Eurovision 2019: ASIE: Brexit.

One of the major themes of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest was Britain's exit from the European Union (EU). The Brexit.

Long before a chord had been played or a note sung this theme was dominated by the nation which is leaving the EU.

The United Kingdom: This year they were represented by Michael Rice with the song; "Bigger Than Us."

What was particularly interesting about Britain's entry was the way it was chosen. Through the televised "Eurovision: You Decide" program in early February 2019.

This saw Britain's professional Eurovision delegation select three songs and six acts.

So two acts performed different versions of the first song.

Two acts performed different versions of the second song.The final two acts performed different versions of the third song. In the first round of voting viewers selected the winning act for each song.

Then in a second round of voting they selected the winning song.

This helped educate viewers by showing how the same song can been given very different meanings. Through the context in which it is presented. The musical arrangement and the physical staging of the performance etc.

The alternate act for the song Bigger Than Us was Holly Tandy.

She performed the song in a Country & Western style. With the emphasis very much on the Western. The staging of the performance invoked the classic American western movies such as; "High Noon" and "Gunfight at the OK Corral."

In this context the song was a warning to the Hard Brexiteers.

The British MP's who want to withdraw from the EU without any sort of agreement. The No Deal scenario. Then use Britain's outstanding debts to the EU as a weapon to force the EU into giving Britain favourable future trading terms.

The warning to the Hard Brexiteers being that the EU is bigger than Britain. It's bigger than you and me. Starting that fight will be a losing game.

Britain was scheduled to leave the EU on March 29th 2019 (29/3/19). Then again on April 12th (12/4/19).

So back in early February 2019 both Britain's professional delegation and the voting public reasonably concluded that Britain would have left the EU by the start of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. Which began on May 12th (12/5/19).

Rendering the Hard Brexiteer's demands for a No Deal moot. Along with Holly Tandy's interpretation of the song.

So instead they selected the Michael Rice version.

In this context the song is all about Britain's future relationship both with the EU and the rest of the World.

It expresses a lot of love for the EU and wishes for a continued close relationship. However it also expresses the importance of seeking close relationships with others.

Essentially the World is bigger than just Britain and the EU. Or; "Bigger than us, bigger than me and (E)U."

In its staging the song invoked lots of the imagery of outer space and the galaxy. Or how the globe, not just Europe, is viewed from space.

In this is was similar to the staging of Australia's entry. A nod to Australia and the Commonwealth being the type of nations Britain would be seeking a closer relationship with.

Beyond that main message there was also a very solid sub-plot to Britain's entry. Provided by Michael Rice's life story. As emphasised by the official artist biography submitted in support of the entry.

Micheal Rice worked in the fast-food chain; "McDonald's." He appeared on the UK version of X-Factor in 2014 and won the similar TV singing contest; "All Together Now" in 2018. He used the £50,000 prize money from that victory to open his own Waffle and Crepe Shack restaurant in his native Hartlepool.

Hartlepool is a town in the North-East of England. At the 2016 EU referendum it voted Leave with 69% of the vote to Remain's 30%. One of the largest margins in the entire country.

In this tradition of xenophobia Hartlepool is probably most famous for once hanging a monkey as a French spy. During the Napoleonic Wars. What makes the story even worse is that they actually arrested the monkey, put it on trial, allowed it to submit a defence, convicted it and then executed it.

More than 200 years later Hartlepool has still not lived that down. Instead being forced to steer into the skid by erecting a statue to the monkey. The town's local football and rugby teams all claim ownership to the; "Monkey Hangers" nickname.

You have to wonder how much appetite there is for Belgian waffles and French crepes in a town like Hartlepool.

With it being hosted by Israel there has been lots of talk about boycotts surrounding the 2019 Song Contest. For a long time I have boycotted McDonald's. First as a political stance, then more as a habit. After all there are many better burger restaurants you can easily find.

During this year's Song Contest events conspired to force me into a branch of McDonald's for the first time in about 15 years. I was stunned by how it had changed since my last visit.

McDonald's has always been a fast-food restaurant rather than a fine dining experience. It was the first such company to use production line techniques to provide large amounts of pretty low quality food very quickly.

It's gone even further now. Rather than being any sort of restaurant McDonald's is now essentially an Amazon warehouse. Or; "Customer Fulfilment Centre." People order their food at home via the McDonald's App. The food is prepared in a kitchen and then collected by delivery drivers who take it to the customer.

If you wander into a branch in person, trying to buy food with cash you don't half confuse people.

Michael Rice's time spent working at McDonald's allows you to get into a discussion about the so-called; "Gig Economy." A shift in many European economies where big tech companies employ people to do little jobs like delivering orders on an ad-hoc basis.

In Britain, in the catering sector the two big companies are; "Deliveroo" and "JustEat." I think the most famous overall is the car-share company "Uber" which is effectively a taxi service. Uber are even trying to get into the food delivery business with; "UberEats."

All of these companies are very clear on the fact they don't employ people in the legal sense of the word. Instead they sub-contract the work to independent business owners. This means that they don't have to pay pension contributions, payroll taxes, etc. Or provide holiday pay or sick pay.

This is a big problem across the Eurovision area. The people who work in the gig economy are exactly the sort of low skilled, poorly paid workers much of the last hundred years has been spent trying to secure protections for. Things like holiday pay and sick pay.

It is also costing governments a huge amount of money in lost payroll taxes and pensions contributions. While they're still being expected to provide pensions and unemployment insurance.

If you were able to stretch it you could also use this to talk about London's growing violent crime problem.

In July 2018 London made global headlines when a gang on motor scooters attacked six people with acid. At various locations across the city in a spree of attacks. The gang were using scooters stolen from Deliveroo and JustEat drivers to attack more Deliveroo and JustEat drivers and steal their scooters. Either to sell or to commit more crime.

Once you start talking about London's growing violent crime problem you have to talk about Sadiq Khan, the Mayor responsible for it.

An ethnically Pakistani, rather than Arab, Muslim Sadiq Khan is a member of the famously anti-Semitic Labour Party. His election in 2016 was marred by London's Jewish population being systematically denied their right to vote.

Michael Rice's career path also allows you to discuss the effect of technology on the economy.

Although it's not quite there yet you can easily see McDonald's becoming a fully automated business. The food is ordered by App, prepared by robots and then delivered by self-driving vehicles. That is obviously going to leave a lot of people unemployed.

Michael Rice's Waffle and Crepe Shack though might be one of the areas of the catering industry which survives the rise of automation. Somewhere that continues to employ people because interaction with people is more part of the dining experience than the food.

My mothers actually provide another good example of this.

As you may have guessed from the lack of an apostrophe my mothers are lesbians. However I don't bring that up as an attempt at queer-baiting. Like the Republic of Ireland did in 2018, and were very keen to remind us about this year. It's simply a fact, without which it's quite hard to tell the story-

Dispelling precisely no lesbian stereotypes last summer my mothers decided to acquire some kittens. Which are now growing up into fully fledged cats.

My mothers didn't acquire these kittens by going to a pet shop or a rescue centre. Instead there is a coffee shop they regularly attend. Not really to drink coffee. Instead to have a bit of a chat and watch the world go by.

Whilst chatting to one of the members of staff they learnt that another regular at the coffee shop had a cat who had just had kittens. Kittens they were looking to find homes for. After being introduced by the coffee shop staff that customer decided my mothers would provide a suitable home for at least two of those kittens.

As you may have heard my mothers live in Salisbury. So simply mentioning them brings all that up again.

Obviously there are issues around ground rents and business taxes. However a coffee shop is the sort of low overhead business that might survive the move to automation. By providing that human interaction and social environment.

While they may still provide jobs coffee shops won't be able to pay their staff the sort of salary you would expect if you've just lost your job as, say, a doctor or a lawyer. That brings up a possible future role for government in providing a sort of Universal Basic Income for its citizens.

In short big corporations get to make massive profits by replacing their human workers with robots. However rather than those profits being kept by a small group of shareholders governments take a large part of them in taxes. Those taxes are then paid to citizens. They can live on that basic income or top it up by working in a place like a coffee shop.

The companies might actually be more supportive of this idea than you would think. Even in an automated economy you still need humans with money to buy products. I don't fancy McDonald's chances of feeding its burgers to a robot.

There has already been a little experimentation with the broad idea of Universal Basic Income. Switzerland had a referendum on introducing one in 2016. Finland actually launched one for a one year trial in 2017. Britain's Labour Party have adopted a manifesto pledge to introduce one.

That though is far too premature. Universal Basic Income is only being discussed as something in the very distant future. Rather like how a hundred years ago the notion of only having to work eight hours a day, five days a week sounded like the height of laziness.

You could even drag this issue back to the Brexit debate. One British MP who is extremely opposed to Brexit is Labour's Jess Phillips. She is the absolute personification of people who only get into politics because they too incompetent to find work elsewhere.

Having absolutely no understanding of the issues or even basic competence Jess Phillips likes to play up her "Woman of the People" routine. She spends much of her time in her constituency office drinking tea with lonely people who would otherwise be hanging out in coffee shops.

For that Britain pays her £77,000 per year. Far more than your typical barista.

If Britain had left the EU as planned on March 29th (29/3/19). Or even on April 12th (12/4/19) Michael Rice stood a strong chance of winning.

The entry set the right tone on the Brexit issue. It also had a strong sub-plot. The way the song was selected also helped.

Britain's big problem at the Song Contest is that it treats it with utter contempt. It spends the whole time mocking it and the people involved in it as stupid. Then expects to those people to declare Britain the winner.

This year Britain showed respect for the competition by putting the selection show on primetime television. All the way back in February.

That helped people engage with the competition early on, far earlier than just the Grand Finale. The use of the same song being performed by different acts also helped educate people about the Song Contest and how it works.

Up until the point British Parliamentarians got involved the Brexit it negotiations had been conducted in a spirit of goodwill by all sides. If things had gone to plan its likely that mutual goodwill would have continued and transferred over into Eurovision.

As is the point of the song Britain leaving the EU is not the end of the process. It is merely the start of a two year negotiation over Britain's future relationship with the EU.

There are many members of Eurovision who are not also members of the EU. Iceland, Israel, Belarus just off the top of my head. I think a lot those nations would be very interested in the idea of sending a delegation to Britain in the spring of 2020. To see up close how things are going.

Those who are bitter about Britain leaving the EU would certainly see the funny side in forcing Britain to pay to host the 2020 Song Contest.

Unfortunately Britain has still not left the EU. Which rather turned its Song Contest entry this year into crap.

So even above all the noise of Brexit Day (29/3/19) I think you could still just about hear British Song Contest fans uttering the immortal phrase;

"Oh, B*llocks."

The country which won the Brexit theme was the Netherlands. They actually went on to win the entire competition. So I will cover them fully in a Winners & Stand-Outs section.

The Netherlands: They were represented by Duncan Laurence with the song; "Arcade."

This was heavily inspired by the Roy Orbison song; "Penny Arcade." Or more accurately the version used by Northern Ireland's Protestant marching bands to antagonise Northern Ireland's Catholics.

In that context it is a song about the history of how the recent civil war, "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland began.

In the city LondonDerry local Catholics were protesting against their poor living conditions. A government subsidised house had just been denied to a Catholic family. So it could be given to a single Protestant woman.

The Protestant "Apprentice Boys" organisation decided to antagonise the Catholic protesters by rolling pennies down the street at them. This worked and an absolutely massive riot ensued. From the ashes of that 1969 "Battle of the Bogside" the Catholic Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) rose like a Phoenix.

For a very long time the traditional colour of Irish Catholics was blue. Then it became the green is still used today. On that day in Derry the green rapidly changed to the red of anger.

The opening line of Penny Arcade is; "A light shown in the night some way ahead, blue turned into green then it was red."

So although its not what Roy Orbison intended in that context Penny Arcade is Protestants mocking Catholics for being poor. And challenging them to a fight. To see if they can; "Ring the bell on the big bagatelle."

The Dutch song "Arcade" also cleverly references another famous Protestant marching song called; "The Sash My Father Wore." That's about travelling to a foreign land and being carried home again.

This provides a teachable moment about the Song Contest's golden "No Overt Politics" rule.

With its hidden political meaning Penny Arcade is the sort of song you can get away with at Eurovision. With its clear political meaning The Sash is the sort of song you definitely won't get away with at Eurovision.

The main message of the entry though is the Netherlands showing support for the Backstop Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland in the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. This is intended to preserve the 1998 Belfast Agreement which ended the civil war.

Reminding people how the war started also reminds people why it's important that it ended.  

It is highly significant that it is the Netherlands delivering this message.

Northern Ireland's Protestants oppose the Backstop Protocol because they see it as a threat to their British identity. The irony is that through their marching season they're actually marking the anniversary of the Dutch invasion of Ireland in 1690. Under King William (Billy) of Orange.

One of the largest Protestant organisations in Northern Ireland is the Orange Order. As in the Order of the House of Orange. The Royal house which still rules over the Netherlands.

Northern Ireland's largest Protestant political party is the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Much of their support comes from within the Orange Order.These days the neither the DUP nor the Orange Order have much at all to do with the Dutch House of Orange.

The big theatrical gesture here though is the House of Orange ordering the Orange Order and the DUP to support the Backstop Protocol.

More precisely though. It is common in functioning democracies for small parties to oppose something only for it to pass anyway. Making their opposition little more than a symbolic gesture. That's not intended as an insult. It's the way the game is played.

So I think everyone involved in the Brexit negotiations recognises and respects the DUP's 10 MP's right to vote against the Withdrawal Agreement. In fact they seem to be relying on it to make sure the next phase of negotiations is completed on schedule. Meaning the Backstop Protocol is never used.

Therefore the real target of the song is the Hard Brexiteer and Remoaner MP's who don't have the DUP's mandate. Yet have latched themselves onto the DUP's cause for their own selfish reasons.

It is those people's supposed love for the DUP which is the losing game.

At around 17:15 on 22/5/19 (UK date) there's so much more to add.

Edited at around 20:00 on 22/5/19 (UK date) to copy & paste from another window;

Denmark: This year they were represented by Leonora with the song; "Love is Forever."

This song was performed in three languages. Leonora's native Danish. Along with English, French and German.

Britain, France and German are considered the Big Three of the EU. The three largest economies which have dominated the EU since its inception. The builders of the EU as it were.

In all the promotional work for the entry the Danes made a point of declaring that the message of the song was to show that; "Love is for everyone, regardless of nationality or religion." The lyrics of the saccharine sweet song made that message quite clear.

Lyrics such as; "Why should we fight, all we need is love" and; "Come discover life, the good weather is not over."

So you would think this would be the anthem of the Remoaners of Remainiacs. Those in Britain, particularly MP's who are desperate for Britain to remain in the EU.

It really wasn't though.

Denmark appears to have grown so frustrated by these Remoaners or Remainiacs and their constant delays to Brexit they were not happy to simply tell Europe Denmark thinks they're idiots. They were trying to trick the Remoaners or Remainiacs to prove to all of Europe that they're idiots.

The main gimmick of the staging of the performance was the singers sitting on this massive chair.

In the video in support of the song that chair was supposed to represent the structure of the EU. With the Danish singer sitting alongside backing singers in traditionally German, French and British outfits. Intending to show that we are all just small parts of the EU superstructure.

However it also resembled that famous photograph of workers eating lunch on a steel girder. As they built New York City's famous 30 Rockefeller Plaza in 1932. The picture is formally titled; "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper, 1932."

With this Denmark took its first shot at British Remoaner MP's who keep blocking Brexit.

When Britain failed to exit the EU on March 29th (29/3/19) British Steel, the steelmaker became liable for a £120m bill. To offset the cost of its carbon emissions. The British government lent the company £100m to cover the cost of that bill.

That though wasn't enough and, just today, the company went bankrupt. With the loss of 20,000 jobs across the supply chain.

So when British Remoaner MP's tell you they're blocking Brexit to protect British workers. Don't be fool enough to believe them.

Also the workers in the famous photograph aren't actually doing any work.

Much like how British Remoaner MP's aren't actually doing any work.

In fact the real reason they keep blocking Brexit is because they're terrified of actually having to do a day's work. Rather than relying on the EU structure to do it for them.

By the time of the Song Contest itself Denmark's frustration with the Remoaners had grown even further.

The massive chair was now the centrepiece of a stage decorated like a children's nursery. The performers were the silly little children messing about in the nursery.

Just like British Remoaner MP's are the silly little children messing about in Parliament.

Britain's Remoaners or Remainiacs brought this on themselves. By constantly dragging Denmark into their; "Project Fear." Attempts to terrify the public to remain within in the EU.

Denmark is one of the World's largest manufacturers of the drug Insulin. Providing almost all the EU's supply of the drug. Including Britain.

Remoaners or Remaniacs like to claim that the moment Britain leaves the EU it's Insulin supply will be cut off. Diabetics will die in their hundreds in the streets.

Some of the more theatric have even taken to bursting into tears on actual news programs, traumatised by the prospect of the death of their friends.

Denmark of course knows this is all complete nonsense.

The Withdrawal Agreement Remoaner MP's keep voting against will keep Britain's trading relationship with the EU exactly the same for two years. Even in the event of No Deal Denmark will keep doing what it's always done with Britain's Insulin supply. Fly it in on EU registered aircraft.

Most of Britain's medical drugs don't even come from the EU. They're made by generic manufacturers. One of the largest, Teva, is actually based in Israel. It's Jerusalem factory has caused a lot of controversy in recent years.

As some people may have pointed out recently Israel is not a member of the EU. We're all still waiting for the Remoaners to explain how Brexit is, in any way, going to affect Britain's ability to import drugs from Israel.

This claim that diabetics will die in their hundreds is just one example of the astonishing lies Remoaner MP's feel they can tell public. It is also a serious indictment of the bias of British journalists who won't correct even the most obvious Remoaner lies.

For example, according to the Remoaners and the BBC, everything that has gone wrong is the result of Britain leaving the EU.

The only exception is today's collapse of British Steel. Which has undeniably being brought about by Britain failing to leave the EU as planned.

That though, is apparently the only thing which has absolutely nothing to do with Brexit.

Denmark also took a shot at the Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar.

In December 2017 Leo Varadkar released a video address to the nation. It showed him sitting in a chair which seemed too large. Behind a table which seemed too big. On that table stood an absolutely massive lamp.

In short it made Leo Varadkar look as though someone had put him in a washing machine on too hot a wash and he had shrunk.

The video was released on a Friday. That weekend was spent with the entire population of Ireland making fun of Wee Leo Varadkar.

Within the Brexit negotiations Leo Varadkar is starting to behave like one of the silly children messing about in the nursery. He keeps trying to block Brexit because he doesn't want it to disrupt trade between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

What he seems to have failed to realise is that cross-border trade is covered by the 1998 Belfast Agreement. As such it is an aspect of National Security. It is well established under both EU and international law that national security takes all precedence over trade policy.

So even in a No Deal the EU couldn't force Ireland to stop cross-border trade with Northern Ireland.

It certainly couldn't do it in the time a No Deal would force British Remoaner MP's to back down, apologise and adopt the Withdrawal Agreement.

Hungary: This year they were represented by Joci Papai with the song; "Az e'n apam (My Father).

The main theme of Hungary's entry was primarily a protest against Israel's behaviour in the Israel/Palestine Conflict. By comparing the suffering of Europe's Jews with the suffering of Europe's Gypsies. First under the Nazis and then under the Soviets.

Europe's Jews suffering under the Nazis is of course well known. They seem to have got a country out of it and a free pass to behave as badly as they like.

Particularly in America Europe's Jews suffering under the Soviets is also very well known. It was a recurring story of the Cold War.

Throughout the Cold War Russian Jews would try to flee Soviet oppression by emigrating to Israel. Every time they applied for an exit visa it would be refused. The application form coming back with the word; "Otkaz" or "Refusal" stamped on it.

As a result these Russian Jews became known as "Otkazniks" or "Refuseniks." Those who have been refused.

The British media have taken to referring to Remoaner MP's, such as Yvette Cooper etc, who are trying to block Brexit as; "Refuseniks." 

The worst offender is the ITN politics editor Robert Peston. It are ITN reports which go out to the EBU newspool. So Peston's Brexit coverage is the Brexit coverage most seen by EBU members.

If you know a bit of Russian or are familiar with the very famous Cold War story having Remoaner MP's described as Refuseniks really sets your teeth on edge. Every time you hear it.

In the Brexit metaphor the Refuseniks are the are the MP's who want to leave the EU. Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage, Jacob Rees-Mogg etc.

The likes of Yvette Cooper are the anti-Semitic, totalitarian bureaucrats who keep stamping "Refusal" on the application to leave.

The correct Russian term for what the Remoaners are doing is; "Maskirovka." In this sense meaning; "Little Masquerade."

It's a tactic developed by Josef Stalin. The idea is you bombard the public with false and conflicting information.

Such as Brexit means diabetics will die in the street. When in reality Denmark will keep flying in Insulin, just the same as before.

Or that the Withdrawal Agreement must be rejected to protect workers rights. When in reality the Withdrawal Agreement keeps workers rights exactly as they are now.

Or that Brexit will restart The Troubles civil war in Northern Ireland. When in reality the 1998 Belfast Agreement, as a peace treaty completely protects cross-border trade.

The objective of Maskirovka is to confuse the public to the point they just give up and stop trying to understand what is going on.

Instead handing all decisions and all power to anti-Semitic, totalitarian bureaucrats like Stalin.



Part Two to follow. 
20:10 on 22/5/19 (UK date).