonkers, catchy and above all, fun – and Jack was hooked from that first listen! So much so, he gave it top marks and for months after he would ask me to play it for him when he came to visit, stomping around in time to the music, even attempting to sing along! My nephew is 13 now and pretty sure he wouldn’t thank me for reminding him how he used to bounce around to this song, so I’ll save that story for his 18^th birthday. This song reminds me how I shared something I loved with my nephew and found he loved it too – felt a bit like passing the baton on to the next generation of Eurovision fan. Jack is also due to have a little sister quite soon – I’ve already started wondered what her favourite Eurovision song will be?

If you have five songs that really mean something to you, drop us a line with them and the stories behind them, and you could feature soon.

Author: John Stanton

Source: Eurovision Ireland