Why this doesn't surprise me.

By the way, the Russian interval acts in the semi-finals were a lot better than in the final.

What the heck was that swimming pool on the ceiling supposed to be?

There are a lot more local languages in the semi-finals, but people don't tend to vote for them.

I was very keen on Serbia's entry which was sung in Serbian, but it didn't make it to the finals.

Talking bout local languages, I couldn't even emagine how beautiful could be a song in estonian =)

Was supposed to break and spill down but didn't. What a disappointment, really...

it should have been in the finals, right.... it's such a long show and you'd be so thankful for having three minutes to go to the toilet or get some more sandwiches from the kitchen...

Right! It was a beautiful performance, and I liked the melody, but I think even more I enjoyed just listening to herrrr prrronouncing the "R"...

I remember when they used to read out all their votes, not just the 8/10/12. That took ages, thank goodness they scrapped it when the membership of Eurovision expanded.

Well, Tarja's from Finland, and no longer with Nightwish. But Nightwish almost were sent to the ESC with "Sleepwalker" some years ago. But they didn't win the Finnish votings, so somebody else was sent.

What a cruel twist of fate... That brutal assault on a handful of gays sure backfired on Russia in terms of PR:

During this weekend, there was not one single arcticle about ESC in any of the papers I read (including the tabloids that you get for free in the underground) that did not cover the demonstration in detail, giving extensive background information about gay and lesbian rights in the Soviet Union Russia. The same is true for all internet sources. Even a weekly magazine that only covers TV and movie events (and gives you all the info you never wanted to know about weddings and divorces and such) published a full page with an interview about human rights in general (and the situation for gays and lesbians in particular) with a renowned Austrian journalist living in Moscow.

It was also featured in the main evening news on saturday with footage that really showed the bestial brutality and aggression of the Russian police, plus interviews with Russian passers-by who said things like "our beautiful country must be cleaned of such perversions" and "These people are sent by Satan". The Song Contest itself as the motive for the demonstration was only mentioned by the anchorman in a brief explanation before.

Knowing that Putin's accomplices broke up the demonstration because they wanted to avoid any international press reports related to homosexuality during the ESC, this whole thing sure backfired on them. And how it did!

Had they simply ignored the (only 30) people at the demonstration, not one single jounalist would have written about it. A handful of gay men holding up signposts and rainbow flags is no story. Police beating up and arresting innocent citizens sure is a great story, even more so if beefed up by nazi-esque statements given by people who watch.

I wish I knew how to support the people who went to jail for this. (I mean, imagine what impact they had: 30 people, only about one minute, and they get as much media attention as a ~30 Million Euro spectacle. Chapeau!)

Authorities in general never seem to learn the danger of cracking down on demonstrations.


I wonder how well this represents Russians as a whole... Are Russians in general anti-gay, or did the journalists only show the passers-by who were?