{"id":4784,"date":"2025-05-09T10:59:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T09:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/eurovision\/?p=4784"},"modified":"2025-05-09T13:52:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T12:52:14","slug":"lets-start-at-the-very-beginning-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/eurovision\/2025\/05\/09\/lets-start-at-the-very-beginning-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Let&#8217;s start at the very beginning\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-7c20db49d365b07b9c4b7e859c3b1059 wp-block-paragraph\">Bonjour, vilkomen, ciao and welcome to my Eurovision Song Contest blog for 2025!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-7aa5a8c415b76ef83e7e4691e4af2200 wp-block-paragraph\">I can\u2019t quite believe that it\u2019s just over a year since I last blogged with you and shared my thoughts, feelings and memories on all things Eurovision. Longtime readers will know that I\u2019ve been doing this blog for Edge Hill University since I first attended the Contest in the host city of Belgrade in Serbia, way back in 2008. Back then, and over several years, I travelled to the host countries. These days (and this year), I\u2019m watching from home with drinks and nibbles to hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-f8a0ade6ae471015b79785d8b630f121 wp-block-paragraph\">Welcome to any new readers. Hopefully I can add a little something to your Eurovision experience in 2025.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-d45c139174b77a99ab17a3baef29f407 wp-block-paragraph\">This year we head to Basel in Switzerland, following Nemo\u2019s win with their song&nbsp;<em>The Code<\/em>&nbsp;in Stockholm last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-3d723b8364ea9d0e1ad4a93cda5c4fbf wp-block-paragraph\">There are 37 participating countries this year, which includes the \u2018Big 6\u2019 who are automatically qualified for the Grand Final. This means that in each of the two semi-finals, ten songs from each will join France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and hosts Switzerland to contest for the crown this year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-62d4d4aaf39e3c652c6ebb0169c0aa87 wp-block-paragraph\">The semi-finals are on Tuesday 13 May and Thursday 15 May, with the Grand Final on Saturday 17 May. In the UK, all television broadcasts are via BBC1 and BBC iPlayer, as well as the live feeds from eurovision.tv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-e757447eec1eda3853183f69a271038c wp-block-paragraph\">I feel slightly more prepared this year, as the Contest is happening a week later, and I\u2019ve been listening to the songs and doing my Eurovision homework. As with the last couple of years, I won\u2019t see any performance footage until the live television broadcasts. What sounds good now might look and sound lousy on the night, as much as what sounds pants now might look brilliant and therefore sounds better. Let\u2019s see!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-3a0d067907c79c01db9485d146cc3d5f wp-block-paragraph\">What\u2019s great about the ESC every year is as Terry Wogan used to say, it\u2019s \u201cthe great unpredictability of it all\u201d. Whether that\u2019s your favourite song winning &#8211; or not, or a song coming from nowhere and surprising everyone and upsetting the betting odds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-946eb2ea03d4af22e90673148220c9c2 wp-block-paragraph\">Sweden have been locked-in as favourites to win for months now. If they win this year, they will have won eight Contests and that would take them clear of the joint seven victories they have, along with Ireland. More on their potential\/probable success on the blog in the days ahead&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-f89657ec6ca5f2835cffea7b8d080c73 wp-block-paragraph\">**<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-ddf3a1db12bfa1a8208307e626e8bad7 wp-block-paragraph\">So, all eyes turn to Switzerland as the host Country for ESC2025. Eurovision really is the history book on the shelf that\u2019s always repeating itself, in some ways. Switzerland hosted the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, in Lugano. Not only that, but they also won the first Eurovision Song Contest with the song&nbsp;<em>Refrain<\/em>, sung by Lyss Assia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Lys Assia - Refrain [Audio] | Switzerland ?? | Winner of Eurovision 1956\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1HKSP_HQ5hk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-b1cc9fbf090dc840e652aab69eb9cdda wp-block-paragraph\">Aah, the beautiful chanson stylings of the mid 1950s. As I say to my students when I\u2019m teaching ESC related lectures, when we look at archive footage, this was the pop music of the day, even if it looks and sounds a bit old fashioned now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-f841447b85fa9e9de83047f88c3d14cb wp-block-paragraph\">I had an encounter with Lyss Assia at the Grand Final of my first Eurovision in Belgrade in 2008. For whatever reason, before she went on stage to do a link with the presenters, she was standing in the aisle next to my seat. Seemingly abandoned by whoever was looking after her, with them perhaps not realising who she was. Leaving a Eurovision legend standing in the aisle seemed a little impolite, so my friend Milija offered her his seat. And so it was that for a few minutes I was sitting next to, and chatting to, Eurovision royalty. I so totally wanted to take a selfie! I thought better of it. I\u2019ve got the memory of chatting to the first winner of the thing that I care so deeply about \u2013 that\u2019s the ESC, not Lyss Assia! It\u2019s a special memory that always makes me smile\u2026 and because the producers left her standing in the aisle!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-083317ef26980261dc02c9702a5b1a68 wp-block-paragraph\">I have another story about being in a queue my dear friend Ruxandra at a conference behind J\u00fcrgen Habermas. But that\u2019s for another day\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-ccca95994963fcf1e42a36b64ec2badb wp-block-paragraph\">My earliest memory of the ESC is when Brotherhood of Man won in 1976 with&nbsp;<em>Save Your Kisses For Me<\/em>. At the time I was five years old. For many of us, our earliest ESC memories are from watching with family, and so it was for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-afd7a2bd890701fd290ac90f9a79ddf6 wp-block-paragraph\">People often ask me when Eurovision took a proper hold on me. Well, it was ESC1988 and the climax of the voting (see below). With one jury left to vote, the United Kingdom were five points ahead of Switzerland. If we got eight points or more the UK would win, anything less\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/OKbWsaQb11w?feature=shared\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/OKbWsaQb11w?feature=shared<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-69035762aa923b526bd737f78d923ff5 wp-block-paragraph\">C\u00e9line Dion won the Contest for Switzerland for the first time since 1956, pipping the UK\u2019s Scott Fitzgerald by ONE POINT &#8211; quelle dommage!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-69d6b53feafa2173e79ee5b2762f4ee7 wp-block-paragraph\">C\u00e9line was a largely unknown (beyond Canada and French speaking territories) French Quebec singer. And now she is unquestionably one of the greatest female vocalists of all time. Blimey, you can hear her pipes in this vocal in 1988 \u2013 just brilliant, although the less said about the outfit the better \ud83d\ude00 \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"C\u00e9line Dion - Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi - Switzerland ??- Winner of Eurovision 1988\" width=\"580\" height=\"435\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VXLWfXmlXPc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-d94df4f76ee557c44e51230608712938 wp-block-paragraph\">Why we ever forgave her\u2026 well yeah, that voice will forgive anything! And I\u2019m team C\u00e9line all the way, but maybe not that night or the day after!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-e058d34899ac4051a33bdc0a049be303 wp-block-paragraph\">Fast forward to 2024 and Switzerland won for the third time. For both performance and vocal it was a deserving winner on the night \u2013 although I can\u2019t say it\u2019s been a song I have listened to much since\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nemo - The Code (LIVE) | Switzerland??| Grand Final | Eurovision 2024\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CO_qJf-nW0k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-ffac2b169797abf575a2da36bc21129e wp-block-paragraph\">Kudos to Nemo for bringing the ESC back to Switzerland for 2025!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Eurovision Song Contest 2025: Welcome to Basel - Host City ??\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/l6ff8tNCY2M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-78690b20d1edf983a215131bc9749763 wp-block-paragraph\">(this was the confirmation of Basel as host last year)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-2f1d97ff627a266bbe8ca40f4ffe1a62 wp-block-paragraph\">As always, we\u2019re in for a treat for the eye and the ear, and the staging is looking fabulous\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Stage Teaser! Eurovision Song Contest 2025 | #Eurovision2025\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yL9Qo5aHtTw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-9a81371ba05f4810d49bbcd4ad1df4bf wp-block-paragraph\">There is lots for me to guide you through over the next few days here on the blog, but in the meantime you can get your euro-party started with\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-bb866f9670794a58656af17a5033d995 wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The non-stop Euovision playlist<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Eurovision Song Contest: Non-Stop Hits! \u2728 LIVE 24\/7 \u2728\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hs-ohS4O1N4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-e112a4ed70dfda1e55f7487acc546f5e wp-block-paragraph\">and<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-efa74066fc395b80c0a34e0e81ad65fe wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Winner\u2019s playlist<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sertab Erener - Everyway That I Can | T\u00fcrkiye ?? | Winner of Eurovision 2003\" width=\"580\" height=\"435\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/j0_QrKnqd5E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-fdb82b4478ca82510f91336f7bafc7f1 wp-block-paragraph\">Plenty for us to look back on and look forward to as the blog is back for all things ESC2025!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-af605fad33d825f96ff840ceba83c0ef wp-block-paragraph\">Thanks for reading along (again). I will be back on Monday with my preview of the first semi-final which takes place on Tuesday 13 May at 8pm on BBC1 (UK time).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-a7b919ba7e6702d2147a188cec1d3012 wp-block-paragraph\">In the meantime &#8211; on y va!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-677d9b42eee5525b0d54fed8be6158c9 wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-5adad159f838ce04c0330874e52c93aa wp-block-paragraph\">xx<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bonjour, vilkomen, ciao and welcome to my Eurovision Song Contest blog for 2025! I can\u2019t quite believe that it\u2019s just over a year since I last blogged with you and shared my thoughts, feelings and memories on all things Eurovision. Longtime readers will know that I\u2019ve been doing this blog for Edge Hill University since [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":367,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[134596],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eurovision-2025"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Let&#039;s start at the very beginning\u2026 - Phil Jackson&#039;s Eurovision Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/eurovision\/2025\/05\/09\/lets-start-at-the-very-beginning-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Let&#039;s start at the very beginning\u2026 - Phil Jackson&#039;s Eurovision Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bonjour, vilkomen, ciao and welcome to my Eurovision Song Contest blog for 2025! I can\u2019t quite believe that it\u2019s just over a year since I last blogged with you and shared my thoughts, feelings and memories on all things Eurovision. Longtime readers will know that I\u2019ve been doing this blog for Edge Hill University since [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/eurovision\/2025\/05\/09\/lets-start-at-the-very-beginning-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Phil Jackson&#039;s Eurovision Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-09T09:59:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-09T12:52:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Phil\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Phil\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/09\\\/lets-start-at-the-very-beginning-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/09\\\/lets-start-at-the-very-beginning-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Phil\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8d31dd0ab70e18f4d5b5ca5b8fce228\"},\"headline\":\"Let&#8217;s start at the very beginning\u2026\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-09T09:59:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-09T12:52:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/09\\\/lets-start-at-the-very-beginning-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1149,\"articleSection\":[\"EUROVISION 2025\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/09\\\/lets-start-at-the-very-beginning-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/09\\\/lets-start-at-the-very-beginning-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Let's start at the very beginning\u2026 - Phil Jackson&#039;s Eurovision Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-09T09:59:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-09T12:52:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8d31dd0ab70e18f4d5b5ca5b8fce228\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/09\\\/lets-start-at-the-very-beginning-2\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/09\\\/lets-start-at-the-very-beginning-2\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/09\\\/lets-start-at-the-very-beginning-2\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Let&#8217;s start at the very beginning\u2026\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\\\/\",\"name\":\"Phil Jackson&#039;s Eurovision Blog\",\"description\":\"Once again bringing you Phil&#039;s thoughts and feelings on all things Eurovision for 2025...\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8d31dd0ab70e18f4d5b5ca5b8fce228\",\"name\":\"Phil\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/eurovision\\\/author\\\/41d987462bcca9360b5e18cacc04b629\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Let's start at the very beginning\u2026 - Phil Jackson&#039;s Eurovision Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/eurovision\/2025\/05\/09\/lets-start-at-the-very-beginning-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Let's start at the very beginning\u2026 - Phil Jackson&#039;s Eurovision Blog","og_description":"Bonjour, vilkomen, ciao and welcome to my Eurovision Song Contest blog for 2025! 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