Interview with Australia's Eurovision 2022 delegation host

We have an extra Eurovision Fan of the Week and it is Marty from Turin (Torino) in Italy.

Marty is one of three volunteer hosts for the Australian delegation in Turin. Showing Sheldon and the Australian delegation the beautiful sites of Turin in between all the hard work they are all doing during the Contest.

So we wanted to find out a little more about them!

What is your name and where are you from?

My name is Marty (they/them), I am originally from Naples in Southern Italy, but I grew up in Turin.

What do you do or tell us something interesting about you?

I am a graduate student in Innovation and Organization of Culture and the Arts - just a fancy name for Arts management :) As a non-binary person myself, one of my goals is to make the music and the art industry more inclusive and aware of the LGBTQIA+ community, especially for the benefit of those young individuals who struggle to afford medical healthcare and support, through educational and artistic projects in the territory.

This year in Turin, you are going to be looking after the Australian Delegation. Tell us about that, how did that happen and what does involve?

Yes, I am very honored to be working closely with the Australian Delegation at this year's ESC! So far the Team has been amazing. The selection process was pretty thorough, more than 12000 volunteers applied at the very beginning, then about 1500 volunteers passed, and all I know is that after that they started selecting who they believed could fit as a Delegation Host.

They selected 3 delegation hosts (DH) for each delegation. It is a role that involves taking care of the Delegation from the moment of their arrival to their departure, showing the city, booking services for the members, providing anything they might need, and of course making sure they go through their schedule smoothly - from attending social events to rehearsals and the shows. As far as I know, they selected us mainly based on English (and/or other languages) proficiency and previous experiences. Personally, I had some working and volunteering experiences in music and sports events too - but I'm pretty sure it must have been the half-yellow half-green blazer I was wearing in the introduction video that secured me a spot as Delegation Host of Australia!

Wow what an intense process! Ahh the luck green and gold it just screams Australia!~ Kyriakos

What are you looking forward to the most as delegation host?

As Delegation Hosts, we will often be in the common areas with all the other DH's and their Delegations. This means being constantly surrounded by people from all over the continent - and Australia! I am really excited at the idea of so many countries, languages, and cultures coming together in just one place, and I love the fun and loving vibe that everyone has with each other at Eurovision. It feels like this is the true spirit of Eurovision. And of course, I am also excited to watch the show live!

We really hope you have an amazing time and take in all that is Eurovision! ~Kyriakos

As an Italian fan what was it like to win Eurovision last year for the first time since 1990?

It was unbelievable. We all had a lot of faith in Måneskin, them winning the national competition alone was huge, so we could all see they had a good shot at Eurovision as well. I think the majority of people were really proud of them for bringing the Eurovision back to Italy.

I have been a huge fan of Eurovision for years personally, and I had no doubts Turin could be the perfect city to host it. We haven't had such a big event in this city since the Winter Olympics back in 2006 - I think it is an incredibly underrated city that deserves to be more known to tourists all over the world, and hopefully, the Eurovision will provide Turin the limelight it deserves.

So, tell us how you got into Eurovision?

As I was saying, I am really passionate both about Eurovision and arts and cultural events. Eurovision is a wonderful example of different cultures coming together for the love of performance and music, the atmosphere of love, acceptance, and fun is just so palpable every time... you can see the artists having a great time, and it's really nice to gather with your friends and watch the incredible show together while getting to know new music from other countries at the same time. I fell in love with so many artists thanks to Eurovision!

Which is your favourite Eurovision year and why?

Every year I think "alright, this was my favourite year!". I think last year was great because ESC came back after the break in 2020 due to the first wave of the pandemic, so there was something even more special to it.

If you could change one thing about Eurovision what would it be?

Honestly, I think Eurovision has been changing a lot in the last few years, and it's becoming more and more filled with surprises every time. I am just excited to see how it will keep evolving in the future, and maybe include more and more countries too!

Which artist/s would you like to see in the Contest?

When I think of Eurovision, I think of artists that are not so popular yet outside their country and that I wished the whole world would know. I discovered this amazing artist while working at a festival in Copenhagen (Denmark) - Mekdes! She's incredible, I'd love to see her competing for Denmark.

What an incredible artist! Mekdes would make for an incredible addition to the Contest. 'In Favor Of You' has just been added to my Spotify playlist haha ~Kyriakos

Which artist would you like to see return to the Contest?

Last year's Gjon's Tears (Switzerland) was an incredible discovery for me - I really hope to see him coming back in the future. I also became quite a fan of Daði Freyr (Daði & Gagnamagnið, Iceland), who competed two years in a row, I would love to see him and the whole gang coming back too!

If you could pick only three Eurovision songs to listen to for the rest of time, what would they be?

This is really hard! I'm going to pick some easy ones probably, Arcade (Duncan Laurence), SHUM (Go_A), Amar Pelos Dois (Salvador Sobral)

Which Eurovision song: Is the best winner? In the last 10 years, maybe Netta's Toy! It got everyone dancing like crazy!

Has the best live vocal? There are just so many talented singers at Eurovision every year, it is impossible to tell! However, Gjon's Tears really left me speechless last year.

Was robbed? Francesco Gabbani's "Occidentali's Karma" at Eurovision 2017!

OMG YES FRANCESCO WAS ROBBED! TOTALLY AGREE ~Kyriakos Is your guilty pleasure? Hurricane's (Serbia) "Loco Loco" would definitely not be a type of song you would find on my Spotify library... but I couldn't stop listening to it after last year's Eurovision!

Is your favourite National Final song (that didn't make it to Eurovision)? La rappresentante di lista's "Ciao ciao". A great song in terms of music and meaning, Europe would have enjoyed it a lot!

And finally... Tonight Again, Sound of Silence, Don’t Come Easy, We Got Love, Zero Gravity, Don’t Break Me, Technicolour or Not The Same?

I have to say, I discovered Montaigne with their first entry in Eurovision 2020, and it was love at first sight. "Technicolour" was a great song too! But as biased as I might sound, definitely Sheldon Riley's "Not the same". I get shivers EVERY time I listen to it because the lyrics speak to me on such a personal level, and Sheldon's voice is like melted honey. I am so excited to hear it live!

Thank you so much Marty for speaking to us at Aussievision! We hope you have a great time with the other DH's Sheldon and the Australia delegation, and wish you all the best. Enjoy the Contest in your beautiful country! ~ Kyriakos

Feel free to follow Marty through their Instagram @martynimrod

Check out Australia's other delegation host for Eurovision 2022 Momo from Turin here.