Get Azerbaijan Out Of Eurovision

Just a little less than 20 years ago Armenia and Azerbaijan had a rather brutal little war which ended only in a ceasefire and created further territorial disputes. Since then relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense.

Fast forward to the latter part of the first decade of the 21st century and the end of the Cold War is becoming progressively more distant. The two republics are now part of one particularly unique European institution: The Eurovision Song Contest.

This year Azerbaijan gave Armenia a total of 0 points, meaning there were not enough votes for Armenia to make it into Azerbaijan's top 10 favourite songs from the contest. Despite this, it would seem the authorities there were not happy.

It has been revealed the authorities have gone through the voting records and have been "questioning" those who voted for their mortal enemy. I don't think there will be anything in the Eurovision rules regarding this. Mainly, I suspect, as no one thought any Government (yes even Belarus!) would be this paranoid about a song contest. But I think this goes against the very spirit of the contest and serves only to aid fuel to the neverending "political voting" fire.


I think the Eurovision authorities should act to protect the reputation of the contest as a way of bringing Europe together through music, and get Azerbaijan out!

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Borat

As promised I've begun my research into the world of Sacha Baron Cohen, as he is moving into the realms of Eurovision next.

Firstly, obviously, there was Ali G. He was a character I found utterly without an ounce of amusement in his body. I am simply not willing to watch any episodes of Ali G ever again.

Now we have Borat. I found this movie extremely difficult to watch and had to keep pausing it. I hate embarrassing situations and the character of Borat got himself into a lot of them. Cohen says he uses the character to explore others reactions, expose their true beliefs and have fun whilst doing so. Personally I think there are plenty of less offensive ways of doing that, and more amusing ways. I'm not saying some parts of Borat didn't make me laugh, they did. It's not a bad movie. But I think openly mocking real people, to their face, in a demeaning way is a step too far. Louis Theroux does what Cohen professes to with more humour, charm and efficiency. Do we really need Borat??? Nope.

Cohen's humour is puerile, which can sometimes be amusing, but an hour and half of it might be pushing it too far.

Next Bruno

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Sasha Boren Cohen And Eurovision

I hated Ali G with such an intense passion (growing up at school in the age of the words "batty man" was not a pleasant experience Mr G) so I've never bothered to watch Borat or Bruno. But I suppose now he's doing a film on Eurovision, it's time I did as otherwise I won't be able to express outrage. So think of this as a hold page for a very near future rant against this tosh. Hold that thought.

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist