Why faith and Eurovision have more in common than you think

Eurovision broadcaster and Methodist preacher, Lisa-Jayne Lewis says the song contest is about far more than just glitter and spectacle. It’s an encounter with something bigger, and it’s packed full with sacred possibilities 

Did you, like eight million other viewers in the UK, tune into BBC One on Saturday night to watch the Eurovision Song Contest?

Maybe you watched with friends, maybe you dipped in between cups of tea, or maybe you only caught the voting — but chances are, you saw at least some of it.

What you saw was a spectacle: 26 acts from across Europe (and beyond) – 37 if you count the semi finals, singing under blazing lights, with everything from drag queens to folklore to lasers and pyros. What you might not have seen is the other story — the one that unfolds behind the glitter. A story of people.

As a Eurovision broadcaster and commentator with over a decade of experience, and also a Methodist local preacher, I live in both those worlds — music and ministry, sequins and scripture. And what I’ve discovered is that faith and Eurovision have more in common than you might think.

Because while the contest is officially apolitical and non-religious, it’s also…