Anyone who moans about the increasing neighbourly attitude of the voting in the Eurovision Song Contest, should consider the difficult position of Israel. Recent winners (well, within ten years) their neighbours aren’t even IN the song contest. And would be unlikely to vote for them on the average year, let alone a year where a fabulously camp transsexual does the song.
They would be particualrly upset this year, as are the ultra right-on (if comedy Satanic) hosts Finland. You see the official entry by Teapacks* is called Push The Button. This is not a copyright clash with the Sugababes, whose button they were asking to be pushed was more metaphorical: I always imagined ver Babes as a Science Museum exhibit needed to get started. No, the Button in the Teapacks song is apparently the Nuclear one, which the subtext appears to be is in Iran. Politics and pop are uneasy bedfellows, but politics and Eurovision are almost wholly incompatible: unless you believe Nicole’s “A Little Peace” really brought down the Berlin Wall. Rather than the usual vague words about peace and understanding and nonsense lyrics, these seem to cut wholly to the chase of Israeli fears in the Middle East.
Well OK, there are some nonsense lyrics:
“The world is full of terror
If someone makes an error
He’s gonna blow us up to biddy biddy kingdom come”
Anyway, bear in mind that it is all a storm in a teacup (packs) as Switzerland are clearly going to win this year, in the increasing gothization of Eurovision with their tune: VAMPIRES ARE ALIVE by DJ Bobo. Which seems to misunderstand the key traits of vampirism, but those crazy Swiss eh?
*About as un-rock’n’roll a band name as the Biscuit Barrels.