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| Eurovision organizers are worried over possible Moslem Terrorism at their 2012 event in Baku |
The Eurovision Song Contest is a big deal in Europe. It's kind of a super, multinational version of American Idol that has been going on every year since 1956.
But this year, for the first time ever, it is being held in a Moslem country and European officials are scared to death that Moslem terrorists might try to turn the event into an anti-European bloodbath.
Customarily, the event is hosted by the country which produced the preceding year's winning act. Last year it was won by Ell/Nikki, a singing duo from Azerbaijan who aped American pop sounds with almost perfect Midwestern US accents.
As a result, the 2012 event will be held in scenic Baku. (So after Oslo and Dusseldorf, do you think there might be just a little dropoff in Euro music fan attendance this year?)
The event, by tradition should go to Ell/Nikki's country, a former Soviet state with a 99.2% Moslem population, a strong radical Wahabi Muslim sect, an Al Quaeda presence and a history of Moslem terrorism.
As a result, the governing board of the Eurovision Song Contest has taken the odd step of demanding written assurances from the former Soviet, Moslem host country of: 1) security guarantees for the thousands of participants and guests 2) a relaxation of Soviet-style travel and visa impediments and 3) guarantees of freedom of speech and press in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Eurovision's chief honcho, anticipating resistance from the former Soviets issued a blunt statement:
"A commitment to these fundamental circumstances has been the cornerstone of the success of the Eurovision Song Contest since its foundation in 1956," says Dr. Frank-Dieter Freiling, Chairman of the Reference Group, adding that "2012 is no exception to that."
(I have a copy of the Eurovision news release which contains all of the above. The news release has strangely disappeared from the Press section news release archive of the Eurovision Song Contest website.)
In an email to the Chicago Lampoon, Jarmo Siim, a PR shill for Eurovision tried to pooh-pooh the unusual request as a routine matter. But when asked if the same worried request was made of the last 2 previous host countries, Germany and Norway, he sidestepped the question.
No doubt, the Eurovision bureaucrats, with a strong interest in making things seem normal, will play down their worries over Europeans getting massacred by crazed Moslems at the May 2012 event in Baku.
But I'm taking no chances. I think I'll just stay home this year and enjoy my old clips of ABBA's 1974 Eurovision Song Contest win. Here is the official 1974 Eurovision video of ABBA singing its winning entry, Waterloo:
Yeah, I'd stay home too.
ReplyDeleteI understand the honor of having it in the winner's country, but there's a reason to be concerned. I know this isn't the Olympics, but many of us haven't forgotten Munich in 1972, either.
So I take it this means you haven't already booked your mid-May flight for scenic Baku?
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