The 2018 Eurovision Song Contest: Grand Finale Pt.9.

This can be read as a continuation of the previous eight posts; https://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/the-2018-eurovision-song-contest-grand_23.html

Across those eight posts I examined the main theme of this year's Song Contest - How Eurovision and by extension Europe has managed to get it just so horribly wrong over the last few years.

Two areas where Europe has got it really badly wrong is the conflict in Syria and the conflict in Libya. These conflicts have triggered a massive irregular migration crisis affecting Europe.

That crisis is really made up of two migration routes;

The so-called Balkan Route which sees migrants travel from Turkey across the Balkan region to western Europe. The so-called Mediterranean Route. This sees migrants travel from across Africa through Libya and across the Mediterranean Sea and into southern Europe.

As a result one of the other main themes at this year's Song Contest was migration.

Migration.

This is a theme that was touched on by many nations.

For example Malta used the Mediterranean Route as an example of one of the key things which is turning the World into such a horrifying place. The Netherlands focused on  the resumption of the African Slave Trade as a result of the conflict in Libya and the resulting Mediterranean Route.

There were though a number of nations which made it their main issue.

The problems of the migration crisis have been exacerbated by the actions of one country; Germany. Or more accurately its Chancellor (Head of Government) Angela Merkel.

In July 2015 Angela Merkel was holding a televised Town Hall style event. There she was confronted by a teenage Palestinian girl named Reem. In demanding to know why she wasn't being granted refugee status Reem started to cry. This prompted something of a nationwide game within Germany mocking Chancellor Merkel for being so cruel as to make a young girl cry.

Clearly affected by the mockery Chancellor Merkel massively and emotionally overreacted. She declared that Germany would offer refugee status and citizenship to every migrant arriving in the country. Chancellor Merkel turned Germany into the promised land for irregular migrants without a single thought to how they would arrive in Germany and what to do with them when they did.

This caused massive problems along the Balkan Route where the majority of irregular migrants were Muslims. The Balkan region has been particularly scarred by Muslim migration both through the Balkan wars of the 1990's and the Kosovo conflict of 1999.

You will have a tough time convincing particularly the Serbs that these Muslim migrants aren't looking to steal from them. The last time there was a massive flood of Muslim migrants in the Balkans was following Albania's economic collapse in 1997. On that occasion the Muslim migrants literally stole Serbia's entire southern Kosovo Province.

Austria: The last nation irregular migrants will travel through on the Balkan Route before arriving in the promised land of Germany is Austria. Not having been consulted by their neighbour about these millions of irregular migrants has led to a large scale backlash in Austria against both the migrants and Germany.

In the summer of 2016 the run-off election for the role of Austria's President was contested between Alexander Van der Bellen, an independent backed by the Green Party and Nobert Hofer of the far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPO). Initially Van der Bellen won with just 0.6% of the vote.

The Austrians were quite clear that this near election of a far-right politician to the largely ceremonial role of President was a protest against immigration. In fact the run-off had to be re-run due to a problem with postal ballots. Apparently the glue used was not doing a sufficient job of securing the borders.

With that mass protest over Van der Bellen won the re-run run-off with about 8% of the vote.

In December 2017 Austria held its much more important Parliamentary election. This elects the lawmakers which make up the Parliament along with the Chancellor who acts as the Head of Government.

The election saw the centre-right Austrian People's Party (OVP) emerge as the largest party. However in order to form a government they had to enter into a coalition with the Austrian Freedom Party. This limited success was due largely to the OVP moving to the right of its traditionally Christian roots to take a strong anti-immigration stance.

That saw the OVP align itself with what's known in European Union (EU) politics as the Visegrad Goup (V4). This is a grouping of EU member states including Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic who are strongly opposed to immigration. Particularly the EU's refugee quotas introduced in response to the irregular migration crisis.

The inclusion of the FPO within the governing coalition along with the OVP's tough immigration stance has led to their leader and now Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to be labelled a far-right Chancellor.

The last far-right Austrian Chancellor was a guy named Adolf Hitler. His legacy is not looked upon fondly by the majority of Europeans. That obviously gives Chancellor Kurz something of a public relations problem when it comes to his immigration stance.

This year Austria were represented by the song; "Nobody But You" by Cesar Sampson.

Cesar Sampson is a black Austrian man. The fact he has been chosen to represent Austria challenges the notion that the country is racist. Lyrics such as; "Lord, I’m gonna bring you back tonight" and "Your words have been my bible // How could I search for someone new?" however point to a very strong Christian identity.

Therefore the song is making the argument that Austria's objections to the Balkan Route are not based on racism. Instead they are based on a desire to protect Austria and Europe's Christian identity in the face of the supposed Muslim hordes.

I must say though that it shows what a mess Europe has got itself into that the phrase; "It's not racism. It's just Islamaphobia" has somehow become an acceptable excuse.

That said even the entry doesn't seem entirely convinced by the argument its putting forward. 

The video in support of the song features lots of shots of the black Cesar Sampson in sharp contrast with the traditional white snow of Austria. It also ends with a shot of him clasping the hand of a white woman. The sort of mixed race relationship I doubt the FPO are particularly keen on.

The video also features lots of black and white piano keys being played together. In reference to the 1982 Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder call for racial harmony; "Ebony and Ivory."

The mention of Stevie Wonder serves as a reference to; "The Black Music." Something which at recent Song Contests has become a way to discuss former US President Obama and his policies. In that context the fact that Cesar Sampson is black seems to be reminding everyone why Europe is in such a mess.

Bulgaria: Cesar Sampson who represented Austria is a member of Symphonix International. This is a loose collective of songwriters and producers which often plays a large role at the Song Contest.

Bulgaria's entry "Bones" by Equinox is also produced by Symphonix International.

Taken in isolation the message of Bulgaria's entry is extremely hard to place. With lyrics such as; "Love is like a black hole // Everything is dark" it seems to be talking about a very dark, destructive kind of love. 

It also invokes imagery of space and Astrophysics. That could be taken as a reference to Quantum Physics and the so-called; "Rihanna Effect." The theory that if you affect the Quantum Field such as by humming the Rihanna song; "Umbrella" the result could be that it rains.

As with Austria's entry it also features a black man. In the form of Johnny Manuel from Michigan who is famous in the US due to his appearance on "America's Got Talent." The video also features a cross within a circle. In the recent UK TV Show "Hard Sun" this was claimed to be a neo-Nazi symbol.

Despite all these small references there doesn't seem to be any significant point to Bulgaria's entry.

However if Austria is the last country irregular migrants travel through on the Balkan Route before arriving in Germany then Bulgaria is the first country they travel through having left Turkey. Once you realise that Austria and Bulgaria represent the two ends of the Balkan Route and their songs are both produced by the same people Bulgaria's entry is starts to make a lot more sense.

In short it's meant to be a not very good version of Austria's song. The key difference is that it is massively overstaffed. Where Austria have a single singer Bulgaria have five.

Particularly when shown directly after Austria's entry it sends out the message; "Europe doesn't need any more people. We've got more than enough already!" 

France: They were represented by Madame Monsieur with the song; "Mercy."

The song tells the true story of a baby girl named Mercy who was born to a Nigerian mother aboard the MV Aquarius in March 2017.  MV Aquarius is operated by two Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO's/Charities) -  Medecine Sans Frontieres (MSF) and SOS Mediterranee. Its mission is to collect irregular migrants from in the Mediterranean Sea and transport them to southern Europe

The video in support of the song features dozens of extras dressed as irregular migrants with life jackets and gold foil blankets. They're shown throughout the major landmarks of Europe.

As such on the surface you could take this as a political protest in support of irregular migrants and migration. For example by referring to all irregular migrants as; "Refugees" with no questions asked.

In response to particularly the irregular migration crisis via the Balkan Route the main topic of discussion at the 2016 Song Contest was the question of how to integrate immigrants into the society of their new country.

The most successful school of thought on this topic is the doctrine of; "Multiculturalism." Rather than simply meaning; "Lots of Migrants" multiculturalism is a doctrine which allows immigrants to retain aspects of their culture which don't come in conflict with the existing culture. These aspects then become absorbed by the existing culture in what is often referred to as a; "Melting Pot."

One aspect of multiculturalism which has been explored in a lot of detail by the British legal system is the Sikh practice of "Kirpan." The carrying of a ceremonial sword or dagger.

If you've been following the headlines from Khanistan throughout 2018 you would know that Britain has strict laws against the carrying of knives, daggers and swords. However exemptions are made for Sikh men who adhere to the other four articles of the Sikh faith (The Five K's). Unless of course they use their Kirpan to attack someone. In which case the normal rules around murder and assault apply.

France adopts the different doctrine of "Assimilation." This forces immigrants to reject all aspects of their culture and wholly adopt the culture of their new country.

France is particularly protective of its language. It actually has a government ministry known as the; "Délégation générale à la langue française et aux langues de France (General Delegation for French and the Languages of France)." 

It's mission is to ensure the French is the official language of France by protecting it from the encroachment of other languages. Such as by setting quotas for how many non-French language songs can be played on TV and Radio. That is obviously an aspect of France's assimilation policy which is very easy to discuss at the Song Contest.

I think a particularly well recognised example of France's language laws at work is the the singer Héloïse Letissier who is better known as; "Christine and the Queens." She sings primarily in English but slips just enough French into her songs that they can be played on TV and Radio in her native France.

By playing around with the idea of gender identity Madame Monsieur make significant reference to Christine and the Queens. In fact their name seems to be borrowed from a lyric in the 2015 song "Tilted."

Once you are familiar with France's language battles the song "Mercy" takes on a different tone. In English "Mercy" means compassion or care. However in French the similar sounding word; "Merci" means to give thanks.

So rather than being a song in support of irregular migrants France's song is actually a protest against irregular migrants. The message being along the lines of; "We show them all this compassion and look at all the thanks we yet."

The type of thanks France has been getting from particularly Muslim immigrants is shown by the fact that Emilie - the female, Madame part of the act is from Nice.

On July 14th 2016 (14/7/16) there was an Islamist terror attack on crowds enjoying Bastille Day celebrations in Nice. A terrorist drove a truck through the crowded promenade killing 86 and wounding 458.

One of the iconic images to emerge from that attack was of a dead girl aged 4 or 5 wrapped in one of the gold foil blankets shown in the video. 

Although that was far from the most horrific image of the attack that image particularly affected me. I think it just acted as a cipher for all the other horrifying things I'd seen that year. I was also taken by the fact that whomever had wrapped the girl in her shroud had also taken the trouble to make sure her favourite soft toy was wrapped up with her. 

The video also featured frequent use of red flares. Far from simply looking pretty red flares have a very specific meaning in international maritime law. They are a signal of distress and it is actually a criminal offence to use them if you are not in distress.

As such the imagery of Europe's landmarks bathed in red flares was a sign of an entire continent in distress.

Whether you take it as pro or anti-refugee France's entry was based on a real-life event and was overtly political. Therefore it was in breach on Eurovision's golden rule and should not have been allowed into the contest.

However it was allowed because it was done deliberately and in strong protest against Shamali Province's shameful rule breaking in 2016. 

Through "1944" by Jamala Shamali Province broke the; "No Overt Politics" rule because they consider themselves to be a master race who don't have to follow the rules which apply to everybody else. An approach they also take to the Minsk Protocol.

This year France intentionally broke the same rule because they knew they would be punished for it. Therefore they would not win meaning they wouldn't have to provide a security plan for hosting the 2019 Song Contest.

The main reason France doesn't want to put together a security plan is because of all the Islamist terrorism. A Song Contest held in Portugal still managed to trigger an Islamist terror attack in Paris. It is also worth noting though that French intelligence actually did a lot of the work making sure the 2017 contest held in Shamali Province was secure.

The main security challenge to the 2017 Song Contest was being in a state of civil war Shamali Province is just awash with heavy weapons. This meant that pretty much anyone could obtain hundreds of kilograms of high explosive and attack the contest on a whim.

In June 2016 a Frenchman by the name of Gregoire Moutaux travelled to Shamali Province to obtain a vast array of weapons including assault rifles, rocket propelled grenades and 125kg of TNT. It was claimed that he was doing this in order to stage 15 terror attacks against Jewish and Muslim targets during the Euro 2016 football tournament being held in France.

The prospect of Muslims being in danger got the US of former President Obama in particular suddenly very focused on the vast amounts on weaponry available in Shamali Province. This focus led to a crackdown which allowed the 2017 Song Contest to pass off peacefully. It also allowed the May 26th (26/5/18) UEFA Champions League Final which was bizarrely held in Shamali Province to pass of peacefully.

Gregoire Moutaux was sentenced on May 22nd (22/5/18). Amid much discussion over how UEFA has allowed itself to become infected by the corruption and extremism of Chuck Blazer and CONCACAF.

France's decision to use the irregular migration issue to break the No Overt Politics was also intended to raise discussion about how Eurovision got it so wrong by awarding Portugal victory in 2017 and with it the 2018 hosting rights.

Due to the cost Portugal has only been able to participate in the Song Contest intermittently since the 2008 financial crisis. They certainly did not want the expense of hosting the 2018 Song Contest. In fact their winning entry in 2017 was essentially them adopting the shared language and looking to Brazil to say; "I hope you're not expecting us to pay .... For the Both of Us."

As the Song Contest week progressed and Portugal started to emerge as the favourite their artist Salvador Sobral took to wearing a hoodie with the overtly political slogan; "SOS Refugees" and making overtly political statements in support of refugees during press conferences and interviews.  

This breaking of the No Overt Politics rule was Portugal trying to do everything it could think of to get itself marked down so they wouldn't have to host the 2018 Song Contest.

The fact that went completely over the heads of everyone in the Eurovision community does not show them in the best light.

The French entry also contributed to the; "Trolling of the Gays" sub-theme.

During the live performance in the Grand Final Emilie kept reaching down from the stage to the audience. This prompted the audience to reach up to the stage. It was a scene that almost resembled irregular migrants on the Mediterranean Route reaching up towards their rescuers aboard MV Aquarius.

However it had the effect of getting the audience to throw their right arms up as if in a Nazi salute. 

So the French managed to turn the very gay Eurovision crowd and their Russophobia into a Nazi Rally.

At around 17:15 on 28/5/18 (UK date) I just need to add Germany's right-to-reply to this section. 

Germany: They were represented by Michael Schulte with the song; "You Let Me Walk Alone."

As the title suggests this song was all about Germany's deep unpopularity and isolation within Europe. However rather than taking responsibility for its failings Germany attempts to blame everyone else in Europe for its isolation. 

With lyrics such as; "Every now and then I’m drawn to places" in reference to EU expansion and; "You made this place a home // A shelter from the storm" in reference to the irregular migration crisis it attempts to portray Germany as the true guardian of European values. With lyrics such as; "I’m a dreamer // I was told that you were, too" it chastises European for abandoning those values.

It is testament to how sensitive Germany is about its isolation and deep unpopularity that in Michael Schulte they chose a well established star to represent them. 

Michael Schulte began his career in 2007 on Youtube amassing some 50 million views and 300,000 subscribers. His debut album reached number 1 in Germany in 2012 and he released his fourth album in late 2017. He has also written songs for the suitably ethnically harmonious "Alle Farben (All Colours).

Martin Schulte was backed by an equally well established writing team. Including Thomas Stengaard who wrote the 2013 Song Contest winner "Only Teardrops" for Denmark's Emmelie de Forest and the big Danish pop hit "Vi To Datid" by Cisilia in 2015. Germany's song was also part written by Nina Muller who writes for big German popstars such Lina Maly, Mary Roos and Johannes Falk.

Apart from adding quality the hope was that these well established names with them to help Germany avoid a crushing defeat in the voting.

However in the execution of that idea those well established names did seem to be trying to wreck their chances at every opportunity.

Officially the song is about Michael Schultz growing up without his father who died when he was just 14 years old. Featuring lyrics such as; "From one love of two hearts // We were three kids and a loving mum" it seemed to be aggressively pushing the idea of traditional family values that marriage is only between one man and one woman. Not an idea that is particularly popular amongst a Eurovision crowd.

Michael Schultz is, I think, married and his female partner is pregnant with their first child. During one of the intermission segments of the Second Semi-Final he and the presenters did a big gender reveal. Suggesting that gender is not only binary but also fixed is the sort of thing the Snowflakes seem to consider hate speech.

In the end Germany's deceit seemed to pay off. They were roundly thumped in the panel voting spending much of the Grand Final languishing in last place. However the established fanbase and the saccharine schmaltz of song rescued them in the public vote eventually elevating them to fourth.

The song was very much in the style of British popstar Ed Sheeran. In a clear sign that society has failed and we're all doomed Ed Sheeran is inexplicably popular. The similarity therefore helped Germany bring in some more public votes.

However I think the main reason for the similarity was in reference to Britain's exit from the EU (Brexit). Specifically the issue of the border between the Republic of Ireland and British region of Northern Ireland.

In early 2017 Ed Sheeran released the song; "Galway Girl." Like the rest of Ed Sheeran's back catalogue this is a blatant copy of the Steve Earle song of the same name. It's about a girl from the Irish city of Galway. 

At the 2017 Song Contest the Republic of Ireland along with a number of other nations such as Spain used their entries to roundly mock Ed Sheeran and his plagiarism. 

The joke at the time was that the only thing that will unite the island of Ireland is an utter hatred of Ed Sheeran.

17:15 on 29/5/18 (UK date).