The pink rhinestone fishnet gloves and the apple green Sing!Basel t-shirt still sit on my desk as a reminder of one of the most exciting experiences of my life.
The magical journey began several months ago with an invitation from a dear friend Claire McDonack to join a new initiative called Sing!Basel in conjunction with the Basel Proms. “Come sing with us as Basel welcomes Eurovision fans from around the world.” she said. “Throughout the week, we are going to take the stages around town and encourage people to sing along. During the finals, we will sing in front of 36,000 people who will watch the show at the open-air ArenaPlus in St. Jakob Stadium. It will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a whole lot of fun. Bring your voice and your joy.”
Connecting through song
Sing!Basel is the brainchild of Basel’s Permi Jhootti, a cardiovascular researcher, software engineer, multi-media artist and former professional footballer. This truly gifted, inspirational human has the unique ability to bring people together for common causes. This time in the form of song.
“With our voices we create something wonderful together.” says Jhooti. “It’s about connection, not perfection. I want people to remember how wonderful it is to share their joy with others.” You can read more in this feature article.
Belief, hard work and months of practice with an incredible team of people under the direction of conductors, musicians and organizers got us ready for our big debut. It is still hard to grasp that our chorus, made up of 114 amateur singers aged 13-80 from all walks of life, took the stage 10 times throughout ESC.
A record-breaking performance
During the grand finale, we performed three times on the same stage as mega stars Baby Lasagna, Anna Rossinelli, Luca Hanni and DJ Antoine. Singing and dancing our hearts out to ABBA’s 1974 Eurovision winner Waterloo, we set a world record as we led the world’s largest singalong chorus. This grand moment was even broadcast live on the ESC program to over 166 million people around the globe.
Memories for a lifetime
One of the most moving experiences was the opportunity to connect with the audience during our performances. To see the joy on their faces as we encouraged them to sing along with us was heartening. To feel their energy as we high-fived them after our record-breaking performance was truly exhilarating.
While I took away too many memories to recount, here are some of the standouts.
- This experience was a brilliant reminder of what is possible when committed people come together around a common vision.
- Despite all the talk of AI, the emotions of the human spirit and the need to connect are still alive and well. Laughter and joy continue to be in vogue.
- No matter how busy life and work get, always make time for activities that bring you joy.
A world of thanks
I will forever be grateful to Claire for the invitation, Sing!Basel creator Permi Jhooti and the dream team of David Lawrence, Beverley Worboys, Maija Gschwind, Caterina Ciani, Claire McDonack and Christopher Orton along with the entire Sing!Basel chorus for this experience of a lifetime. A heartfelt thanks to Basler Kantonalbank for your trust and support in bringing our dreams to life. Big thanks also to the City of Basel and all the 2025 Eurovision organizers for this incredible opportunity. Many thanks to the Prismago team for capturing it all.