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Wogan blames racism for Eurovision flop



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Published Date: 02 June 2008
By Matt Williams
VETERAN presenter Terry Wogan has blamed racism in eastern Europe for Britain's poor showing during last week's Eurovision Song Contest.
The broadcaster described British singer Andy Abraham's skin colour as the "elephant in the room", adding that countries "east of the Danube" were unwilling to support black performers.

It is the latest attack on the annual contest, which has been ridiculed for its politicised voting system as well as its celebration of cheesy pop.

UK entrant Abraham, 43, received just 14 points from European voters, placing him joint last. None of the 22 eastern European countries involved in the competition awarded a single vote to the British singer.

Writing in a Sunday paper, Wogan said: "Our lack of close border ties with other countries hasn't helped our cause, and our millions of expats in Spain and France don't seem inclined to help, but the elephant in the room was our singer, Andy Abraham's, colour."

He added: "East of the Danube, they won't be voting for a black singer any day soon."





The full article contains 177 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 01 June 2008 9:31 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Eurovision Song Contest
 
1

Charles Linskaill,

Edinburgh 02/06/2008 00:35:29

'AYE' Right Then!

More like the whole contest is a complete 'sham' and the UK's entries for many years now are Atrocious.!

Soo Much for,..'Britain's Got Talent'!

Yes We Do!, but our own 'Judgement' on who gets through to any final in any competition, is well misguided, and the'.......''Real Talent' is left on the 'scrap heap'!
2

Resolutions,

02/06/2008 00:38:44
When will everyone recognise that we have had ghastly rotten 'songs' for years? How on earth anyone could possibly think that what we have been offered to choose from for years, would appeal to a wide audience is beyond me. I've given up watching even the choosing of the songs as they are all universally awful.
If, a miracle were to happen, and a memorable, 'singalong' type song was entered, there would be support. In the meantime, it should be treated with contempt.
Call it racism if you wish, but stop blaming everyone else and start looking at what we submit. If we cannot be prud of it, why expect anyone else to like it?
3

Charles Linskaill,

Edinburgh 02/06/2008 00:41:06

BTW Terry..'Old Boy'! Listen to me!

"When you cease to strive to understand, then you will know without understanding."
4

Scullion,

Canada 02/06/2008 02:01:35
I would think that in this kitschathon coming in last would in fact be something to crow about.
5

Singlepoint,

Fife 02/06/2008 03:12:26
Shut up, Terry.
6

The Daleks,

Longmen 02/06/2008 05:38:13
Whenever something happens that you don't like shout, "Racism!!"

Surely in this light Uncle Terry's ouburst is anti-Slavic racism.
7

Guga II,

Rockall 02/06/2008 06:23:19
It has absolutely nothing to do with the colour of the man's skin Terry. It's just a case of nobody likes the English.
8

Mikey,

02/06/2008 06:36:47
Remember the Irishman who was Anglified? Just goes to show that it's not restricted to Scots.....
9

Itchy,

02/06/2008 06:42:50
Britain sent a loser and Russia sent their answer to Robbie Williams.

That's the difference.

Terry is the racist and ignoramus. His witterings drive me round the twist.
10

Green booger,

02/06/2008 07:44:13
EU = Fourth Reich
11

Green booger,

02/06/2008 07:44:42
What is Russia doing in the EU Soviet?
12

Richardinho,

02/06/2008 07:47:52
Wogan is obviously completely oblivious to the fact that his own commentary for the last 30 years has been peppered with racial slurs against the rest of Europe.
Oh the irony!
13

Richardinho,

02/06/2008 07:49:32
Britain's whole attitude to Eurovision is this; 'Eurovision is rubbish-therefore if we send a completely rubbish act then we'll win it'.

The Europeans are not stupid, and they can see when they're being insulted.
14

thewelshhahaha,

02/06/2008 08:42:01
Terry isn't far off the mark... too many "hard of thinking folks" in the UK with group hug thoughts towards Eu. After 30+ years we can just about get along with the French, Gerries, Italians and Spanish, the new bunch are a different breed. They are all from countries which are not much beyound the 1920's in their attitudes. The Russians treated these guys hard they never progressed much.

Eu u can stick it...
15

Dougie, Edinburgh,

02/06/2008 09:45:31
Glad to see I'm not the only one to find Wogan's bizarre claim a little racist!
16

Mcsnagpile,

02/06/2008 09:45:51
I have many Pop tunes from Russia on my IPOD. Also, -- Chinese, Vietnamese. Thai, Arabian, African pop music. This music is not available in the UK even over the Internet. The Euro vision song contest is a farce considering the vast difference in music culture across nations. I like the China Dolls music “Wo ai nee, Peow lean nu hi“. Viva la difference, Paddy Malarka--. China Dolls for the next Euro vision contest.
17

Alternative (High Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 02/06/2008 10:10:49
If you actually listened to what Wogan said, he blamed politics, not racism.
18

Eddie,

Edinburgh 02/06/2008 10:25:24
All these comments about Wogan are obviously from people who don't like Wogan - nothing to do with the competition.
Fact is our song was a reasonably good British song - and would be reasonably successful in Western Europe. The fact that Eurovision is completely dominated by Balkan and Eastern European voters means that we will never win - Wogan's comments that the votes are political is blatantly, obviously and demonstrably true - don't blame him for stating that!
And whoever thought that a coloured singer would appeal to any Eastern European country defies understanding. Its not racist to say that these countries are racist!
As for 'nobody likes England' - what about Germany and Poland? Does nobody like them either?
19

Calum Crubag,

02/06/2008 12:59:49
Shut up Wogan. Many of your comments over the years are based on the same sort of predjudice.

Fact is, most Europeans don't like the English for all sorts of historical reasons, in the same way they don't like the Yanks. Maybe a look at your typical English newspaper will give us an idea why.
20

Calum Crubag,

02/06/2008 13:02:47
18 - Eddie, so you're in Europe and folk ask if you're English. What do you say?

Germans are disliked in some places but most folk recognise that they've moved on from history. The English have never got over losing 'their' empire or 'winning' the wars. Same old songs sung. Same 'anti-everybody' attitudes. I feel sorry for ordinary English folk who are progressive and outward looking.
21

Anglofile,

02/06/2008 13:46:30
At the end of the day, the song contest is utter sh@te anyway, regardless of whether the UK entry is rubbish or not. The Uk should be thinking more about where to put its money more constructively. The whole contest has been political for years and wil never change.
22

Bemused and above it all,

02/06/2008 13:52:05
#10,
still the third, we've got another 125yrs to go!
23

Bemused and above it all,

02/06/2008 13:52:22
why didnt we go with Morrisey?
24

Iain's,

Barcelona 02/06/2008 16:09:31
This expat in Spain has got better things to do than vote in a rubbish song contest.
Like going along to my nearest tapas bar or try to understand channel 3.
25

WL,

livingston 02/06/2008 23:25:10
We should have a Eurovision song contest for member states of the European Union only.

 

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