unoriginalname38 – the blog of Dave Cole

I Love Eurovision

Yes, and I don't care who knows it. Eurovision, the annual display of xenophobia, nepotism and geopolitics masquerading as a song contest is one of the great annual events.

I wonder why Germany gave so many points to Turkey (and, for similar reasons, Spain to the UK). Is it because there are lots of immigrants who tend to vote for their own country automatically in large numbers or is it because the immigrants have become or are becoming accepted?

I'm sure there's a way of predicting the baseline votes for some countries. Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy and the BeNeLux have pissed off or invaded most people, and so aren't going to get many votes. The Baltics and Balkans vote for themselves, as do the Scandies. While you can't guarantee that state A will receive votes from state B, I'm sure if you approached it from the opposite point of view and looked at the chances of a state allocating its vote to another state there'd be a way.

Can anyone explain to me what was going on with the drums this year? Just about every act seemed to have percussion as the principal or only instrument, including the faintly surreal sight of an 80-year old drummer for Moldova.

I found myself wondering about the Israeli vote, both given and received, in the contest. The high level of immigration, the fact that immigration to Israel isn't from one country, the desire of Israel to be accepted as Western... it all makes it very interesting. I was pleased to see Israel doing well. There is undoubtedly a rise in anti-Semitic activity and Israel doing well has to offer some comfort. It led me to think, though, about the relationships between Judaism and Israel. If a positive perception of Israel causes a positive perception of Judaism, is it not logical to assume that a negative perception of Israel will cause a negative perception of Judaism?

What, then, for Zionism? Zionism, so far as I understand it, and my knowledge of it is limited, is political action based on the religious belief that Israel is the homeland for Jews appointed by God. Israel exists as a state and is never going to stop existing as a state, so the persistent pressure of some of the more extreme pro-Zionist groups do seem to be asking for trouble.

I am no apologist for suicide bombings and the like, but if Israel is going to make a point of its being the only democracy in the Middle East (well, maybe with the addition of Iraq now) then it would do well to act like a democracy. Three-storey high bulldozers being used to demolish houses (regardless of whether you consider collective punishment to ever be justified) are going to anger people. The question is whether people are angered against just a political entity, the state of Israel, or against a people and religion, the Jews, they view as being forever linked with the state of Israel.

In any case, Kilroy-Silk almost certainly hates Eurovision, which is reason enough to like it.

xD.

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