Eurovision: What is it all about?

I had a party to go to on Saturday night, which meant that fortunately I did not have to watch the Eurovision Song contest. My poor son went to stay at a friend’s house and was forced to sit through the whole thing until 2am Sunday morning. I suppose being forced to sit through this kind of inanity at a young age could be said to be character building. Others might just say it is abuse.

I see that the UK came last again (3 times in the last 8 years). Not at all confusing really. Everyone loves to hate the English (or British; we are interchangeable to the rest of the word). What was confusing was why a Welshman called Jon Lilygreen was representing Cyprus? He doesn’t even live in Cyprus. I know we are all European now, but really what is the point of that exactly? And more importantly what is the point of the Eurovision song contest now, if there ever was one?

If Jon Lilygreen had been representing UK instead of Cyprus, would UK have got any more points? Doubtful. Terry Wogan got himself in a bit of a tizz about it all two years ago, when Russia won. He suggested it was all some eastern European conspiracy, a new cold war. I suppose you could look at it like that. I said lighten up Terry, it is just one big expensive joke.

This year Germany won with 246 points. Cyprus got 27 points and came in 21st place. UK got 10 points and came last out of 25 countries. Naturally and predictably Greece gave Cyprus 12 points and vice versa. Albania, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ireland gave UK a few crumbs. Why? The song was awful….If UK had to go through the qualifying heats like most contestants, we could be saved this ritual humiliation, as we would never get to the final. But as we apparently contribute loads of funding of this event, we don’t have to qualify along with Germany, France and Spain. Perhaps the new UK Government might consider cutting the funding for this extravaganza and helping the deficit….

Actually, it was not just the UK song that was awful. The German song was awful too but I guess Lena was quite good looking with long legs. Was that it? The Cyprus song wasn’t that bad and Jon was actually quite cute. But I have another question: why is a song from Cyprus called, ‘Life looks better in Spring’? When did Cyprus ever have seasons? It is just hot and hotter. The term ‘spring’ is pretty meaningless here. So back to my original question: what is the point of this ridiculous competition? If anyone can tell me the answer, please write and enlighten me.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.