The 2018 Eurovision Song Contest: Grand Finale Pt.5.

A direction continuation of Part 4; https://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/the-2018-eurovision-song-contest-grand_16.html

Next to explore the reasons why we've all managed to get it just so horribly wrong was Malta. Their song was "Taboo" by Christabelle.

The video in support of the song began with a dozen or so apparent hostages being lined up in a sort of poorly lit dungeon. Both male and female they were in various states of undress and were being subjected to cruel treatment such as having buckets of freezing water thrown over them.

Suddenly in walks a man and a woman in expensive, glamorous clothing. They inspect each one of the hostages. Some are chosen and asked to step forward while others are rejected.

This was very reminiscent of scenes from the British, BBC drama; "McMafia" which debuted at the start of 2018. It is based on the non-fiction book by British Russian journalist Misha Glenny; "McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld" which examines organised crime and corruption in modern Russia.

The BBC's big offering in the same time slot in 2017 was; "Sherlock." Due to the time difference this was actually broadcast in Russia before it was broadcast in the UK. If McMafia were to also be broadcast in Russia on the same schedule it was broadcast in the UK reach its finale around the time of Russia's 2018 election in March.

Prior to its launch this led to something of a mass panic in the UK that it would be viewed by Russia as an attempt by the UK to lay the groundwork for self-styled anti-corruption campaigner Alexey Navalney to stage a big, beautiful colour revolution to overthrow the Russian government.

I will get around to covering Armenia and Azerbaijan. However I should warn Armenia that their old enemy is suddenly very supportive of them. As they invoke the Winds of Change.

Part of Britain's panic was the murder of Moldovan born Russian/Greek/Cypriot tri-national Iuliana Tudos. She was killed in the traditionally very Jewish Finsbury Park area of London.

Just as I write this Kasim Lewis has been convicted of her murder. Mr Lewis is originally from Montserrat in the Caribbean. If you think coming from the Caribbean precludes Mr Lewis from being an Islamist terrorist you'd be incorrect. The island of Trinidad supplies a surprisingly high number of ISIL fighters.

As such the whole affair seems to confirm that it is support for ISIL that is driving NATO's current animosity towards Russia.

The Eurovision community will have to decide whether it is prepared to tolerate Kasim Lewis' murder of a Russian national. After all he is only a bisexual man rather than a fully gay man.

Meanwhile you'll have to remind me; What was the name of Norway's entry this year? 

The scene in Malta's video specifically referenced a story strand from McMafia. This involves a young Russian woman named Lyudmilla travelling to Egypt on the promise of a job as a beautician. On arrival she is promptly kidnapped and then trafficked from Egypt into Israel where she is sold into sex work.

Specifically Lyudmilla is brought by a woman - Tanya Kleiman. She is the daughter of Israeli crime boss and politically connected 'legitimate businessman' Semiyon Kleiman.

Semiyon Kleiman claims that his daughter works for Israel's foreign intelligence service the Mossad. However the show then offers nothing to suggest this gangster's tale is true. Far from working for the Mossad Tanya Kleiman doesn't seem to have any job beyond organising the family's sex trafficking business.

Although he has an adult daughter Semiyon Kleiman is something of an openly gay man.

When living in the homophobic Soviet Union Semiyon had to hide his homosexuality by taking a wife and having children. However now living in liberal Israel he is able to be much more open about his homosexuality. Although as his rivals move to topple him he is accused of raping a young man.

Despite being a gay man Semiyon Kleiman is not what you would consider a good man. Not least because of all the rape and sex trafficking.

Written and partly directed by the Iranian born Muslim Hossein Amini McMafia has, I would say legitimately, faced accusations of both Anti-Semitism and Homophobia. However 'progressive liberals' have, for once, seemed to have chosen to remain silent.

So although none of it is their main point Malta have managed to bring all of that into the conversation. In the space of about seven seconds.

The hostages who'd been selected by Tanya and Semiyon were then dragged out by crypto-fascist guards into a post-apocalyptic town square.

The crypto-fascist guards all had the same hair style and were dressed in the same uniform. This was made up of smart chino type trousers, smart white shirts and Hipster/Millennial style braces/suspenders. They were all wearing red armbands.

However rather than being the red of the Nazi Swastika these armbands were the Communist red of totalitarian China. The same totalitarian China which has taken to warning American 'progressive liberals' that they really need to tone down the authoritarianism and the fascism.

The post-apocalyptic future was represented by vehicles that looked like they'd come straight out of the 2015 movie; "Mad Max: Fury Road." At the 2016 Oscars this movie was used to represent the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and proved hugely popular as a result.

Having been dragged out into the town square the hostages were forced to fight each other as if slaves in a Roman Colosseum. I say; "Fight" the scenes that followed seemed every bit as confusing and horrifying as the world we currently find ourselves living in.

If you believe the negative stereotypes what the Eurovision community would have found the most horrifying about this sequence is that it featured lots of scenes of heterosexuality. Men and women kissing each other, apparently free from either duress or vomit.

For their live performance in the First Semi-Final Malta abandoned almost all of this. Instead they focused on the technical elements of TV broadcasting. They of course won the Augmented Reality theme with their 3D computer generated CAD model of an anatomically correct human heart.

Malta's stage set also featured four ultra-thin, mobile LED screens. This referenced the illuminated doorways the RoK used during the 2018 Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony. They also referenced the TV screens that China used in their sequences in the Closing Ceremonies for both the Winter Olympics and Para-Olympics.

Malta used their LED screens to show images as violent and confusing as the world we seem to find ourselves in. The screens moved around to box in and overwhelm the singer.

In the artists biography submitted as part of the entry much is made of the fact Christabelle is an Ambassador for Mental Health for the Maltese President's Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society. We are all currently worried about the mental health of supporters of former US President Obama.

The biography also goes to great pains to make clear that Christabelle is also a much loved advocate for and supporter of gay rights. Having performed numerous times at Malta's annual Gay Pride festival.

If you have white skin you never need to tell people this when you meet them for the first time. Likewise if you have black skin it tends to be equally self-evident to the people you meet. So the fact Malta felt the need to tell people they're supportive of gay rights should be a bit of a clue that they're about to be quite critical of the gay community.

In fact I don't think Malta would be at all worried if they didn't make it through to the Grand Final. Particularly if they lost votes as the result of an hysterical gay backlash.

The overriding message and frankly just the lyrics of Malta's song was that;

"It’s time to break the taboo, 

Before we all become animals, animals."

One thing that seems particularly taboo at the moment is saying that Barack Obama did a pretty terrible job as US President.

Another big taboo seems to be saying that Donal Trump would make a far better President then Hillary Clinton. Trump certainly couldn't do a worse job as President then Hillary Clinton managed to do as Secretary of State.

There also seems to be a huge taboo against pointing out that no. Not all Muslims are tolerant and peaceful people. Muslims are particularly intolerant of the types of people who make up the majority of the Eurovision community.

In fact in my experience if you want a quiet life there are two topics you just don't bring up in the company of Muslims; Gays and Jews.

People who are new to the Song Contest might be surprised that Israel competes as part of Europe. Veterans will know that amongst the founding members of the EBU were Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt. 

Officially they do not compete because of the Jews. That is the reason they felt comfortable putting on the official form. However I don't think the portrayals of homosexuality and empowered female sexuality particularly help.

In the run-up to this year's contest on April 21st (21/4/18) the French newspaper Le Parisien published a manifesto signed by a number of senior public figures including former President Nicholas Sarkozy and former Prime Minister Manuel Valls. 

It called for the Qu'ran to be edited to remove passages calling for violence against Jews, Christians and homosexuals.

This caused an uproar across the Muslim world. Including in Turkey which banned the study of French literature. Apparently they consider violence against Jews, Christians and homosexuals to be a core duty of their religion.

Located in the Mediterranean Sea Malta is a member of the European Union (EU). This puts the tiny island with a population of just 437,000 people on the absolute frontline of the flood of irregular migrants crossing from North Africa.

Something which seems to be particularly taboo is saying that being pro-refugee does not make you a good person. Whenever there is a mass flood of refugees it means that something has gone horribly wrong in the country they are fleeing from. If you support that then you are in fact a pretty terrible person.

NATO's war in Libya has led to the resumption of the African Slave Trade. There are literally slave auctions regularly taking place where black men and women are sold as if they were farm machinery. Pro-refugee groups tell us that it is taboo to take action to put a stop to that because it would be racist.

Since the days of William Wilberforce and the US Civil War we have described people who try to protect Slave Auctions not as great humanitarians but simply as; "Evil."

The Ultimate Taboo.

If the Eurovision Song Contest has a core mission it is to promote tolerance, equality and inclusion amongst all nations and all peoples. As a result it has a long and extremely proud history of fighting for gay rights.

In the early days of the competition this particularly involved the technical aspects of the contest. This allowed for talented gay engineers and technicians to be judged for their skills rather than their sexuality.

Although not directly involved in Eurovision a prime example of this is Alan Turing. The gay British mathematician who broke Nazi Germany's Enigma code by inventing what is widely considered to be the first computer. 

Alan Turing also devised the; "Turing Test" to determine when an Artificial Intelligence (AI) had become so advanced it could convincingly pass for a human. Some 64 years after his death other computer programmers have only just caught up with Alan Turing and are approaching the point they can put his theories to the test.

I am not Alan Turing's personal historian. However I get the impression that the people who knew and worked with him knew that he was gay. This includes people at the highest levels in the British military and the British government such as then Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

However these people were all happy to overlook what at the time was a serious criminal offence. Simply because Turing was so brilliant that there was absolutely no-one else able to do what he did.

Similarly the Song Contest has allowed nations to send gay representatives to nations where homosexuality is illegal. They sneak them through immigration by arguing that they're so talented they're the only ones who can get the advanced technology to work.

That makes it all the more appalling that Shamali Province banned Russia's Yulia Samoylova from the 2017. The Song Contest has a long history of getting immigration officials to overlook things they would normally consider illegal.

Once you've been able to get people to overlook the fact that extremely talented people are gay. Then it becomes easier to get them to overlook the fact that less talented people a gay. Once that happens the entire edifice of homophobia starts to crumble.

As with the rest of the entertainment industry the Song Contest has always been more welcoming to gay people. 

That's not because being sexually attracted to people of your own gender magically makes you more creative or artistic. Nor does being creative or artistic suddenly make you sexually attracted to people of you own gender. Instead its due to the simple fact that oppression makes performers of all criminals.

If you are a gay person living in a society where homosexuality is illegal. Well then if you want to stay out of prison then every time you go outside you have to take on the character of a heterosexual person and commit to that role as if your life depends upon it.

Likewise if you are a drug dealer or people trafficker you have present yourself as a legitimate businessman. Or at least you did until Obama and Black Lives Matter came along.

So the entertainment industry has traditionally been welcoming not just to gay people but members of other oppressed minorities. Polari the supposedly gay language actually has its roots in Yiddish, a form of Jewish slang and elements of Romani Gypsy languages. 

Once Eurovision had got those in authority to overlook the fact that talented technicians were gay it became easier to get them to overlook the fact that talent artists were gay. As a result the Song Contest was able to put clearly gay people on screen much earlier then the broadcasters which make up the EBU were able to do domestically.

This has turned the Song Contest into something of beacon for gay rights in a world which for much of Eurovision's history has been a particularly dark place for gay people. 

At around 17:20 om 17/5/18 (UK date) I'll pick this up after dinner.

Edited at around 19:10 on 17/5/18 (UK date) to add. But you'll have to read it all again to find out where; 

In many ways the Song Contest has become a victim of its own success. Particularly within the EU gay people are no longer an oppressed minority.

Obviously there is still homophobia. Even the most totalitarian society cannot legislate against every idiot. However there is no longer the state sponsored, institutionalised oppression of gay people.

For example homosexuality is no longer considered a criminal offence. If you're a self-identifying Pansexual Millennial who needs it explaining what a big deal that is. Well then clearly you don't know that you've been born.

Although we can quibble over you call it marriage or a civil partnership gay couples enjoy the same legal and financial rights of straight couples. There are strong laws to prevent discrimination in the workplace. Those laws are enforced.

So while I wouldn't change it for the world this removal of oppression means that I swear the gay community is getting dumber with each passing year.

As a beacon of hope the Eurovision Song Contest has attracted large number gay people to it and gained itself a reputation as a gay event. Some describe it as' "The Gay Olympics" or; "Gay Christmas."

As a Seinfeld-style annual Airing of Grievances perhaps; "Gay Hanukkah" is more appropriate. In the sense it lasts for eight nights and it's a miracle anyone survives.

This reputation as a gay event has meant that people have become blinded to all the other things that the Song Contest entails. The prime example of this would be Azerbaijan's 2013 entry; "Hold Me" by Farid Mammadov.

The live performance of this involved Farid Mammadov performing atop of a giant perspex box. Within that box there there another performer dressed in a black full body suit. The performer in the box mirrored or shadowed Farid Mammadov's movements.

This was a protest against Azerbaijan's repressive, Soviet style government. 

Since 1993 Azerbaijan has known only two Presidents. Heydar Aliyev and his son Ilham Aliyev. In February 2017 Ilham Aliyev appointed his wife Mehriban Aliyev as Vice President. 

In the Aliyev's Azerbaijan dissidents, artists and free thinkers are routinely shadowed and harassed by the police state.

Unfortunately Song Contest viewers took the performer in the box to be a metaphor for Farid Mammadov's hidden homosexuality. They proceeded to wet themselves with excitement.

This complete missing of the point left the delegation from Azerbaijan absolutely furious. It is extremely hard work and requires an incredible amount of skill to get a song protesting your own government all the way to the Eurovision Song Contest.

As a result the next few years saw everyone sort of putting a reassuring hand on Azerbaijan's shoulder and saying; "Don't worry. We knew what you meant." Even five years on we still need to give them a call every now and again. To make sure they've not been murdered.

Rather than being a problem with actually gay Eurovision fans this sort of thing is more the fault of what are termed; "Fag Hags." These are miserable heterosexual women who sort of latch onto gay man as a way to escape their own wretched existence. 

Not being gay themselves Fag Hags often try to justify their presence in the gay community by constantly going on about how awesome it is that people are gay and how much they support gay rights. Even when nobody asked.

There is a UK TV Show called; "Gogglebox" which provides a good example of this. Gogglebox films supposedly ordinary members of the public was they watch TV shows in order to capture their reactions. 

One of the families that regularly appear on the show are the Micheal family who live in Brighton. Brighton regularly fights with Manchester for the title of; "Britain's Gay Capital." On the rare occasions Brighton is reminded that Manchester exists.

In one episode the Michael family were shown watching the Eurovision Song Contest. Their roughly 20 year old straight daughter Alex was there in her gay pride rainbow t-shirt with little rainbow flags face-painted on her cheeks waving too little rainbow flags going;

"Oh it's so wonderful the gay community is able to celebrate in this way. I think it's far better than Brighton Pride. I think next year I'll get tickets to the Song Contest."

Prompting the gay men at Eurovision, the straight men at Eurovision and all the women at Eurovision to tut, shake their heads and say;

"No dear. One does not merely walk to Mordor."

So at the Song Contest The Ultimate Taboo is saying;

"No. Not everybody is secretly gay. And no. It's not always about gay rights."

21:15 on 17/5/18 (UK date).