There was a nice interview carried out by Campus FM with Ira Losco yesterday morning.

The perspective that Ms Losco offered compared Eurovision as it was in 2002 when she came second and Eurovision now. So much has changed in these years, from the set design itself, to the composition of the contest itself.

The countries that are taking part have increased and the competition has become even more popular among European viewers.

Among the newer changes, the introduction of a popular vote added to the vote by experts may have altered the way the competition is run and makes the ultimate prize all the more elusive.

Each country, and Malta as one of the contestants, would wish to be the winner but while some things are within our possibility, like the quality of the music, the appeal, the approach to the song, etc other factors are beyond that. In the 2016 contest, for instance, at the end what counted was the anti-Russia sentiment across Europe.

Over the years, the Eurovision contest has reinforced the feeling of European-ness among the various peoples taking part. The countries that take part in the Eurovision contest are more numerous than the countries within the EU and not hampered by strict rules as to who is European and who is not.

However, it is undeniable that the participants get to fraternalise between themselves and in fact strong ties of friendship across frontiers, languages, cultures are made.

But for the strange inclusion of Australia in this year’s contest (and there was a time when Australia risked winning it), it is by now more than clear that Eurovision and all its razzmatazz is now part of the European scene.

We have now come out of a month of football matches in the Euro 2016 finals.

Here too, it is worthwhile to make some reflections.

When the games began, most people were quite apprehensive because of the threat of terrorist bombings that would have disrupted the contest. Instead, nothing of the sort happened.

Then for a time there were fears about crowd violence and fighting on the streets but stronger police action soon put an end to this.

What remained at the end was a wonderful feast not just of football but also of football support. So many thousands of fans came to watch and brought with them their inimitable way of supporting with the Irish and the Icelanders taking the prize.

Again, in a month that saw Brexit, this was another example of European-ness, unthinkable in eg Asia, Latin America, Africa. The peoples of Europe came together to compete loyally and sincerely.

Maybe the ultimate result will not please everybody, as the Eurovision final winners did not please all, but the important factor is to take part, not necessarily to win, as Le Coubertin famously said.

In these days where doubts are being expressed about the future of the EU and of the euro and thus of the whole European dream, it is important to highlight how such lightweight events as Eurovision and the Euro finals reinforce the feeling of a common identity, a shared relationship among the different countries in Europe. Instead of waging wars between them, the European countries now compete in song and in games.