Seven. It begins: My seventh Eurovision adventure. One might argue that the word “adventure” is a bit over the top, but speaking from experience: You never know what awaits you at Eurovision. Neither the wonderful moments, nor the pain and stress that you might face along the way.

I remember very well how I sat in this restaurant on Vesterbrogade, Copenhagen, back in 2001, waiting for my dinner to be served. “What the hell am I doing?!” was my general feeling at that minute. I had been in the chat for over a year, but I had never ever met anybody from the fan community before. At that moment in time, I was still the only Eurovision fan I knew in person. And this was going to be my first Eurovision experience ever, this odd event in Copenhagen 2001.

Then everything in my memory rushes like a stream of images. The many moments when my online friends became real-life friends, screaming “ENERGYYY!!!!” at my seat way at the back of the trembling Parken grandstand, drunk Danes on the bus back to the city centre, the personal nightmare that Athens 2006 was for me, receiving my very first press accreditation in Oslo 2010, getting a kiss from a Eurovision singer and witnessing my country’s long awaited second Eurovision win in the same year, spending the fortnight of Düsseldorf 2011 in my hotel bed with a bad cold, being frustrated with my hotel’s location in Malmö, and finally leaving the Euroclub in Vienna in a taxi in the early morning hours, and many mixed emotions. And I’ve asked myself, both then and since: “Why can’t every year be as amazing as Oslo 2010 was for me?”

Mä laulan:… One gets rich by going to Eurovision. Good times. (with Kuunkuiskaajat from Finland)

Of course, Athens wasn’t all bad. I got to be there when Finland won for the first time. Malmö wasn’t all bad. I got to meet and interview a lot of artists. Even Düsseldorf wasn’t only me being sick, when I carried myself from my sickbed to Euroclub with a fresh dose of paracetamol inside me and partied with my friends anyway (developing a case of tinnitus as a result, but hey, there are always sacrifices for Eurovision).

Eurovision, when you attend it in the city, with or without a badge around your neck, is like a box of surprises. You never know what you’re going to get, and the experiences vary not only from year to year, but also from person to person. Whether it’s your hotel being badly located, or your friends not informing you that they’re having dinner together and you feeling excluded, whether you are unlucky when it comes to getting into Euroclub or the Fan Café, whether you get sick, or you just don’t experience anything “special” despite spending half a fortune (and it is that for some people), things like these suck – and do happen. Not to everybody, of course, but I’ve experienced one or another of the above things more than once, and I know many others have too.

You never know what you get, even the press area might come in a surprising way. (Malmö, Slagthuset)

And so I wondered: What – besides seeing things in first person – does make attending Eurovision worthwhile? What needs to happen so that I can say “yes, this is what I came for”? It’s mostly the unexpected moments that “make” a Eurovision, the bad and the good. And for these, you can’t buy tickets, and an accreditation badge is no guarantee either. But watching the contest on TV when you could be there? Especially in a year like this, when the contest is held in a beautiful city, in the south of the continent, on new terrain,… staying at home wasn’t an option for me.

So, while I slowly start packing, I find myself more and more anticipating this Eurovision in Lisbon which I will dive into on Wednesday, for the first time with (“just”) an F accreditation. I’m coming for the city, for the sea, for the shows, for the rehearsals, for the parties, but first and foremost to meet my friends and have a good time with them – and for the unexpected awesome moments that can only happen at Eurovision. I will report back. Seven had better be my lucky number!

From Wednesday on, I’ll share my personal impressions with you in my daily Lisbon blog. Stay tuned!