A direct continuation of Part (a); http://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-2018-eurovision-song-contest-grand_31.html
Romania: This year they were represented with the song; "Goodbye" by the band The Humans.
One of the key drivers behind Britain's decision to leave the EU is mass migration. This is longer standing and separate from the more recent irregular migration crisis.
Under EU rules any citizen from any EU member state is free to live and work in any other EU member state. In practice this means large numbers of people migrating from the poorer EU member states such as Romania to richer EU member states such as Britain.
These complaints over immigration are one of the main things Remoaners use to label Brexiteers as racist contributing to their existential crisis. Therefore they would be surprised to learn that many of the poorer EU members are also extremely unhappy about the migration issue.
Particularly in Romania this free movement of people has seen almost the entire working age population leave their native country for richer EU member states.
This is causing significant structural problems both within the economies and societies of those poorer member states. A particular problem is of parents abandoning their children to travel to richer EU member states. Effectively creating a generation of economic orphans.
Romania's 2015 Song Contest entry dealt with exactly this issue. The song; "De La Capat (All Over Again)" by the band Voltag was part of a much wider, national campaign urging Romanian parents not to abandon their children by leaving to find work.
Depressingly in recent years that campaign as been reduced to accepting that nothing will stop Romanian parents leaving to find work. Instead the focus is on making sure that they at least inform local authorities such as schools who will be looking after their children in their absence.
The name of the band; "The Humans" is a reference to the British TV show; "Humans." This actually based on an earlier Swedish TV show called; "Real Humans."
Both TV shows are set in a near future where Artificially Intelligence (AI) robots have become commonplace. It discusses questions of consciousness and what it means they be human. Rather like the more recent US TV show; "Westworld." However gather than being hosts in some theme park in Humans the AI robots do all the unpleasant jobs that humans no longer want to do. Such as cleaners, nannies or factory workers.
Romania's entry references Humans as a discussion about the type of remittances Romanian workers in Britain end up sending home. If you've abandoned your children for a decade and all you've got to show for it is knowledge of this pretty terrible TV show then Romania has got a really bad deal.
It also takes a swipe at the Remoaners and their support for migrant workers. Rather than being proof that they are not racist many of the Remoaners see Romanian migrants not as human. Instead they see them as faceless automatons ready to clean houses, care for children and work in factories all without demanding fair pay or decent living conditions.
Romania's general tone is that it is rather thankful that Britain is leaving the EU. However Brexit is a far less important issue to Romania than it is to Britain. They're far more concerned with stopping all their working age adults flooding out of Romania into the remaining EU nations.
Denmark: This year they were represented by Rasmussen with the song; "Higher Ground."
This song was inspired by the legend of Magnus Erlendsson. A Viking warrior who refused to fight during 1098 Battle of Anglesey Sound.
Brexit represents the reversal of a very long process of further integration between Britain and mainland Europe. The Brexit vote led to some discussion about when exactly this process of integration began.
Many have traced it all the way back the the Norman Conquests and the famous Battle of Hasting in 1066. This has been dubbed the; "Brentry" or British entry into Europe.
Rather than being a single battle the Norman Conquests began with what is now generally considered France invading the South-East of England at Hastings East Sussex in 1066. They then set about the slow process of conquering all of Britain.
By 1098 the Normans had begun the process of capturing North Wales and the North of England. However by this time Magnus Barefoot the Viking King of Norway had decided to take advantage of the chaos by sending an expedition to North Wales and the North of England to claim the territory as part of his kingdom.
In June or July of 1098 the Norman and Viking forces clashed at Anglesey Sound which sits on the Menai Strait. Magnus Barefoot defeated the Normans as was cheered by the local Britons for rescuing them from Brentry with Europe.
One of the options being considered for Britain's post-Brexit relationship with the EU is based on Norway's relationship with the EU. Norway is not an EU member but is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA). This means that it has access to the EU's single market without being a member of the EU Custom's Union.
So Denmark were suggesting that once again Norway could save Britain from Brexit. In much the same way it saved them from Brentry.
The problem is of course that to be part of the EEA Norway has to accept the free movement of people. One of the main reasons Britain decided to leave the EU to begin with.
Denmark's entry deals with a real life event. Events do not really get more political than battles and wars. Therefore there is a lot of discussion over whether Denmark's entry breaks the No Overt Politics rule.
The first thing you can say in Denmark's defence is that the Battle of Anglesey Sound happened nearly 1,000 years ago. Therefore I don't think it really counts as a current event. One of my mothers is originally from Anglesey. This is the first I'm hearing of the battle.
The Battle of Anglesey Sound was fought between Norway and France in Britain. This is the entry from Denmark. So I'm tempted to give them a little bit of leeway because its not actually a reference to their history.
Also rather than being about the battle itself it is about the legend surrounding Magnus Erlendsson - one the people who fought in the battle. Historians can't agree whether the battle took place in June or July of 1098. So while it's well established that the battle took place it's far from certain that Magnus Erlendsson actually fought in it or if any of the legend surrounding him is actually true.
The strongest argument in Denmark's defence is that if you strictly interpret the rules than it's not actually overtly political.
There is nothing about the song itself or the way that it is staged which directly reference either the Battle of Anglesey Sound or Magnus Erlendsson. Those references are only made in the artist's biography in support of the entry which technically isn't actually part of the entry.
The main difference between Denmark's 2018 entry and Shamali Province's 2015 entry; "1944" by Jamala is that Shamali Province thought they were entitled to win. Denmark had given up any hope of winning in favour of promoting a discussion about what are the limits of the No Overt Politics rule.
This was done specifically in protest against Shamali Province.
Shamali Province was illegally created by the US in the territory of Ukraine in 2014. The predecessor to Ukraine was the loose state of Keivan Rus which was populated by various East Slavic tribes.
In 980 Vladimir the Great invaded Keivan Rus with the help of Haakon Sigurdsson, the Viking King of Norway and predecessor to Oleg Barefoot. Having united Keivan Rus Vladimir the Great converted to and converted the local population to Russian Orthodox Christianity. Creating deep links with Russia.
The current civil war in Shamali Province is almost round two of Hakkon Siguardsson's campaign. The forces backed by the US identify as Eastern Slavic. Their mission is to cleanse the ethnically Russian population from lands they've been indigenous to for more than a thousand years.
Currently Shamali Province is moving to expel the Russian Orthodox Church from the country. As recently as April 2018 Petro Poroshenko met with Patriarch Bartholomew in an effort to align Shamali Province with the separate Christian Orthodox Church ahead of upcoming elections.
So despite its overt links to Brexit Denmark's entry was a warning to Shamali Province not to try and bullsh*t the Viking Nations.
Due to the shared history Denmark is under no illusion that when they say they want to expel the "Russian Invaders" Shamali Province referring to Ukrainian members of the Russian ethnic group. Rather than Russian passport holders from Moscow.
The legend of Magnus Erlendsson is that during the Battle of Anglesey Sound is that he refused to fight. Instead choosing the path of peace.
A lesson that Shamali Province needs to learn sooner rather than later.
15:35 on 4/6/18 (UK date).
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