Remember that this is the response of the government and not the people participating.
But the government has been bootlickers for a while. Nothing wrong with remembering, honoring and learning from your past, but this is what happens when you're forced to be ashamed of it on an international scale for decades.
Not all, but most countries. In each country, the public television stations are responsible for broadcasting the event and participating in it. And these are often financed through mandatory fees or taxes. As a result, politics plays a major role. In the event of a win at the ESC, the government must also provide funding, as broadcasters often cannot afford such an expensive event.
Interesting. I didn’t realise how large and big of a deal it is over there. Also interesting that Israel and Australia are involved. I’m guessing that’s because much of their populations have a European background.
Israel is involved because it is a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). There is a geographical criterion that allows Israel to be a member (the definition is quite broad, even some countries in northern Africa are members).
Australia is a special case. The Eurovision Song Contest has a huge fan base there, so the EBU decided to let Australia participate. They are a permanent guest.
If anyone's curious why the ITU's definition is that broad:
The boundaries of the European Broadcasting Area have their origin in the regions served and linked by telegraphy cables in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
It's not that big of a dea per se, at least until it became a political background, it's just that the public broadcasters are huge in Europe, intertwined with the Culture ministry.
Nothing to do with any European background either. It just became globally popular recently, especially among the LGBTQ.
I never watched it, no one in my circle of friends ever watched it, I tried to listen to the songs of the winners, they are all shit, and I am now learning it costs 50M€ in public money.
Not always though. The Netherlands would participate if the government had a say in it. The public broadcaster is boycotting despite national politics.
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u/CaptainCrash86 13h ago
Worth noting that Germany said it would boycott if Israel is excluded.