No Times de hoje # 35

O artigo The Politics of Eurovision na edição de hoje do New York Times traz uma análise do concurso europeu de canções por um americano, que põe a nu a mediocridade das canções, a atrocidade do sistema de voto e a politica por trás do espectáculo: uma Europa em que os laços locais sobressaem, ainda que afectados por anos e anos de guerra (Balcãs) ou de opressão (Russia); o Leste que detesta o Oeste; o Oeste que paga para o espectaculo continuar; e todo o motivo do evento (as canções) completamente defraudado. Fica um excerto:

This pointed rejection of Western Europe might even be seen as a poignant metaphor for contemporary Europe as a whole. The large, industrialized nations magnanimously invite their poorer but more numerous eastern cousins to join their party, and offer to pay the bill, only to discover themselves locked out in the garden while their new friends complain about the quality of the liquor and the arrogance of the hosts.

The hosts, meanwhile, can’t get along either — the big four collectively awarded one another a grand total of just 12 points. So although it was more than a little odd that the countries that actually tried to help in Bosnia are substantially less popular there than the country that instigated ethnic cleansing, it was equally odd that the Balkans, of all places, was effectively handing the western countries a lesson in cooperation.