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And Finally Awards
Stop being so serious about Eurovision, says Wogan
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 7 May 2009
Former Eurovision presenter Terry Wogan has told European broadcasters to stop being serious about the Eurovision Song Contest, because it’s rubbish anyway, and should just be viewed as a bit of fun.
Appearing at the European Broadcasting Union’s Eurovision TV summit in Lucerne, Wogan criticised the tendency for countries to vote politically, telling delegates: “Eurovision is an exciting, camp, foolish spectacle. You can’t top it. It is fun, light entertainment. It is the biggest of its kind anywhere in the world. It is not about politics or asserting your place in the community, not even about national pride. It is not an opportunity to show your neighbours how much you love them. It is about picking the best popular song in Europe”.
Asked if there was a gulf between the UK and the rest of Europe, Wogan replied: “There has always been that there. There has always been that general feeling of distrust of Johnny Foreigner, but of course it is mutual. Britain has attacked nearly every country in Europe and people don’t forget”.
The TV and radio presenter, who has been criticised for not taking the event seriously enough, described the event as a “triumph of appalling taste”, and added: “Everybody knows it’s rubbish. Everybody in the UK knows it’s rubbish. I think I have brought the British public along with me and we now share an interest in it. Many of you may have heard my comments and don’t think I take it seriously enough and you are right, I don’t. But I am a friend of this Contest, possibly its oldest friend. How do friends behave to each other? They tell each other the truth. They don’t indulge in idle flattery”.
Asked to elaborate on his allegations of politically motivated voting, he immediately said that he was not interesting in starting an argument, but felt it was “transparently obvious” that politics are involved. “I can only speak for the UK, but as the Eurovision Song Contest has grown bigger and bigger, the opinion in Britain – and this may well be true in France, Germany and Spain as well – is that there is a certain disenfranchisement”.
He concluded: “The UK has always had the edict of fair play. It doesn’t matter where the song is from. But people don’t feel that is being reciprocated in certain areas and I think the voting is an indication of that”.
