KEEP IT IN THE PHAMLY

It's Phamly tradition to sleepover at Dad Pham's house for the Eurovision finale. This year it happened to be Dad's birthday weekend so it was double the fun. On Saturday, he invited his siblings over for lunch and Little Sissy Pham and I made Vietnamese Pancakes - it's the only recipe I've ever posted on this blog because writing recipes is too much like my day job and blog writing is self indulgent fun. For 70 and 80 year olds, they sure know how to party. My Aunty rocked up with more beer than she could carry. Lunching, drinking and chats went for 4+ hours - Little Sis bowed out and went home before any of the elder folk. Dad Pham was exhausted by the time everyone left but he had a blast because it's rare for him to see his siblings all together.

After lunch, I sat with Dad for a couple of hours just chatting. It's been a long time since I've had proper downtime with Dad. Mostly we grocery shop, and cook so our hangs are chore driven. I'll save his stories from today for another time.

That night, I made more pancakes for Big Brother Pham and Sister Not-in-Law. It was a fun time. I was so pooped after a whole day of cooking and hosting, I feel asleep early that night. I slept in the lounge room because Big Brother Pham's tools have taken over what was once my bedroom. Guess that's what happens when you leave home, your room becomes storage.

The next morning I awoke to Dad Pham beaming down at me at 4.40am. He woke me up early because he expected to have to come back and wake me up again like he usually does. But this time, I popped right up - went and made a coffee and set up snacks on the coffee table. Then we settled in for 3.5 hours of Eurovision glory.

This year was not a disappointment. The majority of the songs were decent tunes and we couldn't pick who the top songs would be. Australia totally tanked this year - the novelty of having Australia in the competition is gone and while Jessica Mauboy's song was good, it didn't stand out against the stiff competition. I didn't love the winning song - I thought it was different and quirky, but so ridiculous. I guess that's Eurovision for you, though. Here are my highlights from this year.

Dad's top pick was Sweden's Benjamin Ingrosso with "Dance You Off":

I thoroughly enjoyed good old fashioned power pop from Lea Sirk from Slovenia with "Hvala, ne!" but it's way to cool to actually win Eurovision:

This is the type of crazy that wins Eurovision - Netta with "Toy" took out the gong for Israel:

It's rare I like the French entry but this year they were all class with Madame Monsieur "Mercy":

Finally, I have a thing for Vikings so Denmark make my highlights list. Oh, hellooo Rasmussen with "Higher Ground":

This year's Eurovision reached maximum excitement in the Pham household since our adopted (and much beloved real own) country, Australia got to take a real part. Plus for the first time Eurovision was broadcast in Grandpa's home country of China. So many levels of woohoo!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! And this year it's made better because Austria invited Australia to be a wildcard entry into the grand finale as part of their 60th anniversary celebrations and 'Building Bridges' theme. Best news, guys this means our votes count this year...I am SO excited.

I'm going through a phase of reading instructions and manuals lately. It turns out I've been doing a lot wrong all my life. But some things I get right. Like prioritising the Eurovision Song Contest over sleep and sustenance. And like always, it's totally worth it. Denmark put on an amazing show - the staging and lighting has to be the competition's best in history. So beautifully done.

I normally LOVE the Eurovision Song Contest and look forward to it every year and I still do. However, I must admit I found Eurovision 2013 to be underwhelming. My favourite thing about Eurovision is the over-the-topness, the desperation to stand out and impress - it should be a giant music circus! This year was just meh though the host Petre Mede nailed it with her cheeky/charming humour.

I blame the tasteful winners of years past like Loreen's Euphoria in 2012 and bloody Lena's Satellite from 2010 for Eurovision's demise. Damn you ladies and your simple staging and decent songs! Too many countries are sending inferior versions of these subtler songs and performances and it's booorrrring and painful when they don't nail it.
2013 Eurovision didn't have anywhere enough ridiculousness, "reveals" and outrageous songs for my liking. Greece sent a 'novelty' act probably expecting them to BOMB but no, they were fantastic! Romania hurt Tigger Pham's ears but they were entertaining in their own way. Moldova's dress and hair was an exception in this year's contest when it should have been the standard!
I did thoroughly enjoy Loreen's Interval Performance. If more of Europe could send this calibre of artist into the semis and final I wouldn't complain about the performances being too normal/respectable. It's just this half-assed middle ground that's ruining the Eurovision I know and love.

Sweden's Loreen "Europhia" - Kate Bush-esque performer, though she sings in an octave that's closer to planet Earth, who won by a landslide for good reason. This win concerns me - if Eurovision songs start being tasteful, where will I get my cheesy pop fix?