The mandarins of, "Eurovision," are worried. Four of the coterie of countries which have been providing us with this annual, "music," extravaganza, Poland, Greece, Portugal and Cyprus have indicated that they will not be handing over their fees to participate in the next running of this cultural highlight. Quelle dommage!
Save for Poland the reasons cited by these lundys to the cause of European music have been financial and of course it is not just the cost of entry that has to be taken account of. You then have the worry that you might actually win. If this fate befalls you then you have the very expensive and very debatable pleasure of hosting the following years jamboree and not even an affable Ralph Ryder to help you. If one was uncharitable one might interpret Poland's reluctance to participate as having something to do with it failing to get through to the final in six of the last seven years.
Setting aside such prosaic factors as expense might not the real reason for countries deciding to give Eurovision, "nil points," be that they see it as a waste of time. Fifty eight years after its creation it cannot claim that it is a reflection of modern popular music, nor a spawning ground for young talent. Can anyone save for the occasional pub quizzer tell you the name of last year's winner? A kitsch show with kitsch songs and kitsch costumes. A wholesale European bailout from this show is desperately needed. Let it and us die in peace without any more cacophonies of booms and bangs.
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