Eurovision 2019

There have been three main reaction to Israel winning:

1. The best song/performance won

2. Cultural appropriation won

3. An occupying force with human rights abuses won

I think that most people find themselves having bits of all of those reactions. Whether or not you liked Toy, I didn’t particularly, I think most of us can see why it won - it was the crazy chicken song and a lot of people are going to vote for the memorable performance. That makes reaction 1 the easiest to deal with. Reactions 2 and 3 are a little more difficult.

From where I stand I don’t see why it was necessary to use Asian imagery, clothing and makeup in the performance. None of that particularly made it more memorable than had it been something different but equally bright in colour. So I have to dispute the point that I see some making that culture appropriation won. It didn’t. She would have won without it. However she should not have done it. Netta’s victory speech much like Conchita before her preached tolerance and acceptance; sadly she didn’t show that tolerance in her act and I think that is a shame. But this problem isn’t limited to Eurovision, but there is hope that Eurovision can shine a light on it. Other artists have been equally guilty on their own tours and videos of appropriation but only ever get called out by their fans. Hopefully Eurovision being a bigger family can make the call a little louder. In 2018 this isn’t a problem that we should be facing however we are doing the right thing about calling it out. Call me naïve but I have a feeling that when Netta performs at next year’s contest if we do this right she will have changed the performance.

The final reaction is the most difficult to discuss. I am going to put my cards on the table on where I stand on the conflict; I believe that Israel is acting illegally in it’s treatment of Palestine and the Palestinian people and whilst there are many faults on both sides ultimately Israel is an oppressive occupier. That said I fully support the existence of Israel and its participation in the world including Israel. Objection to Israel hosting is in two main camps, the first who say “it’s not in Europe” to you I say; Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey and even once Morocco so get over it. The other objection is a political one which I can sympathise with, ultimately though the rules are Israel won and they get to host. That doesn’t mean you need to be happy about it, if you want to try and use this as a chance to protest then by all means do, if you’ll boycott then that’s your right. Netta’s call for the contest to be held in Jerusalem perhaps was ill conceived both for practical reasons and there’s a reasonable chance that it will actually be held in Tel Aviv.