EDITORIAL – One more year is leaving us and the team of oikotimes.com can proudly welcome 2015 after a great 2014. We did almost everything in 2014. From national selections, to senior and junior Eurovision editions and various ventures across Europe.
FROM JANUARY TO APRIL
Throughout the first months of 2014 oikotimes.com team was busy covering various events. Greece and Hungary were the two countries which oikotimes.com focused in terms of national selections. We also got the chance to be for the very first time at the Allocation Draw of the semifinals in Copenhagen on early January interviewing the Mayor and City officials along with EBU and DR representatives. In national finals A Dal 2014 and Greek National Final 2014 were the highlights of the year for oikotimes.com. We are proud that both events attended brought the countries into the final of Eurovision 2014.
OIKOTIMES LUCKY 13 ANNIVERSARY
On April 28, 2001 oikotimes introduced. This year April 28 coincided with the opening of the Euroclub at VEGA CPH and we grabbed the chance to hold our anniversary party over there. The highlight of the event (besides the overcrowded party despite the first day of opening of the Euroclub) was the joint photo of Ukrainian and Russian participants (Mariya Yaremchuk and Tolmachevy Sisters) which made the round of the world with media reproducing the image.
MAY IN WONDERFUL COPENHAGEN
Staying across the street at Cristiania area, the marvellous vintage Danish house was headquartered by oikotimes.com for two weeks thanks to our dear friend Emelie. Two weeks of a big venture with bad transportation although free and lots of conflicts! The website managed to become the spotlight of the event with a coverage that satisfied us when it comes to quality. We also explored the city and some parts of the country thanks to Danish tourism organisation which was more than kind to us. The organisation of the event was one of the best BUT they really messed up with the shuttle busses, their routes and the ability of public transportation to enter the Eurovision Island. DR and EBU made an exceptional job despite the roof sealing which was not exactly water-proved in the very end. Hospitality in Denmark is amazing, people are funny, they enjoy Europeans and they adore Eurovision.
SUMMER ALL OVER
Time for rest and for the first time I took the cruise with NF 2010 participant Eleni Foureira, to the Greek islands and Turkey. It was amazing with all the fan and meeting people from all over the world, dancing till the morning and drinking amazing cocktails throughout the cruise. Not to forget the amazing food with typical Greek and Turkish dinners. Of course the highlight of the cruise was the live performance of Eleni Foureira on the final night.
JUNIOR EUROVISION & SKOPJE FEST
For the first time oikotimes.com denied accreditation to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest as we denied open bribery from the EBU’s Junior Eurovision team who offered a press trip to the website. Despite the embargo of supervisor of the event Vladislav Yakovlev (no surprise since he is Russian and probably follows the footsteps of President Putin when it comes to censorship) we made a remarkable coverage of the event not to mention that we enjoyed the host country more than any other time. At the same time we also covered the national selection of FYR Macedonia (Skopje Fest) with exclusive photos and interview with the winner.
GREAT STATISTICS
In the very end it all comes down to numbers: The annual report from Google Analytics and WordPress says it all. When it comes to page views oikotimes.com had more than 2,41 million page views (44% from 2013). In terms of unique visits we got a rise from 440,000 in 2013 to 660,000 in 2014. UK, Greece, Spain, France, Denmark and Sweden topped the visiting countries of our website while Europrediction results was amongst the top visited articles of the season.
EUROSTAR AWARD & EUROPREDICTION
Europrediction and Eurostar Award are the two projects of oikotimes.com running annually. In senior Europrediction oikotimes.com was the only website along with EscToday predicting Austria as the winner (well at least amongst websites with serious amount of visits). In Junior Europrediction most sites (as we did) predicted Malta to win while only oikotimes.com had Italy as 2nd. In senior Europrediction 33,961 unique votes totally cast while in Junior Europrediction only 5,682 unique votes cast. In Eurostar Award 2014, 22,920 unite voters proclaimed Conchita Wurst as the Eurostar of the Year. Unlike our 2013 winner Helena Paparizou, Conchita didn’t snub us and sent a video greeting the voters and the other nominees.
OUR 2015 BUSINESS PLAN
The team is expand and already plans its 2015 coverage of the Eurovision Family Events. From Greece, Sweden, Serbia, Amsterdam and Hungary oikotimes.com will run throughout Europe to bring you the latest of the biggest events in Europe. Greek, Serbian and Hungarian national finals will be fully covered by reports, reviews, videos and multimedia. Big plans to cover the 2014 Melodifestivalen, the biggest national final of Europe while Eurovision in Concert will be again part of our coverage. The team will also be in Vienna to celebrate the 60th anniversary edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. Unlike 2014 and 2013, Junior Eurovision will not be attended by oikotimes.com especially since the specific EBU team is under the event not allowing freedom of speech for the event. If the contest will be in Rome (or Italy in general) though we will fly to see the show anyway! The team of oikotimes.com will also follow the 60th Anniversary Show when and if takes place.
From all of us, to all of you
from the bottom of our heart
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