David Crisp’s loungeroom is a shrine to Eurovision.
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Not only is there a decades-old recording of the song contest playing on the television, but the Bendigo man’s coffee table is laden with soundtracks and DVDs from the past ten years of the competition.
An entire wall is festooned with canvasses featuring Eurovision iconography.
When asked why he loved the contest, Mr Crisp’s answer is well-rehearsed; it is a question he has been asked many times before.
“It's all about the nature of the show itself, it's all about joining together and becoming a better whole,” he said.
The Eurovision Song Contest has been held annually for the past 61 years, with Australian audiences tuning in since the 1980s.
But megafan Mr Crisp only discovered the competition in 2011 when he was in the midst of a deep depression.
While many people dismissed Eurovision as a kitsch and corny affair, Mr Crisp credited its bright lights and sequined costumes with raising him out of the darkness.
“It's very uplifting,” he said.
Like Mr Crisp, 2011 was also the year when La Trobe Bendigo student Stephanie Baldi first started taking notice.
Her brother was attending the contest in Dusseldorf, Germany, and she tuned in “to see what all the fuss was about”.
Ms Baldi, 28, was so inspired by the all-singing, all-dancing spectacle that she made her own Eurovision pilgrimage in 2013, heading to Malmo in Sweden to witness the festival firsthand.
“It was so fun to dance with everyone in the sea of flags,” she said.
Both fans welcomed Australia’s inclusion as a competing country again in 2016, represented by X Factor victor Dami Im and her power ballad, Sound of Silence.
But Mr Crisp was not expecting the Australian act to walk away with the trophy, predicting a come-from-behind upset by the Czech Republic.
Still, he said his countrywoman had his support.
“It's going to be something a little bit different and it will be interesting to see how Europe reacts,” he said.
Mr Crisp hoped Bendigonians would get behind Eurovision in greater numbers now Australia was a regular fixture in the contest, and he was planning to create a group for all the city’s fans to join.
But he understood waking up to watch the live, 5am broadcast might not be everyone’s cup of tea.
“The morning viewings are definitely a solitary thing, but every year I try to get some friends together for the replay,” he said.
Ms Baldi will also brave the cold early on Sunday morning to watch Australia vie for another top five finish.
