Friday, May 17, 2013

A Euro-kiss that dare not speak it's name

[Photo by Richard Frost/Gay Star News]

"Will Eurovision censor a kiss between Finland's Krista Siegfrids and a female dancer?
Turkey has just banned the show from being broadcast and now the press reports that there is pressure on Eurovision to cancel the kiss before Saturday's final. Eurovision organisers are worried other Eastern European countries might ban the contest too.


If the kiss is censored it would be a huge victory for anti-gay voices. But if thousands of us sign the petition calling for the kiss to go on, we can show Eurovision that there will be much bigger outcry if they choose censorship over celebration."
Read more from All Out's  page here.

5 comments:

The Hickory Wind said...

Much as it pains me to have anything to do with Eurovision,I have signed, on the grounds that their freedom is my freedom.

Brett Hetherington said...

Yes, Señor Ingram, their freedom is our freedom. Quite so. I know you are (like myself) a "man of letters" but the sheer awfulness and polished absurdity of Eurovision (along with the occasional bit of musical talent) is surely worth watching...if not only as a slice of cultural anthropology. Ne cest pas?

The Hickory Wind said...

A "Man of Letters"? I shall quote you on my tombstone.

There is indeed a hypnotic awfulness to it that is worthy of study. In end I caught a bit of it, including a summary of all the songs. There seemed to be a lot of 80's retro, and I loved the bearded Maltese lumberjack singing in falsetto and a pink frock, and the knees-upping Greek accordianists. You got the impression some of them weren't taking it terribly seriously. In fact though, everyone involved must know how ghastly it is. The singers grin and bear it for the chance to launch their careers, but why does it exist in the first place?

Brett Hetherington said...

I'm glad you did watch it so that you could revel in the "hypnotic awfulness" of Eurovision. Apparently, it was created to "unite Europe." Sounds familiar, doesn't it. Whenever anyone talks about uniting people my arse begins to twitch.

I actually thought the Estonian song was quite nice and the Netherlands one is definately worth a second listen, especially the beautiful melody in the chorus.

Greece was a lowlight...Which in istself is a highlight, perversely.

Brett Hetherington said...

Netherlands Eurovision song for 2013:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAe9b-9xA7c