A Song For Minecraftia: Mojang's Eurovision Stage
Eurovision fever!
The Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final is tomorrow night, and you bet your bottom I'm excited! Our turbulent corner of the world (and some remote pals) come together for pop music pageantry as 26 performers give their all for the biggest night of their careers. Wooo! It's a little sad that the official UK coverage mostly sees Eurovision as an excuse to be sarcastic about foreigners. But pssh, we don't need that cynicism! So I wholly endorse this recreation of the Eurovision 2016 arena in Minecraft [official site].
You can download the stage from here, though do be aware that it's for the original Java version of Minecraft, not the new Windows 10 one. Dunk it into your saves folder to play. This is a collaboration between Mojang, FyreUK (known for their intricate creations, as seen on YouTube), and a Swedish TV channel.
I truly want to believe the picture Mojang's Owen Hill paints of Stockholm hosting Eurovision:
"That means fun flags on buses, singing tunnels, Swedish celebrities talking in subway stations, a pop-up Eurovision village, and previous winning tunes getting blasted out at pedestrian crossings. All those things are true by the way - Stockholm is hyped about what must be one of the most cheery, joyous competitions of the year."
That sounds lovely.
The Eurovision finals will be streamed live on YouTube, by the way, for those of us without temelevision. I've not heard any of this year's songs, wanting to be surprised, but this was my favourite song last year:
However, I do agree that the winning song from Sweden's Måns Zelmerlöw was more Eurovision winner-y (that's not meant to be a slight - different songs for different places, yeah?):
