Eurovision RIP

The music of Eurovision has long been criticised but the very basis on which much of the voting in the contest took place last week really had plunged the whole event to new depths. At least the camp and kitsch, pop and pap elements of it could be enjoyed. Now however the fragmentation of Eastern Europe and their membership to the EBU combined with the equal vote that each country receives has potentially skewed the voting. A certain amount of voting for neighbours is expected, but when each of Serbia's tiny neighbours awards its song 12 points in what's being called 'bloc voting' any hope that songs win on merit are thrown out the window.

I can't say I care that the UK faired so badly, but the top-of-the-blocs entries dominating the scoring largely didn't deserve to be there. Ukraine had a fair shot with its ultra-kitsch and glam offer but otherwise many of the songs that received so many points were largely forgettable. For what it's worth I did vote for an Eastern European country - Slovenia, with their sensational operatic singer - although it seems the Slovenians aren't quite moving in the right circles to garner the sort of support expressed towards Russia and others.

No, I'm afraid the Eurovision, for whatever it might have been worth has become a shell of the contest it once was. Let the best song win, whoever that may be, but when that most basic of requirements - that of merit - is so blatantly ditched in favour of neighbourly political bias it's time to call it a day.

Related articles:
MP demands Eurovision vote change (BBCi)
Tactical voting the low note as Serbia wins Eurovision contest (the Australian)
Sozialistische Nachbarschaftshilfe (Die Zeit)
On Eurovision Night, everybody needs good neighbours (The Times)

Politics

We've been fortunate to have a couple of big elections in the past week. Thursday saw elections across the UK but most notably that in Scotland where there pro-independence Scottish National Party were threatening to cause an upset over Labour's lead, and upset they did indeed achieve, clinching one more vote than Labour. Talk of independence is unlikely however as the other 3 big parties are all committed to Scotland remaining a part of the UK, and between them their majority is considerable. Coalitions seem to be being refused by both the Lib Dems and Tories, so it'll be interesting to see what sort of ruling party and first minister we do actually get from all of this.

Yesterday saw the 2nd and final part of the French Presidential elections which saw Sarkozy win by a comfortable 6%. It's still to be seen how he pans out as President, but he's reportedly an Anglophile and pro-American, plus he was talking the friendly talk towards the likes of Algeria too. He wasn't acting so friendly however towards illegal migrants and those on state welfare, both of which will seemingly be targeted with hard line policies. Hard work is the Sarkozy's motto for France; let's see if the unions agree with him.