By any standards what I have just seen causes astonishment alright. Mostly to my brain. That people actually think this is anything other than a load of old toilet, set to music?
He may not feel hate, he might even sing a song where he positively invites it and acts accordingly (and that’s OK), but by God, this is nothing other than three minutes that gets old very quick … after one repetition of the “I don’t feel hate” chorus.
He’s even brought a middle-finger-costumed dancer on stage with swear words in the background – if I was Italian or Finnish, I’d be on the phone to Mr Osterdahl asking why Germany are allowed to say “bastado” on the screen, but they can’t have middle fingers.
It’s a lively and breathless performance by Jendrik, and what passes for fun contains chiefly a lot of interaction with the backing dancers and the wiggling middle finger. So much so it leaves him out of breath, and by what passes for the middle eight , he’s not enunciating the words. You just hear “mumble, mumble, mumble”, which doesn’t really add much.
The song is light in melody and on ideas. People think it’s going to do well in the televote on Saturday, and it’s certainly going to get its share of sympathy votes but the juries should kill this stone dead.