Eurovision song contest

[Cartimand]

I didn't really want to get dragged into this, but I think the issue is more that Israel has been accused of war crimes by the ICC, of genocide by groups like Amnesty International, has killed over 70,000 people in two and a half years, has long had illegal settlements in Gaza, and it seems reasonable to me to ask why they aren't facing similar sanctions on entertainment and sport as Russia are. Antisemitism is real and sadly is growing, but the term is also being weaponised by some to silence any criticism of Israel and its government, and it's very important not to conflate the two. There is no other country where anyone would argue that criticism of its government means you have a problem with the primary religion there.

But yes, the political element to it is increasingly hard to ignore. Greece and Cyprus should be told to pack in it with the constant awarding of 12 points to each other, especially from the judges. That bland Israel entry wouldn't have got many points at all if any other country had entered it, and it does seem like we're seen as one of the big powers that most of Europe would rather not vote for, although Germany and France could probably make the same complaint.

I don't think they hate us, but we are failing to connect with them and if we're being serious, maybe we need to look at our attitude towards the competition and the songs we're entering. I think we should remember that almost everyone who we want to vote for us will speak English as a second or third language, if at all. It's disrespectful in a way because other countries are doing the whole thing in our language, and then we're not helping them by throwing in Britishisms and overly specific language they're not going to understand, then thinking we're doing our bit for international relations by throwing in a bit of token German. I couldn't really understand what the UK entry was all about myself to be honest, so how can we expect someone in Moldova or so to pick up on references to jam roly-poly and custard or whatever it was? Same with the woman who announced the UK's votes, she was gabbling and you could tell the Austrians weren't following her.

If you want to be understood, keep communication clear, and music is a form of communication after all. I imagine most of the songs that have won Eurovision have had pretty simple and direct lyrics that don't require much analysis, Bangaranga being a good example.

No. This isn't the forum to debate the age-old Arabs v Jews issue, but I have to query your claim that Israel "has long had illegal settlements in Gaza". No they haven't! Israel withdrew entirely from Gaza in 2005, in the hope that exchanging land for peace would lead to a lasting solution. Sadly it didn't, as the Gazan government (Hamas) squandered all the aid and, with Iranian backing, militarized Gaza and started this utterly catastrophic war on October 7, 2023. The ICC's application for arrest warrants against top Israeli (and Hamas) leaders was an attempt to bash heads together until the fighting stops but was clearly unrealistic political posturing rather than a viable solution. It needs someone like Clinton to chair genuine peace talks like he did at the famous Camp David/Taba ones that came so very close to resolving this. Had Arafat not scuppered the Taba peace offer, then Palestine would have had its independence a quarter of a century ago.
But to get back to Eurovision, Russia was booted out because it attacked Ukraine. Israel, on the other hand, was attacked by Hamas, in the most heinous antisemitic massacre since WW2.