Armenian entry tattooed on our minds

One of Good Evening Europe's favorites to win this year is Armenia. In fact, we have loved the Armenian entries from the very moment they first entered the competition in 2006. That's why it was pretty cool to meet up with a bunch of crazy Armenians on their way to Telenor Arena yesterday, to cheer for our favorite Eva Rivas. They have traveled to Oslo from Sweden, Ireland and other cities in Norway to share this moment, and they sure came well prepared dressed up in T-shirts and caps in the Armenian colors while of course waving their flags and praising the apricot stone.

"I have always been a huge ESC fan", Sevak Khachatryan tells us. He has traveled from Dublin to join the party in Eurovision Town and to cheer for his home country. "Before Armenia entered the competition, I used to cheer for Russia. They always send big stars with high quality songs, like Dima Bilan both in 2006 and 2008 and t.A.T.u in 2003", he continues. And according to the Armenians we met yesterday, ESC is also taken very seriously in their homeland. For example the lyrics for this years entry is written by Karen Kavaleryan, a famous and accomplished lyricist which has participated numerous times with different countries in ESC earlier with great success.

"Almost everybody watch the show on TV back in Armenia, it's very popular", Sevak's friend Ema Khachatryan adds, and we're thinking this is similar to Norway and probably all other countries in Europe. Friends and families gathering in front of the telly, having a party and rooting for their favorites. This is what we love about Eurovision, we really are sharing the moment in all this silliness.

The crowd is nervous on behalf of tall and terrific Eva, they are crossing their fingers for her and will of course use the same fingers to vote like maniacs later. That's the beauty of watching the finals outside your home country, you can vote for your own participant! It turned out that qualifying was a walk in the park for Armenia, so now our friends can fully focus on the big event tomorrow and stock up on newly charged phone cards.

Yes, they really are crazy about their apricot stone. And by crazy, we mean big time. One of them, Sato Movsesian, could proudly announce that he just got Eva Rivas' autograph tattooed on his arm. Talk about diehard fans! And this might very well prove to be a smart move, perhaps Eva will be the first winner in history for Armenia? GEE wish her the best of luck for tomorrow and think she is really lucky to have fans like we met yesterday!