#why's there no eurovision songs??? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ara-line · 1 month

Text

Some myth busting about Israel's Eurovision participation

Do note that I use countries here when referring to participation. The term broadcasters would be more accurate since a national broadcaster chooses the entrant and the broadcaster is a member of the European Broadcasting Union, the organization behind Eurovision. But a lot of people use the term countries instead of broadcasters, hence why I'm using that word as well.

Myth 1. "Israel isn't even in Europe"

Well, any country that's part of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which Israel, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia are members of, can participate. Same goes for associate members like Australia, hence why Australia is allowed to participate. Lebanon and Morocco could also participate but choose not to because of Israel. In fact, Morocco's only participation was when Israel wasn't participating in the contest, and Lebanon planned to participate but didn't because of Israel's participation. There are rumours going around that this is also the case for Tunisia and Qatar.

Myth 2. "Eurovision banned Russia but not Israel."

Not completely true. Russia was initially going to participate in the 2022 contest, but several countries protested against Russia's participation and threatened to withdraw if Russia was allowed to participate, thus leading to them being kicked out. We will come back to this point about several countries threatening to leave.

Myth 3. "A lot of the artists speaking out about Israel could actually just withdraw from the contest to make a real statement."

You do realize the EBU actually will fine countries if they withdraw too late without good reason? I'm pretty sure a lot of these countries have contracts in place for their contestants, and since the contest is set to take place in mid May, withdrawing would mean possibly being blacklisted from the music industry and losing out on more opportunities. Not for being pro Palestine, but because they backed out on a contract they signed and left the many, many people who work behind the scenes high and dry on really short notice.

Technically not a myth but worth mentioning: 4. "Israel should be kicked out because her presence is a security risk."

Where do we even begin with this? If a country like Sweden, where the contest is being hosted, isn't able to protect its contestants from terrorist attacks, they shouldn't be hosting. It's that simple. I doubt anyone would've said this if Russia was allowed to participate in 2022.

Myth 5. "Eurovision lets Israel pinkwash its crimes."

@pauvrecamille really summed up how a lot of the discourse around pinkwashing can be boiled down to "country I hate gives their gays more rights than one I like." We could talk about how the only transgender winner is from Israel herself.

And if there is a case to be made for pinkwashing in Eurovision, I would argue that it applies more to Russia and Azerbaijan than it does to Israel. At least Israelis can criticize their government and not fear being arrested.

Speaking of Azerbaijan:

Myth 6. "If even one country withdraws from the contest, then that will send a statement to the contest."

Not true. Armenia withdrew from the 2021 contest because of the war with Azerbaijan, while Azerbaijan was allowed to participate in the contest. This is even after we already know they've cheated twice in the contest, on top of the human rights violations. And we could talk about how so many were forcibly displaced because of Azerbaijan hosting the competition in 2012.

We can also talk about how Ukraine withdrew from the contest in 2015 because of Russia's invasion. Russia was still allowed to participate and went on to place second that year.

In 2008, Russia invaded Georgia and in 2009, the Georgian entry was called "We Don't Wanna Put In" which contained veiled references to Putin's invasion. Because Russia was hosting the contest that year, the EBU tried to get Georgia to change their song. Georgia refused and ended up withdrawing.

Remember what I said about several countries threatening to withdraw if Russia was allowed to participate in 2022? It took a total of 10 countries expressing their concerns about Russia's participation and three or four threatening to withdraw if Russia was allowed to actually get the EBU to reverse course on their decision. So there's that.

EDIT: Myth 7: "People wouldn't be bullying the artists for participating in the contest if the EBU kicked Israel out."

Why am I even surprised this is a talking point?

Edit: Myth 8: "Eurovision is treating Israel differently because of the whole lyrics change situation."

I've seen this on both sides, and this is not true. I've mentioned Georgia earlier, but I also want to mention Armenia's 2015 entry, originally called Don't Deny. It was changed to Face the Shadow and allowed to compete. It's reportedly about the Armenian genocide. The point is, stuff like this happens all the time. In 2021, in the midst of protests and lack of freedom, Belarus sent a pro government band with a song containing veiled lyrics threatening to subjugate the protestors. The EBU allowed them to submit another song but ultimately, Belarus was kicked out after they still failed to follow the rules.

So no, this is not out of the norm. At least from what I know. I'm more than happy to edit this section out if I have been proven wrong. God knows I've edited this post many, many times.

Final thoughts:

A lot of the people who are all high and mighty about boycotting Eurovision would absolutely not be doing that if it was Russia participating. They certainly didn't when Azerbaijan did in 2021.

A lot of the misinformation around Eurovision this year can be chalked up to antisemitism and not understanding how contracts work. I think it's also really performative and virtue signaling at best. Yes, it's true that the postcards(clips for the broadcast while preparing for the next performer) for the 2019 contest, held in Israel, where filmed in disputed territories.

Actually, let's talk about the postcards.

You see, KAN, the Israeli broadcaster, chose not to film the postcards in territories like the West Bank. And they were criticized for it by the right wing Israeli government. So there is a true fact about something bad the Israeli government did that you can criticize them for.

Now back to the topic at hand.

Yes, it's true that Israel's lyrics were changed so they could go ahead and participate this year. It's just that now, it's really difficult to have a sane conversation about Israel in general. It's difficult to have a sane conversation about antisemitism with some people. Take this post here trying to combat antisemitism only to end up having to fight Islamophobia. Put a big F in the chat for the OP of that post, yikes.

If no one got called anti LGBT when the World Cup was held in Qatar and people still watched, I don't see why people who choose to watch Eurovision this year should be called pro genocide.

Last but not least, I want to end this on a more positive note, so this year's contest is looking really good. No one's completely sure who will take the win this year, but right now the song with the most bets to win the contest is Switzerland. It's not like 2023, where we all knew who was going to win weeks before the actual contest. So I'm interested in the outcome this year. You guys are more than welcome to throw in your own opinions on this year's caliber of songs if you want.

#a lot of my fellow anti #tankies #will probably appreciate this post because of how much misinformation is going around about Eurovision and Israel this year #hence why I've tagged it as such #eurovision song contest #palestine #stop making the left look bad you donkeys #most of you don't know what you're talking about #israel #misinformation

113 notes · View notes

writersblockiskillingme · 1 year

Text

Gladiator | Jan Rozmanowski/Jann

Pairing: Jan Rozmanowski/Jann x reader (figure skater!reader)

Summary: People find it hard to believe that Jan wrote Gladiator for you and his relationship with you, but once they look in the lyrics a bit better it all makes sense.

Warning/s: swearing (twice, maybe three times), impaled smut, but not in detail, stress and pressure, possible grammar and spelling mistakes, but I really hope you will enjoy this one

Author's note: I didn't see any Jann imagines on here and we CAN NOT and WILL NOT have that... so I made one. I also kind of got inspired by the queen herself, Alexandra Trusova. Enjoy! (Requests are open)

Welcome to the party, say hi to everybody

Paid for by Martini, but they're sippin' on Bacardi

Body's more than just a flesh, you can sell it for success

What's your price what's your address? We can finish at my place

Sometimes it can get really hard. You were a famous figure skater and it meant that you had to give up a lot. Like a lot. You could make some friends, sure, but it will never last. Figure skating is truly a very competitive sport and it would mean that you had to go up against your friends most of the time. So yeah, it never ends well. One always gets hurt and, as selfish as this may sound, you always had to make sure that you wouldn't be the one to get hurt.

You kind of lost all of the interest about the party that you were attending right now. You just felt so tired from the late practice last night that you felt like you could easily doze off right here. You found yourself leaning against the bar corner as you drank the last drop of your Bacardi, even tho you paid for a Martini. However, when the bartender brought you the wrong drink you didn't want to be one of those people so you didn't tell him anything. Plus you really couldn't care less as long as you get a little alcohol in your system to try and wash away all of the shit that was currently going on. The preparations for the World Championship was truly killing you, eating you outside out.

As you ordered yourself a new round of Bacardi, you noticed the guy standing next to you.

You didn't really know what was it. The alcohol? Your fucked out drunk as fuck brain? Or perhaps it was the tiredness from the bone crushing training with zero percent of sleep? In any case, whatever it was, you noticed one thing. The guy was drop dead gorgeous, it surprised you that he was alone nursing a bunch of Margaritas. His hair was dirty blonde, almost brown. His eyes looked so tired, but they still held a beautiful kind of joy. He looked so tired, too. You noticed the way he was lightly gripping at the glass that he was probably a bit drunk, too. You also noticed that he was so freakishly tall. It all confused you. You thought that it was ridiculous. How can somebody be so bloody drop dead gorgeous?

Maybe it was alcohol after all because you suddenly got a wave of self encouragement and you found yourself slowly stepping towards him. Something was simply pulling you towards him. You simply felt like you need to get to know him. It surprised you. You weren't usually the one to step forward, it flooded you with nervousness. Plus, considering your occupation, you didn't really have much time to get yourself a boyfriend, but it felt like it would be nice. All you had to do entire day was wake up, eat if you have time, practice, quick break, more practice, shower, rihurse, eat, sleep. On Fridays you allowed yourself to get drunk just enough so you could forget it all, but you thought that it would be nice. You know?

To have someone who is not putting even more pressure on you, to always be there for you, no matter what. To encourage you, to be there for you, to cheer you on, to make you happy. Somebody who will be proud of you no matter what. Someone who will be there when the pressure and the expectations get to much. When you break down. Someone to hold you. To see you as you. To love you. And, weirdly enough, you felt this towards that unknown guy you just saw, but you didn't now that he was actually looking at you the entire night. Watching you drowning yourself in a drink that you didn't even order, but were to nice to say anything to the bartender. He was watching you perform for a bit, too. He found you very talented. Very gorgeous.

However, before you could make a few steps towards him, from the spot in which you were standing in, you were suddenly swarmed with the crowd.

It lasted long enough it seems like, you thought to yourself. It was just a matter of time before somebody would approach you. In the corner of your eye, you saw him smirking at you, his face saying "amusement". Your eyes met and he got up, to your surprise. People around you were yelling, dancing, drinking, the crowd stared to make small talk, but your eyes were still just on him. He knew it, too. He stopped walking when he reached the end of the crowd. Your eyes filled with realization and a bit of amusement. Once you finally said hello to everybody, you will reach the one you want to get to know the most right now. And so you started with the talk.

After a long while, you felt like you got hit by a truck. You were still talking, still drinking, still faking. Just as the last person finally went away and the last photo got taken, at that moment approached you the person you wanted the most. He ordered himself and you a Martini and you got to chit-chat.

"I must say." He began as the bartender placed two Martinis in front of you. "I feel so honored that you found time to talk to me."

"Yeah, sorry about that." You suddenly your cheeks felt hot and you realized that you were blushing.

"No, it's good. But I must say you look even more gorgeous when you blush." He gave you his signature smirk as he took another sip of his Martini. At that, you felt like your face was red as a tomato.

"By the way, I saw your performance in Amsterdam three days ago." He said and you couldn't help but to look up at him in surprise. God he was so tall. "Those two flips that you did... I can see that you are very skilled." He gave you another compliment as he took another sip of his Martini. You felt so honored, he had seen you perform, he thinks your skilled. Somehow it felt like a big commitment. Somehow, someway, his opinion mattered to you.

"Really?" You started, suddenly feeling very bold. "I thought that the part where I did that Cantilever was gonna be your favorite."

"Oh, trust me it is." He gave you a wink as he continued to talk. "It looked really good, darling." He said, his Polish accent coming on strong.

"Well, what can I say. It had to be good. However, sometimes, the body is more than just a flesh, but in many things you can sell it for success." You winked back at him as you said that. "But you have to have some talent, too."

Both him and you knew one thing, though. If you continued to drink as much as you do right now and talk the way you were talking right now, you will probably end up finishing this conversation at his place.

Ever been to Bali? I really need some sun

Such a shame 'bout that tsunami, I'll have to go to Cali

I can get you dressed, wrap your body in excess

Give them something to obsess over

It felt so good. You were talking about everything and about nothing. He told you that he wanted to visit an island called Bali, but a day before his flight he saw the news about the island being hit by a tsunami so he decided to go to Cali. He also told you that he was a professional song writer and a singer and that he wanted to make another song, but didn't really have an inspiration.

You were telling him about the struggle of your sport and that you felt like all of the weight of the expectations were slowly, but surely crushing down on you. But you also told him about the fun part of your job, the costumes, the song and choreography choice. You enjoyed that, he could tell so, too. From the way that you were talking about it, he felt like he could listen forever.

"My coach is putting so much pressure on me. It gets to much, sometimes. Like I'm not famous enough. It gets on my nerves so much sometimes. I can't even go to a grocery store, most of the time somebody will recognize me!"

You complained and he listened. He listened and gave his opinion and you knew that he felt the same and it hurt so much. You felt like you had fallen in love, it was ridiculous. But at the same time it wasn't.

After a while he pulled you towards the middle of the dance floor. You were laughing and dancing and singing along. You didn't feel this relaxed and this happy for a long time. It felt like drugs. You just couldn't get enough and you never wanted it to stop.

Jan placed his arms around your waist as you danced and just had fun. You pulled each other closer as you danced. You could smell his cologne as you hid your face in his neck. He smelled like the finest air, alcohol and cigarettes. It was a weird combination, but it was so comforting, you felt like you could only breathe that astonishing smell for the rest of your life. Pretty soon, you tangled your hands in his hair as he played with the edge of your dress.

"They are taking photos of us." You found yourself whispering in his ear. You could practically feel the smirk he directed to you.

"It's fine." Jan laughed a bit, amused. "A figure skater and a singer. That'll give them something to obsess over."

You'll love it when I give it to you, leave you wanting more

I know your addiction's attention, let's start a show

Is it everything and more than you were hoping for?

Show us something we ain't never seen before

Jan and you were dating for two months now, and you had to admit that it was the best relationship that you were ever in. It went so much better than you thought it would. He was your number 1 supporter and you were his. He came to your every performance just like you came to every gig he had. You were always cheering him on just like he always cheered you on.

You just got off the practice, you were supposed to have a few days off and you couldn't wait to go away. You couldn't wait to leave rehearsals for a while, to leave your coach for a while, to leave the public eye for a while. You just couldn't wait to go get out of the building and crash at Jan's place. As you got out of the rehearsal, the first person you saw was your gorgeous boyfriend.

The moment he saw you he gave you your water bottle and despite your protests took your bag and slang it over his shoulder. He put his arm around you and led you to the car as you drank your water. You couldn't wait to get to his house. And, boy, it was worth the wait.

The moment you walked in he had you pressed against the wall, kissing you passionately. You tangled your hands in his gorgeous hair as he mumbled "jump" against your mouth. You did just that. Jan's arms wrapped around your legs as he walked upstairs towards the bedroom.

He gently placed you down, his lips never in the wildest dreams leaving your lips. Jam continued to kiss you as both of you slowly got rid of your clothes. After you were both pressed against each other, skin to skin, he pulled away for a short while.

"You'll love it when I give it to you. I'll leave you wanting more." And that wasn't a threat, it was a promise.

Smash your competition, baby

Show us some good entertainment

Victory's your only payment

Gladiator, gladiator

You were so bloody nervous, you felt like you were about to throw up or explode or something. You were messing around with the end of the red costume you were wearing, a white jacket was slung over your shoulders to protect the costume.

Jan immediately noticed what was wrong and quickly brought you into a hug. He didn't say anything for a while, he was just slowly rocking you back and forth in his arms.

Jan felt you tighten your arms around him. You felt like crying. He knew it. He pulled you even closer, afraid that you would disappear or that a messy cloud of fear and anxiety that was hanging above your head would cover you completely. The smell of his cologne calmed you down a little bit, but you still felt like you would much rather just crowl into a hole and die.

"You can do this." Jan pulled away as he placed both of his hands on each side of your face. "You can land 5 quads, you can win the World Championship. I know you can." It seemed like his words of encouragement did little to settle down the nervous pit that was constantly, slowly, painfully growing inside of your stomach.

"But, what if I-?"

"Even if you don't." He gave you a look. "Even if you don't it will still be like you did. For me you did. For your whole country, for your family, for your friends it will be like you won."

You nodded your head slowly, nervousness calming down a little bit. He slowely copied your action and nodded his head, too. You gave him a smile, a silent "thank you" for slicing that into you.

"Now go out there and show them something they have never seen before." He said and you pulled him in a quick kiss before your coach called you.

"Thank you, Jan." You whispered before you left. Jan smiled as he watched you go, shining with pride as he walked away to get to his seat.

Welcome to the party, I know it's kinda funny

That everyone is acting like they know you personally

Just play along, be nice and all

You won't get far being on your own

Your makeup was a bit ruined, but it didn't matter because you did it! Everything that you were working on your whole life had come true. You won the World Championship and you made history by landing 5 quads.

You grabbed your trophy and took pictures with the girls who got 2nd and 3rd place. But there was this bubbling excitement in your chest. You just couldn't wait to get off of the platform and to celebrate your victory with the person who supported you the most. Jan.

The moment that you saw each other, you ran to one another and Jan lifted you from the ground as he kept spinning you around.

"I'm so proud of you, baby!" He said as he attacked you with kisses. "My world champion!"

Later on you walked into a celebration party. Everyone was chatting with you, congratulations were shot at you from miles away and everyone was talking to you like they truly know you. After a while, you called it quits and left with one arm wrapped around your trophy and with other arm wrapped around your greatest treasure.

"I find it kind of funny, you know." Jan spoke up as you walked towards the car with you. "Everyone was talking to us like they knew every single thing about us."

"I know. But you know what?" You tightened your arm around him as you gave him a light, tired smile. "You really should always be kind to everyone. On this world you can't do it all on your own. So thank you, Jan. For your support."

"Baby, you are my greatest prise."

#jann #jan rozmanowski x reader #jann x reader #jan rozmanowski #eurovision song contest #eurovision 2023 #imagine #jan x reader #x reader #songfic #gladiator #jann gladiator #Spotify #fic #why is he so gorgeous #why is he so precious

230 notes · View notes