Finland’s president snubs Eurovision entry for being too racy

One is a disco observe sung by a lady who wears black latex and expounds on the virtues of bottom-grabbing and feminine sexual empowerment. The opposite is a folksy accordion ditty concerning the apparently harmless pleasures of going to the sauna.

For Finland and Sweden, nevertheless, nations whose rivalry is normally restricted to sporting arenas, the query of whom to assist within the Eurovision Tune Contest on Saturday is an more and more vexed challenge. The battle has been given an additional dimension after Finland’s president mentioned he would snub his nation’s effort, Ich komme (“I’m Coming”), sung by Erika Vikman, in favour of Sweden’s effort, Bara bada bastu (“Just Sauna”), carried out by KAJ, a comedy music trio who’re truly Finnish.

Requested who he needed to win throughout a highschool go to, Alexander Stubb couldn’t convey himself even to utter Vikman’s title. “If KAJ wins Eurovision, in the end it is Finland and Vora that win,” Stubb mentioned, referring to the house city of the Finnish band who’re performing for Sweden.

His conspicuous disregard for Finland’s official entry was criticised as undiplomatic. Vikman mentioned she was not stunned. “It would definitely be nice to see one day that the greats of the nation stand behind women like me.”

Alexander Stubb, the president of Finland, initially mentioned he was backing Sweden’s Eurovision entry KAJ, under

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HAROLD CUNNINGHAM/GETTY IMAGES

Stubb has since contacted her to apologise, saying he had not wished to offend her and that he hoped for a “double victory” for Finland.

In accordance with bookmakers, Ich komme is unlikely to win. It has a German title, in an obvious reference to Finland’s lengthy reliance on imported pornographic movies from Germany and Sweden in previous many years due to strict home legal guidelines. Its Finnish lyrics convey the ecstasy of sexual union and embrace traces like: “Moon rises, Earth arches, my gates are open,” and “Hit me once again, grab my ass, and when you want more love, just shout ‘Encore’.”

It lives as much as Finland’s historical past of edgy Eurovision entries. Final yr Teemu Keisteri, performing as Windows95man, wore “nude underwear” throughout his music, No Guidelines!, making it seem as if he was bare from the waist down.

Vikman rises above the stage on an enormous microphone in the course of the second semi-final in Basel on Thursday

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Though previous performances have raised eyebrows for being sexually suggestive, akin to Paul Oscar’s 1997 Icelandic entry Minn hinsti dans (“My Final Dance”) by which he sat on a settee with 4 latex-clad girls and ran his palm over his crotch, the most important Eurovision controversies have been about politics somewhat than style.

It has been claimed that Cliff Richard, the runaway favorite to win the 1968 Eurovision Tune Contest along with his music Congratulations, was robbed of victory as a result of the Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco, rigged the vote to make sure the Spanish entry, La La La, gained to assist polish the worldwide picture of his regime.

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In 2000, when Israel and Syria had been at struggle, the Israeli group PingPong waved Syrian in addition to Israeli flags, enraging politicians again in Israel, who demanded that they cowl their very own bills.

In 2009, We Don’t Wanna Put In by Stephane and 3G, of Georgia, was seen as criticism of President Putin after Russia’s invasion of their nation the earlier yr. The European Broadcast Union, which organises the competition, deemed it too political and demanded that the lyrics be modified or a distinct music chosen. Georgia refused and withdrew from the competitors.

Lately, with tradition wars and capturing wars raging, the controversies have intensified. Conchita Wurst, a bearded drag queen from Austria who gained the competition in 2014, incensed homophobes throughout Europe and notably in Russia, the place political and non secular leaders referred to as for Russia to tug out of the competition.