Swedish Eurovision win spares Russian conservatives an awkward moment
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Version 0 of 1. For Russia’s social conservatives, Saturday night’s Eurovision song contest looked like a double victory of a curious sort. Firstly, their nation’s entry just lost out to Sweden, meaning the vastly camp extravaganza will not come to Moscow for 2016. Moreover, some reports had labelled the Swedish winner, Måns Zelmerlöw, a homophobe. The truth, inevitably, is more complex. Yes, the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, who had called Eurovision “repulsive to our soul and our culture”, was spared the experience of his country hosting next year’s show, the mixed honour bestowed on winning nations. For much of the event, Russia’s Polina Gagarina had seemed the most likely winner with A Million Voices. However, in the end Zelmerlöw’s sprightly high-energy rock-pop number Heroes triumphed, by 365 points to 303. Zelmerlöw had attracted unwelcome media attention in the runup to what is, by tradition, one of the most LGBT-friendly dates on the mass entertainment calendar, won last year by bearded drag artist Conchita Wurst, now a global gay superstar. A celebrity in his homeland since taking part in a TV talent show in 2005 – the 28-year-old singer had twice before tried and failed to represent Sweden in Eurovision – Zelmerlöw courted some controversy last year when, appearing on a TV cooking show, he said gay sex was not as “natural” as that between a man and a woman. Such sentiments would seem jarring for Eurovision, especially in a year celebrating diversity, where host city Vienna installed special same-sex couple pedestrian traffic signals. Zelmerlöw appeared suitably on message when he won, telling the audience: “I just want to say that we are all heroes, no matter who we love, who we are or what we believe in. We are all heroes.” As it transpires, Zelmerlöw is believed to have been merely a bit clumsy with his comments. Writing for the PinkNews website before the contest, Ronny Larsson, editor of Swedish LGBT magazine QX, said Zelmerlöw had only intended to say gay sex was less common than the heterosexual variety, not an aberration. Zelmerlöw, wrote Larsson, had been a QX cover star four times, had appeared at Stockholm Pride, and last year even hosted the QX Gala party. He said: “Måns is one of the most sincere, loving and friendly celebrities I have ever met and I know how much he regrets his comments. “He loves his gay fans, his gay friends and is totally on our side. And believe me, he does not want to silence this, or bury it under the carpet, he just wants the gay community to understand that he is so sorry for the words he used.” The Eurovision organisers are nonetheless probably almost as grateful as the patriarch that next year’s contest will not be in Moscow, given the scattered boos heard for Gagarina in Saturday’s event, a possible product of Russia’s anti-gay laws, which prohibit gay “propaganda” aimed at young people. Britain’s Electro Velvet secured a paltry five points for their song, Still in Love with You, on a night also notable for the first appearance of Australia, a wildcard entry to mark the show’s 60th incarnation. Australia’s Guy Sebastian showed the Britons how to do it, finishing fifth with Tonight Again. |