Eurovision Song Contest

I was in a grumpy mood when I watched the Eurovision Song Contest this year and I think Russia messed it up. They messed it up with blatant homophobia, when the police violently broke up a gay pride rally. It's a shame! (Dima Bilan, last year's winner, who actually made it possible for the Song Contest to take place in Russia, is rumoured to be gay, which makes it even more ridiculous. Let them sing on stage, but beat them in the streets?)

Russia messed it also up by failing to present itself at all within the show, despite spending more money on it than ever before. Usually the start of the show and the voting break are dedicated to show off artists and culture of the hosting country and I'm sure Russia has plenty of talented people but they gave us Cirque du Soleil from Canada and Fuerza Bruta from Brazil. They are surely spectacular but a bit inappropriate in my opinion.



My favourite song this year came from Portugal again, Flor-de-Lis with "Todas as ruas do amor". The winner is very likeable too in my opinion, although I always prefer it when songs are sung in a language of the country they represent.

France and the UK finally made some effort this year to show a decent performance, unlike Germany. There was so much talk about quality and expertise in Germany after finishing last in 2008 and then they entrust a man with the task, who writes songs entitled "Du bist so Porno" and put a disgustingly tied up Dita von Teese on stage (I'll never get what should be erotic about her, and I'm glad it takes more than that to win.) and make a performance that should (and did) remind of last century's fourties. Do they think this awakes good memories in other countries? Next time they really should try something that's not anachronistic and misogynistic and they should put the vote back to the people and don't let juries decide.