Let's not forget that Russia was booed for having invaded Crimea just three months prior. In my memory, that was the big reason for the booing rather than the homophobic laws, though it could be both factors.

As an eastern european, thank you SO much for making this video. Literally, no one brings up these issues and it's nice to finally hear someone acknowledging them.

It was a huge thing in Germany when Conchita participated and even won. Everyone tried to seem so woke and not say a bad thing yet it was the only thing the media talked about. Never the song, never about Conchita as a drag artist, only the fact that there was a man dressing up as a woman with a beard. Maturing means realising that the eastern countries always voted for each other because they had better songs.

You know, when any of my American friends or online acquaintances find out about Eurovision it's hard to put the popularity of the show into perspective. It has about 10-15 times the television viewership of the Grammies and Oscars, and has only really been beat in viewership by sporting competitions like the Super Bowl, Olympics and FIFA World Cup, along with massive one-time events like the first moon landing. Quality or not, it's a massive phenomenon all of Europe pays attention to. You'd think Eurovision is deciding the fate of Europe instead of the EU Parliament.

As a swedish person I have to say, thank you for pointing out Swedens bullshitery

The talk about queer people surrounding progressivism, is mostly about proclaiming how "tolerant" they are of us. You don't tolerate things you like, you tolerate things you hate.

As a Brit, I was deeply ashamed by Terry Wogan's commentary. He dismissed great entries before they'd even started performing, he talked over the intros of songs, he said nasty things about the contestants' looks, and he came up with bizarre conspiracies about the UK's failures. It was really difficult getting my friends to care about Eurovision because they would just parrot Wogan's views. Nowadays I watch Eurovision on YouTube, and without the commentary it feels like a breath of fresh air.

as a swede, thank you for clarifying how much of sweden's progressive utopian image is just that: an image. if it's too good to be true, then it probably isn't true and that applies to practically everything sweden is glamorised for

This is just .... so well done. Standing ovation. The anti-eastern Europe bias, the double standards of "appropriate" political messaging, the fact homophobia is STILL prevalent in all countries, the homo-nationalism and the fact that aspirational ideals of equality and protection of minorities can be perverted and used to silence, provoke and single out other "undesirables".

I want to thank you for your admirably proper pronunciation of Marija Šerifović's name. So many don't put the effort into getting our region's names right. I just wanted to know your effort is being appreciated.

This video essay is amazing. the lead is really buried by the title and thumbnail of the video - I wasn't expecting such an in depth and insightful anaylsis of race, class, xenophobia, activism, politics and homonationalism from this jumping off point.

Azerbaijani here. I was a volunteer at Eurovision in Baku and it was an interesting experience. Regarding Human Rights, it is no secret that Azerbaijan's record is the worst in the Eastern Partnership. There were attempts of queer baiting with lyrics of "gay or straight or in-between" and the styling of Tural and Turan this year. But Eurovision was a big deal especially the first year, another testament to at least formal independence post collapse of the USSR. The first act of Azerbaijan Day after Day was indeed performed by closeted gay performers, which caused some problems afterwards for the artists and it was the best performance of Azerbaijan throughout the years. But rather than boycotting access and progressive events (a lot of gays arrived in Baku for Eurovision, which was a positive) let's question the root of the problem and the fact that European countries economically support the current government as they consider it a reliable business partner. Eurovision was one of the events that was worth holding unlike European Games or the horrible Formula, which doesn't bring any values or culture.  And on a side note, Yuliya Volkova of TATU is extremely homophobic and even if there is some docs about her being bi, she was probably doing that to attract male gaze. Lena Katina on the other hand has low key supported LGBT community in Russia and if you ask any Russian queer person they will prove this. So the kiss was not a real gay kiss. TATU is a band created on child exploitation and is very very problematic, in general.

Thank you for pointing out the eastern bloc conspiricy bs. That was the most annoying thing in eurovision coverage in the past 20 years, at least in germany. Reality is that the eastern european entries saved this competition with regard to diversity and inclusiveness and made it the fun that it is now.

Thank you for highlinging a history of how "nutrality" is a way to hold existing power and reactionalry politicst. Upsetting to see queer people being used as bludgens in raciest ways .

Crazy how well this video aged with the more recent Isreal stuff

Fantastic video!
Fun fact: the first woman who wore trousers on stage in Eurovision was Åse Kleveland from Norway. She is regarded a national treasure here, and was our minister of culture in the 90’s for the Labour Party. She is pretty iconic, she hangs out in an old flight tower outside Oslo and drives around in the same tiny car that she bought 54 years ago. I aspire to be her.

As a Hungarian queer person, I have a feeling that the homonationalism of some western European countries is due to this weird belief that there are no queer people in eastern Europe, only queerphobes. I think it's assumed in western countries that all of us left for another, less homophobic country. The thing is though, not everyone has a choice and not everyone wants to leave, some queer people want their countries to change for the better, so they stay, hoping for the best or trying to change the status quo themselves.

This aged well in 2024 ...

I'm a swede and honestly had no idea about this but now that I do I feel disgusted. Yikes. Other than that political party and their antics, of course.

The Eurovision is a prime example of *rainbow washing*.  "To hell with human rights, look at how gay we are!"