A COUPLE who were having their first child during the final of last year’s Eurovision Song Contest have now made their ‘bucket-list’ trip to the competition in Liverpool.
Eleanor Colley and her husband Miguel Zaragoza – who are members of the Eurovision Fan Club – had tickets for the dress rehearsals on Thursday and Saturday and for the grand jury final yesterday.
The final of the contest is to take place tonight.
Ms Colley said: ‘We have never been before, but since it’s in the UK this year, when it was announced, we joined the fan club and decided we had to get tickets.’
She added that it was ‘difficult’ to get the tickets through a public ballot system, but that costs had not been too steep, saying: ‘Luckily, we have family in Liverpool so we have been able to save money on accommodation by staying with them. The moment we found out we had tickets, we booked the flights, and two days later when we checked, the prices had gone up.’
She said the atmosphere was ‘amazing’ and ‘it’s super international, very inclusive, super well-organised’.
However, the ‘bucket-list kind of trip’ has meant some time away from their nearly one-year-old son, who is currently being looked after by family in Jersey.
Ms Colley said: ‘I was in labour last year when the Eurovision Final was on.’
She said they may even go next year – so long as it does not clash with their son’s birthday.
While there’s no knowing where the competition will be held in 2024, with the location decided from this year’s winner, Ms Colley thinks that it could be heading to Finland.
She said: ‘My favourite is Austria, and Sweden is the bookies favourite, but Finland might do it.
Mr Zaragoza said: ‘You can tell, because the reactions from the crowd say a lot. It’s different to seeing it on the television, because you get the feel of the song and what people are thinking about it. And they love the cha cha cha.’
