Phil’s Eurovision Countdown 2025 – Part 0 – That elephant again

It’s been twelve months since I wrote the original version of this but it’s still as relevant today.

I fervently believe a majority of my readers are sensible people who will read what I write rather than make kneejerk reactions so, instead of my open thoughts to the BBC which I usually write, I’m going to unload all of my thoughts and my personal opinions about Parts 5 and 19/37.

There will be a Part five and a part Nineteen of this review.

I believe it serves no one to ignore it or pretend that a song doesn’t exist, because it does.  It’s a song, entered in a song contest, by an eligible broadcaster who has broken no contest rules and, as such, will be scored accordingly, on the merits of the composition. – I think this even more in 2025!

I also think the war in Israel always has been perpetuated by grumpy old men, two specifically, who are not moving out of their embedded positions on both sides, both of whose stated or implied goals are to bomb the other one into the dirt.  I can’t change that and it’s not my place, or the place of this site, to do so.  We’re not the UN, we’re people who love a light entertainment show that happens to be on the telly!

I’m also going to Basel because I love THE CONTEST.  You know, that Televisual spectacular that was founded in 1956 to promote the latest broadcasting innovations and not, as some fans believe, to promote peace and harmony, because historically it’s done nothing of the sort or, indeed, because a “boycott” is the cool thing to do because if I should REALLY LOUD the internet might give me validation!

I mean, Croatia bombing the hell out of Bosnia in 1993 and both of them being accepted into the contest is the most obvious example.  Take a look at the atrocities they perpetuated for some context. More recently, where was the clamour when Russia invaded Georgia back in 2008/9?  Nagorno-Karabakh never elicited such a social media-feeding frenzy.  Invading Iraq? – Half of Europe supported that one, the UK specifically, with no calls for the UK to be banned.  I appreciate that Social Media is now so widespread, but it was about for the last three of them, and I’ve been around long enough to say with certainty, that there were no such calls.

I love the Eurovision Song Contest, I love everything about it.  I love how bizarre a concept it is, how the fact that it brings in a new audience every 10 years or so, and the fact that it’s saved me from “doing something stupid” on at least two occasions in recent memory.   If I can’t support it amongst the shower of loud, and often factually wrong,  voices on social media, some of which are, frankly, downright disgusting, then I’m not being true to myself.

You might have another opinion, you might even be quite vocal about it, you might even be selective about what causes you choose to support, and that’s all fine.  You might not want to read Part Five or Eighteen or you might not want to read this site anymore at all, and that’s all fine too, we’ve all got choices in life.

I’m just telling you mine.

And with that, and with no correspondence entered into, let us take a deep breath and dive headlong into this, shall we? – Well from April 5th at any rate.