Eurovision is peak European culture.Dedicated to the wonders of the show and the bits and pieces of happiness brought to us by its contestants. May contain bits of European wonders and scattered pieces of actual magic.
THANK YOU SO MUCH NOW I CAN REST IN PEACE (not… in the dying way, just in… peace of mind way! This sounded better in my head…)
I think I had an unresolved and unadmitted crush on him back then (that I couldn’t admit because dude was elected “most likely to be a furry” that year by the popular tumblr vote 😂), but I loved that song so much that years and years later, I’d listen to it, and it would always make me feel so free and energised 😊
…but dude has the most common name in the world and either I subconsciously didn’t want to find what he was doing or… idk, but I couldn’t find his other music FOR YEARS 😅
So… you did SUCH a good deed!!! Thank you!!
youtube
Look, I really miss Ivan, and I’m still bitter that this song didn’t qualify for the big final.
Another thing to remember: this was Serbia and this was 2007.
Only six years before that, the parade tried to be held but was interrupted by people who went and beat up all the marchers.
By then, people were openly MURDERED for being gay.
A YEAR before that, the NEW constitution defined marriage as ONLY a union between man and woman.
It was more normal to be homophobic than to be an ally. It was pretty much normal to say how much you’d like to beat gays up.
In 2011 (!!!) the movie “Parada” came out in Serbia, and it showed how banal murdering gay people was in a lot of people’s head. There was zero respect for the LGBT population. In 2008, 70% of people in Serbia still considered homosexuality an illness.
And then Marija arrived. With her incredible voice. And she won.
She actually won.
And people could only respect her and her art.
And with respect towards her, they could see that gay people could also be creative, and good, and actually bring something positive to their country.
So her victory was very culturally significant too! She didn’t become Verka, because she isn’t Verka.
She is Marija Šerifović.
The Serbian Eurovision winner.
Do you know what, at least Käärijä will be the new Verka Serduchka. But Loreen? She'll be hated by so many people now and most won't even remember that she won.
Does anyone remember who won when Verka performed? No. But everyone remembers Verka.
Belarus has gone into the pit of darkness and it is questionable when will be the next time the nation comes back to humanity, when the madness stops… and then, they’ll be able to participate again.
In the meantime, this song was still so underrated, everything about him was so… weird, in a good way, somehow…
I have no idea what he’s doing now tho; nor about his positions about the current situation of his countries…
youtube
Look, I really miss Ivan, and I’m still bitter that this song didn’t qualify for the big final.
That’s it. What the hell. They were pushing him to talk about how queer this is and how queer that is, literally trying to paint his style as queer.
And I dislike it because it’s absolutely counter-productive. And absolutely regressive. First of all, I think that it’s absolutely dehumanising to describe people as “queer-coded”. That’s not normal. That’s not okay. We are human beings. We are not to be “coded”, and besides, gay is not a fashion statement. It is a reality within your heart - it’s literally about who your heart is attracted to.
And I’m tired, I’m very tired of it being reduced to an aesthetic. It’s extremely regressive, both to the gay and to the straight people.
It’s harmful for gay people because it dehumanises them. It reduces them to a performance. A dress. A code of fashion or behaviour. Leading to “oh you’re gay? But you don’t LOOK or ACT gay! You should be [insert some horrendous stereotype here]”. Queerness is not a dress. And no matter how much companies try to advertise it as such because it makes money, I think that we should all take a step back and have some actual respect. And acting like we’re open-minded while simultaneously calling a fashion style “gay” is… it’s literally homophobia from the 90s. Rebranding homophobia doesn’t make it less homophobic. Enough already.
The other people this is harmful towards are straight people too. Especially straight guys - because it limits them in their self-expression. As I said, queerness is not a dress. And guys, straight or gay, should be allowed to dress however they want, without others immediately asking them whether it betrays something about their sexuality. This shouldn’t even be a question. Straight guys should be able to express themselves and wear stuff they like without people going “lol that’s gay”. When you speak like a 90s bully, no matter if you disguise it in progressive talk, you’re still a homophobe.
I’m trying to not get too far in this because there’s a lot to be said, but I really despise the way homophobia is presenting itself nowadays — it has been reduced to a fashion statement or a virtue signalling, or rather SELLING point to PRETEND to be an ally by applauding “gay fashion” and even pretending that you’re queer because you love “gay fashion”. And then look around yourself to try to “spot” gay fashion on people and ask them if they’re gay because you assume that whoever dresses like “the gays” dress in your mind is gay.
Guys!!! Guys!!!!! This is not okay! This is not okay at all!
Excerpt from a Swedish article with a Käärijä interview. Sorry, I lost the original link! But here's a translation of this part.
Today you're wearing nail polish and earrings, your style is quite queer? - I want to go out on a limb and do some crazy stuff. Really I wanted to wear yellow, but The Rasmus who competed for Finland last year went with that so then the stylist went with green and I like it. I wear what I like and I don't care about others.
What do people in Finland think about your style? - I guess some people think who the hell is he? But I want to do what I feel like. I think it's a bit of a new wave in Finland and younger people don't care. It is more open to go your own way.
Are you straight? - Haha, yes, there's only girls here (laughing). But I love the gay fans and I was surprised there were so many gays at all the concerts leading up to Eurovision. I love gays, they're so funny and I've got several close gay friends in Finland. And I think it's important that everyone should be who they are and love who they want.
Do you feel any body image pressure since you're half naked all the time? - No, I don't care about that. I've been taking my shirt off ever since I started with music. I want everyone to be able to get undressed no matter what you look like. You don't need a six pack to do it, everyone is beautiful in their own way.
OKAY THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME I HEAR HE’S BROKE.
That he’s out of money.
So I have a loooot of questions, my guys! A lot of them! First, how are artists even financed anymore? And how will the music industry keep working?
Like you know back in the 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s, all the way till the early 2010s, you still had big studios financing their own artists and feeding them in the star system. And they were covered with gold and diamonds basically.
Now, we all knew that most of the money still went to the studios and the managers, but the artists were still very wealthy - buuuut at the same time, they were also studio slaves.
All that has changed in the last ten years or so, with the advancement of social media, self-advertising, self-publishing, self-promoting and the such.
And it represents a tremendous amount of work.
But either way… I’m curious if his financial situation is better now? He still won Eurovision came second in Eurovision, I know that the broadcaster paid the whole team a lot. Then there’s also the sheer amount of gigs right now… I don’t know who’s managing him, but I know there must be money there!
…I hope he gets to see some of that money is my point 😅
…and my other point is actually a point of wonder of how artists are financed nowadays…