Scan Magazine
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Culture
What to expect from Scandinavia in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest With the 68th Eurovision Song Contest rolling into Malmö in May, following Loreen’s iconic win for Sweden last year, all eyes will be on Skåne to see which country gets to lift the glass trophy in 2024. Could it be a Nordic nation that does it again?... Well, all 5 of them have now selected the songs they’ll be sending next month. Host nation Sweden has got Norwegian twins Marcus & Martinus representing them. The brothers are now based in Sweden having won the Swedish version of The Masked Singer. And now that the Swedish viewers of Melodifestivalen have voted the boys as having the best song, it’s Unforgettable that will be Sweden’s entry on home soil. Over in Norway, it’s the alternative rock band Gåte that will be heading across the
border to perform for their country. Their song Ulveham is the first Norwegian-language Eurovision entry since 2006. In Iceland, the singer Hera Björk makes a return to the Eurovision Song Contest, having previously taken her country to the Grand Final in 2010, with Je Ne Sais Quoi. For the 2024 contest, the Icelandic performer will be singing her dance anthem Scared Of Heights. Last year’s runners-up to Sweden, Finland, are returning with another show-stopping entry that leans into the more entertaining side of the Contest. No Rules by Windows96man takes us back to the cheesier side of ‘90s and ‘00s Europop. And it’s a trip that no doubt plenty of viewers will be happy to take in May.
Finally, in Denmark, it will be SABA taking the short trip over the Øresund Bridge to perform her bittersweet yet uplifting breakup anthem SAND. She might well be spurred on by the fact that the last time the Contest was held in Malmö, Denmark went home with the trophy! www.scandipop.co.uk
By Gabi Froden
The sock game
I reprimanded him and put up cameras to monitor whether he really is that annoying.
I went to see my sisters in Stockholm recently and as I was packing my bag, it dawned on me that I had to make some serious sock decisions. When you live in a country where people never take their shoes off you don’t make serious sock choices. You put on whatever socks happen to be available. Green, red, stripy, mix it up. Nobody will know.
I had to dig deep into my sock drawer and in some ways, it was quite a meditative experience. While digging through the drawer I contemplated the fact that I had not
Columns
By Karl Batterbee
Monthly Illustration
However, if you are planning on going to my Motherland, you will need to plan your packing around what matching socks you have, since you will be required to take your shoes off in people’s homes. In Sweden, all must be colour coordinated, or preferably, simply black.
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Finally, I had amassed a pile of socks for my trip. Four pairs of socks that matched. It was then I realised, I needed to work on my sock game. We should all work on our sock game. There should be a national campaign on how to work on your sock game! A smelly, mixy-matchy foot situation is not going to help anybody. I am embarrassed I have fallen so far from my Scandinavian moral high ground. heard about any fungal epidemic going on in the UK. Perhaps the shame is too deep. Perhaps the worst is still to come. We all watched The Last of Us... My Northern Irish husband has shared with me that when I go away, he lets loose and walks around our home with his shoes on. His feet steaming in his boots, half leather, half plastic.
Gabi Froden is a Swedish illustrator and writer, living in Glasgow with her husband and two children. Her children’s and YA books are published in Sweden by Bonnier Carlsen and Natur&Kultur. www.gabifroden.com
April 2024
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Issue 165
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93