People are really into the DNC’s virtual roll call. Maybe it can stay?

It’s just like Eurovision, but with more calamari.

The second day of the Democratic National Convention has wrapped up, and in a true sign of the times we’re in, Joe Biden was formally nominated as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee in a virtual roll call.

Local delegates from 57 states and territories “called in” to officially nominate Biden via video message, with some elected Democrats and others members of the public nominated by their state to make the announcement. Running in alphabetical order starting with Alabama and ending with Biden’s home state of Delaware right at the end, viewers were treated to a bona fide cornucopia of background staging choices behind each state representative.

The Eurovision Song Contest’s been doing this type of thing for decades during the judging process, in which each country awards national competitors up to 12 points, with some being more strategic and political with their background imagery than others (seriously, it’s a whole thing).

And while usually, the formal nomination of the presidential candidate at the DNC would take place within an event centre, with each member taking the stage in front of a crowd, social distancing caused this event to run online only. And people watching the virtual event were truly into it.

There were some truly moving moments during the nomination process. Alabama state Rep. Terri Sewell paid tribute to the late Congressman John Lewis, standing in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, where Lewis and fellow members of the civil rights movement were attacked by police in 1965 while marching for their right to vote.

Charlottesville resident Khizr Khan, who made headlines challenging Donald Trump and offering up his copy of the Constitution at the 2016 DNC, was selected to cast Virginia’s vote. Puerto Rico’s delegate Carmelo Rios reminded viewers of Puerto Ricans’ importance as U.S. citizens, “something that Donald Trump seems to have forgotten as our island faced its most difficult times.”

Activists Judy and Dennis Shepard, the parents of Matthew Shepard, the 21-year-old student who was beaten, tied to a fence, and left for dead in 1998 because he was gay, appeared from their state of Wyoming to formally nominate Biden.

There were also some interesting scenery choices, with the internet particularly enjoying Rhode Island state Rep. Joseph McNamara, who beseeched a chef to stand beside him with a plate of calamari during his bit, calling his state “the calamari comeback state.” (Here’s a solid explainer on this weirdness.)

It was a truly interesting roll call this year, and one people are pretty happy to keep in place in the future. 

If you want to catch up, here’s how to watch the DNC online.