It’s Eurovision week 2022 and just three months after New Zealand reopened its borders. I was finally free to walk the Portuguese Camino de Santiago, with friends, and my main walking soundtrack was the ESC 2022 playlist.
One song stood out and became my guilty pleasure: Llámame by WRS (Andrei Ursu), Romania’s entry. Earlier in the ESC season I’d recorded an ‘OGAE good luck message for Romania’. I loved the song’s playful Spanish influence and the irresistible rhythm. It was impossible not to smile as I walked through Portuguese villages, the beat keeping time with my steps.
That week, I also discovered WRS’s EP, packed with great tracks for walking and trekking – music that turned long stretches of the Camino into my own private Eurovision cocoon.
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday of Eurovision week, I remember rushing through dinner to catch the broadcasts in time. Saturday was cutting it fine as the TV wouldn’t work. When I called the front desk and explained this .. the person said Eurovision? Someone was fixing the TV within two minutes!
Was Llámame the most technically brilliant song that year? Probably not. Did it make me smile every single time it came on? Absolutely. That’s the beauty of a Eurovision guilty pleasure – it doesn’t need to be perfect; it just needs to capture a moment, a mood, and a smile. For me, Llámame will always be the sound of coastal northern Portugal, sunshine, and the joy of finally walking the Camino.