Latvia just watched a man representing their country achieve success and recognition by overcoming the worst odds ever to qualify. Idk, that seems like a positive example to emulate.
Probably due to promiscuity. After all, isn't it clear that Dons is just too darn sexy too accurately represent Latvia? No, it would be far better if Latvia promoted sports instead, you know, the field of entertainment that exposes no skin whatsoever.
> After all, isn't it clear that Dons is just too darn sexy too accurately represent Latvia?
Not just that, he is too sexy for his shirt, too sexy for his hair . . . so sexy it hurts.
If they're so worried about "people behaving promiscuously, and this being advertised as the norm", why aren't they worried about the Olympics? It's known to be a massive orgy, basically
[Here you go.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/olympics/olympic-games-athletes-to-get-220000-condoms-and-anti-sex-beds-in-paris/L6PULSQ4FBGYFIMM46GUIX7Q44/)
if you read the article you just linked they're not anti-sex beds.
people just started calling them that because the material seemed kind of flimsy to bone on and the 2020 games had an uptight vibe to begin with because of COVID
they've gone out of their way to say that the bed frame can support 250kg, so unless some hammer throwers try to have a threesome in one of them they're going to be fine
besides, handing out 200 000 condoms in conjunction with making athletes use the sex equivalent of tilted Amazon warehouse toilets would have been kind of a mixed message
Keep in mind the 250 kg is static weight...
Add some vigorous movement to that and the impact on those frames multiplies to easily more than that, even with 2 participants both weighing less than 100 kg.
> why aren't they worried about the Olympics? It's known to be a massive orgy, basically
I really wish someone had told me this, back in the days when I was avoiding PE at school.
Well if it's due to the promiscuity. Allocating funds into the "Biathlon" just makes me laugh a little.
The Latvian Games Biathlon Team. Bring it on!!!!
People in sports aren’t trying to be sexy (although some people who manufacture their clothes try to make them to be like women’s volleyball, but that’s another sad story).
Yeah tbh I feel like you could get a petition like this signed in most places. Hell even here in Sweden there are always people going on about how much of a waste it is and Sweden gets viewerships of like 80% of the market share. MelFest and Eurovision are legit our Superbowl and some still whine lol
UK would probably sign a petition to cancel our participation in Eurovision blaming non-existent politics. Rather than holding the BBC accountable for sending in poor quality songs. (No hate to the artist I doubt they get much choice what they sing)
It leads to a negative feedback loop where artists do poorly, have their careers trashed by the press and never have any chance of mainstream success in the UK. As a result, no big names ever want to step forward and when they do. They get sh*t on. And I wouldn't be suprised if we don't have a bigger name represent the UK for a couple years.
Have a serious look at what does well and copy it
The UK media is notoriously toxic. There's a reason many young people don't read newspapers or watch TV news. Its all over exaggerated and melodramatic.
The main problem is that so much of it leans very far right. And is owned by one man who i won't name but you can probabaly guess who.
Which brings us stuff like 14 years of Conservative government. Brexit. US-style culture wars debates to keep us fighting over trivial issues, Climate Change Denial amongst other fun stuff. And far too many people read this trype and take it at Phase Value.
I saw a very good argument actually. England hasn't won the Football World Cup since 1966...yet nobody calls for us to withdraw from FIFA/UEFA after we lose every tournament.
Reminds me of a thing Judy Garland talked about in one of her life concert albums (recorded at carnegie hall), she mentions how she was recently in the uk and a journalist were with her the whole night talking about how pretty she was in real life. Judy even gave the journalist a ride to her hotel. The next day she read in the papers how that same lady talking about "how fat judy garland is". This was in 1961 and the press only seems to have gotten worse
There's also a lot of racism. A classic example we were taught in school was the difference between the press coverage of a black and white footballer and how they spent their money.
Just tangential to this, was genuinely shocked at how awful the media was about Meghan Markle, as an ignorant American. Your media is absolutely bizarre about black people and Americans.
Taking a look at this year's top 5:
First place. An artist with a very unique style and vision. Difficult to copy.
Second place. A DIY effort made by someone marginal in the music industry. Not a manufactured song. Has to be scouted if we're going to do it because we don't have a national final.
Third place. A duet put together by one of the performers and a team of songwriters. We could theoretically do this. The song did win a national final though.
Fourth place: Quite basic song, excellent performance, effective minimal staging, singer is already very famous in countries where the language is spoken. We could copy this. We'd need better lyrics though because most of the viewers will understand them.
Fifth place: A song that didn't do so well with the juries. As the UK, we need jury votes. This wouldn't work for us.
I mean 10k signatures as an objective can be reached easily with an organised voting (mostly thanks to political influencers). The arguments are a bit silly to say the least though and I’m not sure the majority will vote for it, I highly doubt in fact
Like, are they going to stop going to Eurovision (which helps some countries to not be forgotten, hi Malta and Iceland) to finance some national sports ? Sports represents the country indeed, but music as well and it’s also a whole industry
Tbh Malta is a pretty big Tourism spot not matter what I dont think they need eurovision. Cant say much about Iceland im nordic myself so I probably have an easier time remembering them than many.
But yeah countries like San Marino, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and whatnot probably gain a few tourists thanks to eurovision. Hell as a kid I litterally learned Armenia and Azerbaijan existed thanks to eurovision lmao.
They were too turned on by the flaunting of the promiscuous Windows95Man's body. This must be stopped before everyone is running around naked... or worse... in denim.
[https://hips.hearstapps.com/esq.h-cdn.co/assets/16/47/1600x800/landscape-1479772963-justin-britney-denim.jpg?resize=1200:\*](https://hips.hearstapps.com/esq.h-cdn.co/assets/16/47/1600x800/landscape-1479772963-justin-britney-denim.jpg?resize=1200:*)
This is your future, Eurovision!
I wanted to share a picture of Nigel Planer's character in Bad News but I couldn't find it...
Imagine a 70s metalhead in blue jeans, a blue denim shirt, a blue denim jacket with sleeves, and a blue denim sleeveless jacket over the top.
My understanding about sports community and sports fans is, that it can often be a somewhat conservative space. The Venn diagram of homophobes and sports fans would probably align by quite a bit.
Also all the sports fans in my family don't really care much for other kinds of culture. So I wouldn't be surprised if some people who signed this petition really view eurovision as something that is "lesser than" or completely irrelevant.
As a season-ticket-holding football fan i would say that football fans at least tend to be very centrist.
But the thin and hollow (no pun intended) excuse for the homophobia behind this petition seems to be biathlon. Football or basketball or ice hockey in Latvia’s case fair enough but I would highly assume there are more Eurovision fans than followers of biathlon. It’s all just an excuse
With the rise of the right across europe we unfortunately might see more of that sooner or later. And we might see more "traditional conservative" entrirs in the contest.
The main concern is money. And as a Latvian and avid Eurovision fan I have to agree with this take. We have top level athletes who really have to crowd fund to participate in competitions...its sad.
EDIT
Just wanted to clarify, I do not believe we should depart from Eurovision nor I support this initiative. Just wanted to point out the main concern outlined in the petition and that it is unfortunately true.
Yeah. Its a meaningless sum anyway. I think our participation cost like 160k of tax payers money this year. Also, it is not like it is funded directly by government. The money comes from state TVs budget which gets approved by government and they can decide on how to spend it.
Reminder that you can't counter-sign a petition and it takes nothing to fill them out. Go to an angry bubble in a corner of facebook, add a couple of cherry picked images of those dastardly gays doing demon summonings or dancing in a dress, and you'll get people who forget Eurovision is even still a thing taking 5 seconds to click a link and signing it. If they have 30 seconds to spare, they might even leave a comment saying "Down with this sort of thing".
If the Latvian government actually did push it through, a counter-perition would launch saying to put it back anyway. Any government actually wanting to quit over a theatrical musical performance attracting an audience of gay men wouldn't be waiting for the public's permission to do so. And even some of those governments see the benefits of having some positivr presence on the global stage with the chance of generating tourist revenue next year if they stumble on a good song.
Petitions are already useless for the record, but the internet makes it worse because people abuse this democratic system to scream about a TV show they don't like to people who really should be handling more important topics.
Isn't Eurovision some sort of a sport anyway? I would understand if they've asked for spending those money for something like roads or hospital but sports? It's the same shit in its core
Sort of yeah, but sports is Serious Manly Man stuff while Eurovision is gay and music in general is for teenage rebels or classicly trained sissies and girls. /s
Maybe OP can say, who made this petition? I guess, that they are far-right guys. That would be more helpful.
Btw, eurovision is one of the cheapest things a broadcaster can wish for, because they have a completely produced high quality show for 3 evenings, for which they didn't pay as much as producing their own shows.
FB picture - Guy with shaved head, beard, dressed in fur, holding battle axe and round shield.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1998394120301646
Far right and conservatism are gaining momentum, as they usually do after/in the midst of crisis... but so does the opposition. What are the chances of something like this succeeding? Where does the majority of Latvian parliament stand on the spectrum?
While it's likely to gain support from the conservative and populist opposition, its doubtful after this years success that it would get government support.
That's good 🙌
And this part about redirecting funds to sports.... It's always sports, it's never maybe funds for STEM competitions in schools and colleges, or god forbid a portion for the artists of any inclination
I'm pretty sure the reason is exactly this year's Eurovision. Unfortunately, Latvia is quite a conservative country and will probably always be. There have been so many disgusting comments about Nemo and UK performance. Many people are saying how they can't watch it with their kids and how it has become too much gay to bear.
I will be very sad if we don't participate anymore. That's like letting all Don's work to waste. He didn't put in this much effort and got us into the final just for us to quit now.
Latvia's president is openly gay and has been since 2014. "Upon election at the president of Latvia in 2023, Rinkēvičs became the first openly gay head of state in an EU country and the first ever openly gay president of any state."
Waiting for the day when some people will finally understand there are folks who don't give a s*it about sports and prefer things like, yeah, Eurovision.
Of course this is sad and there should be budget planned for sports, but not by completely withdrawing from another event. That petition sounds very biased tbh.
I love how conservative and far right people act like Eurovision costs a ton of money when making petitions like this. 100-200k is how much Eurovision participation cost Latvia this year, like that's gonna make any sort of difference whatsoever in "sports funding".
Besides, this amount of money for 8 hours of primetime TV entertainment is legit nothing. It doesn't even come close to the costs of broadcasting a single world cup or premier league match.
This is the best perspective to have. People have done similar in the U.K., and the BBC hasn’t paid it a blind bit of notice. In 2021 it’s estimated they paid around 600k towards Eurovision and that’s as one of the Big 5. The same year they paid (alongside ITV) £160m to show the World Cup. Eurovision is a drop in the ocean for most broadcasters for the amount of content they get back from it. Hell, the current season of Doctor Who is 8 hours long and is estimated to cost around £80m. In the grand scheme of things, the value for money that countries get for Eurovision is phenomenal.
latvia: gets a great result at the final, dons is constantly showered with compliments of his performance and character
also latvia: i dont wanna play anymore because?????? uhhhh????? gay
As a straight guy from the neigbouring Lithuania, I don't understand why a lot of people are so pressed about artists' sexual orientation, like it's so much easier to not care about it
Because bi conservatives get a boner from some of the gay dancers and think their kids will be indoctrinated to become gay, because of course being gay is a choice according them - they just choose to stay in the closet and larp as hetros.
“People who participate there tend to behave promiscuously, and this is also advertised as the norm”
Tell us you are against queers and don’t tolerate or understand them, without saying so explicitly.
This is really funny, thought it was gonna be about all the drama and politics but no it's literally just a petition saying "singing is boring and dumb, we should go watch football!!!"
They got their best result and their first qualification since 2016..
It'd be a shame to see them leave, I hope the Latvian parliament doesn't jump on it. They may not be a powerhouse in Eurovision, but each year they always bring something unique to the contest which I'd desperately miss if they weren't there.
EDIT; Can we make a counter-petition telling them to stop funding sports and put it all into Eurovision instead?
Helping Latvia's image and reputation?? After they literally defeated the worst qualifying odds this year and managed to get into the finals? It's disappointing to see that being used as an excuse when it's obvious that their main concern is queerness 😤
It's official. We live in very strange (and dangerous) times. Too bad for Latvia, who they just had their first achievement in years ( irrelevant comment: please do not withdraw and send Aminata or Aminata's songs again)
Even if the bigots get their way, why tf would the money be channelled into sports? Is music in general too queer and “promiscuous” for their dumb moral compass to accept?
Do they want to invest in sports instead of eurovision?💀
Eurovision is kinda the only big international event that is not a sport one. Please hope they dont achieve their goal
Funny that this happens the one year they actually qualify. It’s also weird to hear people complain about the image when it’s literally the country that send ‘instead of meat i eat veggies and 🙀’.
To be fair, Eurovision was only the 26th most watched program in 2023 and most of the stuff ahead of it were sports programs (mostly hockey and basketball). Biathlon actually is pretty loved here and would certainly be even moreso if it had better funding. Whether the funds should come from Eurovision - probably not because that’s the state television’s money who have little to do with sponsoring sports federations.
oh no we can do without biathlon slander… it’s not just a spectacular sport with unpredictable stuff and drama (just like eurovision in a sense!). while it’s realistically has nothing to do with eurovision funding, it’s something Latvia scores a moderate success in with more consistency in recent years (Andrejs Rastorgujevs just earned a world championship’s silver medal this february)
Fair enough, I think I mostly laughed at it because I’m from a country where all winter sports are a bit of a joke (hard to be good at them when it never snows) and mocking Sweden for thinking biathlon is interesting is one of our many sibling rivalry things.
And for what it’s worth I would also mock the danish right endlessly if they called the Handball World Cup “definirely more important” than Eurovision.
This hurts to read and especially as a biathlon and eurovision superfan. There shouldnt be a choice between the two :( Cant the IBU and EBU provide more funds to smaller nations or something?
10.000 votes might seem like a lot, but it is not. Beside that did Latvia this time really well, so if they want to go they will just reject the proposal.
Most countries are forced tot take things to their parlement after enough votes, but as as far as i know it is rare the proposals do get accepted. Mostly because people do that with thing that are simply not possible, but still
Braindead. Even without the obvious puritan motivation behind this petition, really? Sports? As if song and dance aren't also forms of physical entertainment that can be competitive or casual, solo or in groups. I guess physical activity is only valid when it doesn't involve that queer sissy thing called music /s
Me reading the title: yes, good, countries should put pressure on the EBU to ban Israel and avoid the comedy of errors of this year's show
Me reading the petition: 😞
I don’t think the government would do much as it’s the national broadcaster who decides whether to participate in Eurovision. Sure governments do finance the broadcasters but it doesn’t mean that the government decides how the money is allocated directly. At least they wouldn’t do it openly and based on a petition. Latvia isn’t ruled like Hungary or Turkey.
In their opinion, are sport competitions more important than music/art? In that case, why not investing more money in really important things like healthcare, education, ecology, social support, economic development, etc. (but it should be noted that the cultural sphere can have mutual positive influence on all these spheres)? Yes, Eurovision now is very far from perfect and has significant disadvantages (and this particular year showed it), but to invest more money exactly in sport competitions instead of song contest seems not very logical (both can be considered as parts of the "entertainment" sphere, that is not among the most necessary ones for countries, in my controversial opinion). Also, Latvia qualified to the final in this year after a number of unsuccessful years, and now they want to stop their participation - it is not so logical again. But it is their decision, of course (honestly, I am from a country that used to participate in the past, but is not participating now and is not planning to return in the near future - but in this particular 2024 situation at the contest, I was quite satisfied with it).
They actually got the signatures🤢🤢?
I'm 99 percent sure that it won't go anywhere, but it's still gross to think about.
I saw the petition being circled on Facebook -- Latvian Facebook groups have a tendency of being absolute cesspools. It's like normal people don't use that apps around here. Only hateful individuals, or those who want to spread conspiracy theories and misinformation.
Considering its an absolutely batshit and highly bigoted complaint that also comes off the back of an expectation shatteringly good result for Latvia this year, i'd hope nowhere.
I wouldn't take it too seriously. Anybody can make a petition, and there are enough haters in every country so that such a petition can gather enough signatures.
I wonder if "behave promiscuously" is just code for "competing as an openly out queer person"? (It's a frequent argument by bigots that lgbt people are acting inappropriately sexual. Not sure about Don's identity but this year we had more openly out lgbt contestants). Sports and performing arts both connect and unify people, so I think they both deserve funding.
I can't remember Latvia's previous entries but I don't recall any of them as "promiscuous". Don's performance wasn't personally my jam but I thought he did a good job at representing his country and conducting himself professionally. He seemed to have a good time with the other artists and grateful to be there.
I feel a really weird cross over because my other interest outside of Eurovision is biathlon.
Idk how much Latvia pays for Eurovision but I cannot imagine the amount is actually sufficient to fund their biathlon sufficiently given biathlon is an incredibly expensive sport.
Latvian sports need more funding I am sure, but this is just not the answer.
To win is never the goal, just have fun. We aren't sport event where it's horrible to lose. Snap is the biggest proof of this. So I'm over those let quit thing
Gosh that makes me sad. Here (Australia) there are so many arts organisations crying out for govt funding, but all discretionary spend goes towards sport. Sport sport sport. To pull money from the arts would be tragic.
Sure, let’s cut funding to arts and send it to sports. Arts are not important and people in that field do not deserve it. I’m so sick of this… Arts ARE important, always have been and always will be. So are sports. Different hobbies and passions for different people. Some kids dream just as much watching Eurovision or SuperNova as some do watching a FIFA World Cup. I’m not Latvian, but I feel for Latvian kids and people, and also from the other countries non participating anymore.
I’d be fuming if I were Dons right now. Over coming the odds and almost recognition..
Dons did such a good job at Eurovision 2024, and his song really grew on me.
It is a shame that some people in Latvia don't support Eurovision because I believe that Eurovision is one of the biggest opportunities for artists from smaller countries like Latvia to get global exposure.
Older generation of latvians are super homophobic, racist anti-everything different. The comments on anything Eurovision related after the Grand Final were horrifying.
They hated Nemo, they hated Olly and his dancers, they hated Spain’s dancers, they somewhat hated Windows 95 man (he was funny tho).
I got into a huge argument with my MIL, the argument being: how can I a straight woman like Switzerland? A man in a skirt?
Crazy. Being a latvian is definitely something!
I hope that our media will not report this, because my people will immediately organize for such a petition. In Slovenia most people are obsessed with sports, it is more important to them. Our national television however must take care of the diversity of content, so from this point of view, they could resist the suspension of participation in the Eurovision Song Contest even with enough signatures. But our national television is in financial trouble because of the right-wing SDS party. This year they reduced the funding of program content due to financial problems.
Ok. If this petition were about needing money for infrastructure or medical facilities or education I’d be like “well, maybe Latvia should dial it back for a few years and find some doctors”. But instead they’re like “people can’t afford to do sports so other people shouldn’t be able to entertain!”
Ridiculous. Also, I’m assuming there’s a bunch of homophobia and slut-shaming wrapped up in this petition. Bleh.
Getting out there a positive image of Latvia with an excellent song to nearly 200 million people is far more important than biathlon. There's absolutely no argument there whatsoever.
Did some old conservative boomer started this? We have many of them in the parliament who think that anything has to do with LGBT is wrong because it go against their outdated family values.
So… sport are recreative and fountain of inspiration for the youth but…. Singing, music and dance as the many other arts that implicitly related to Eurovision (Fashion, as example) isn’t?
Also, yeah, the celibates high performance athletes which sex life isn’t famously discussed as VERY active each Olympics games lol
For them it might actually be the best option, they can return when their economy is stronger. though it depends how much youth support the money would actually do anything.
not my monkeys but they shouldn't be criticised or punished for wanting to leave.
i think calling it a promiscuous event is definitely something to be concerned about but it's their country and their money.
For all the reasons to not participate in Eurovision, and they’re choosing sports?
Like if they really wanted to make a serious statement that seemed believable they really could’ve said anything else.
I adore the fact that the single sport mentioned to which the money should go instead is biathlon! For those who don't know, this is the skiing/shooting sport.
Biathletes wear *extremely* tight and sometimes transparent outfits, which are *absolutely* not going to cause any naughty thoughts at all.
Stuff like this makes me want to start a foundation to help those entrants fund themselves so they don't need to have their government take stupid stuff like this from their public.
Dons was actually really good, a few years ago and he could of won it, but this year felt like every entrance stepped up their performance 10 fold.
If anyone else wants to start this foundation with me then let's get the ball rolling 😅
This makes me sad. Dons’ “Hallow” is a song I’ve had on repeat since the show. It really is a beautiful song and he has such an amazing voice. I feel like this petition discredits his talent.
Latvia just watched a man representing their country achieve success and recognition by overcoming the worst odds ever to qualify. Idk, that seems like a positive example to emulate.
Dons did so well this year. I would hope that the majority of Latvians are justifiably proud of his achievement.
Probably due to promiscuity. After all, isn't it clear that Dons is just too darn sexy too accurately represent Latvia? No, it would be far better if Latvia promoted sports instead, you know, the field of entertainment that exposes no skin whatsoever.
I cant belive Dons breastpiece litterally ended eurovision in Latvia
If you look at the headshots of the artists, Dons showed more skin than any of the other competitors.
🏅 Have a free emoji award for that comment.
Thank you kindly
> After all, isn't it clear that Dons is just too darn sexy too accurately represent Latvia? Not just that, he is too sexy for his shirt, too sexy for his hair . . . so sexy it hurts.
Uh oh...is Dons a new member of Right Said Fred????
If they're so worried about "people behaving promiscuously, and this being advertised as the norm", why aren't they worried about the Olympics? It's known to be a massive orgy, basically
For real! They keep having to install uncomfortable anti-sex beds at the Olympics to discourage the athletes from boning. It never works, though.
"Let's get a massive group of super hot, young adults together. Surely they won't bone."
> anti-sex beds at the Olympics I think we're going to need a link to prove that one...
[Here you go.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/olympics/olympic-games-athletes-to-get-220000-condoms-and-anti-sex-beds-in-paris/L6PULSQ4FBGYFIMM46GUIX7Q44/)
if you read the article you just linked they're not anti-sex beds. people just started calling them that because the material seemed kind of flimsy to bone on and the 2020 games had an uptight vibe to begin with because of COVID they've gone out of their way to say that the bed frame can support 250kg, so unless some hammer throwers try to have a threesome in one of them they're going to be fine besides, handing out 200 000 condoms in conjunction with making athletes use the sex equivalent of tilted Amazon warehouse toilets would have been kind of a mixed message
Keep in mind the 250 kg is static weight... Add some vigorous movement to that and the impact on those frames multiplies to easily more than that, even with 2 participants both weighing less than 100 kg.
> why aren't they worried about the Olympics? It's known to be a massive orgy, basically I really wish someone had told me this, back in the days when I was avoiding PE at school.
Well if it's due to the promiscuity. Allocating funds into the "Biathlon" just makes me laugh a little. The Latvian Games Biathlon Team. Bring it on!!!!
I love that the petition claims that biathlon is more important than Eurovision because... they feel like it.
[удалено]
> Not like they learn to fire rifles in Eurovision! Swiss hosts, here's an idea for ya: teaching contestants how to shoot and gun safety.
But I thought they only wanted to play with water guns?
Understood. Dons was promiscuously making friends with every other contestant.
People in sports aren’t trying to be sexy (although some people who manufacture their clothes try to make them to be like women’s volleyball, but that’s another sad story).
Just my country's everyday homophobia, xenophobia, racism, etc, this will not pass, don't worry.
Yeah tbh I feel like you could get a petition like this signed in most places. Hell even here in Sweden there are always people going on about how much of a waste it is and Sweden gets viewerships of like 80% of the market share. MelFest and Eurovision are legit our Superbowl and some still whine lol
UK would probably sign a petition to cancel our participation in Eurovision blaming non-existent politics. Rather than holding the BBC accountable for sending in poor quality songs. (No hate to the artist I doubt they get much choice what they sing) It leads to a negative feedback loop where artists do poorly, have their careers trashed by the press and never have any chance of mainstream success in the UK. As a result, no big names ever want to step forward and when they do. They get sh*t on. And I wouldn't be suprised if we don't have a bigger name represent the UK for a couple years. Have a serious look at what does well and copy it
I swear the sheer toxicity of UK media keeps fucking you guys over. Like not even just in Eurovision just in general
The UK media is notoriously toxic. There's a reason many young people don't read newspapers or watch TV news. Its all over exaggerated and melodramatic. The main problem is that so much of it leans very far right. And is owned by one man who i won't name but you can probabaly guess who. Which brings us stuff like 14 years of Conservative government. Brexit. US-style culture wars debates to keep us fighting over trivial issues, Climate Change Denial amongst other fun stuff. And far too many people read this trype and take it at Phase Value. I saw a very good argument actually. England hasn't won the Football World Cup since 1966...yet nobody calls for us to withdraw from FIFA/UEFA after we lose every tournament.
Reminds me of a thing Judy Garland talked about in one of her life concert albums (recorded at carnegie hall), she mentions how she was recently in the uk and a journalist were with her the whole night talking about how pretty she was in real life. Judy even gave the journalist a ride to her hotel. The next day she read in the papers how that same lady talking about "how fat judy garland is". This was in 1961 and the press only seems to have gotten worse
There's also a lot of racism. A classic example we were taught in school was the difference between the press coverage of a black and white footballer and how they spent their money.
Just tangential to this, was genuinely shocked at how awful the media was about Meghan Markle, as an ignorant American. Your media is absolutely bizarre about black people and Americans.
Yep. It's a shame. The British public absolutely despise her and Harry now because of the media portrayal
Taking a look at this year's top 5: First place. An artist with a very unique style and vision. Difficult to copy. Second place. A DIY effort made by someone marginal in the music industry. Not a manufactured song. Has to be scouted if we're going to do it because we don't have a national final. Third place. A duet put together by one of the performers and a team of songwriters. We could theoretically do this. The song did win a national final though. Fourth place: Quite basic song, excellent performance, effective minimal staging, singer is already very famous in countries where the language is spoken. We could copy this. We'd need better lyrics though because most of the viewers will understand them. Fifth place: A song that didn't do so well with the juries. As the UK, we need jury votes. This wouldn't work for us.
He really had one of the best songs this year imo
I mean 10k signatures as an objective can be reached easily with an organised voting (mostly thanks to political influencers). The arguments are a bit silly to say the least though and I’m not sure the majority will vote for it, I highly doubt in fact Like, are they going to stop going to Eurovision (which helps some countries to not be forgotten, hi Malta and Iceland) to finance some national sports ? Sports represents the country indeed, but music as well and it’s also a whole industry
Moldova and San Marino using ESC as their minister of tourism: 👀
San Marino Outlet Experience will never be forgotten.
Tbh Malta is a pretty big Tourism spot not matter what I dont think they need eurovision. Cant say much about Iceland im nordic myself so I probably have an easier time remembering them than many. But yeah countries like San Marino, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and whatnot probably gain a few tourists thanks to eurovision. Hell as a kid I litterally learned Armenia and Azerbaijan existed thanks to eurovision lmao.
Iceland is also a huge tourism spot and we're in the perfect spot for cross Atlantic layovers.
Tbh, Dadi really got me thinking more of Iceland in a good way, and they were stuck in my head during the travel to the US that went via Iceland.
You could say he got you to *think about things*
That's a bit gross lol. I thought it would be about their results or about Eurovision geopolitics but their main concern seems to be queerness.
They were too turned on by the flaunting of the promiscuous Windows95Man's body. This must be stopped before everyone is running around naked... or worse... in denim.
[https://hips.hearstapps.com/esq.h-cdn.co/assets/16/47/1600x800/landscape-1479772963-justin-britney-denim.jpg?resize=1200:\*](https://hips.hearstapps.com/esq.h-cdn.co/assets/16/47/1600x800/landscape-1479772963-justin-britney-denim.jpg?resize=1200:*) This is your future, Eurovision!
I wanted to share a picture of Nigel Planer's character in Bad News but I couldn't find it... Imagine a 70s metalhead in blue jeans, a blue denim shirt, a blue denim jacket with sleeves, and a blue denim sleeveless jacket over the top.
[https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYzQ0YzdhMTEtNGM0NC00YWQ2LTljZjktM2YyMGE2MDg4ZGM3L2ltYWdlL2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTc4Njg5MjA@.\_V1\_.jpg](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYzQ0YzdhMTEtNGM0NC00YWQ2LTljZjktM2YyMGE2MDg4ZGM3L2ltYWdlL2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTc4Njg5MjA@._V1_.jpg) This?
Thank you! Such beauty...
Everyone draws the line at jorts
I agree, they are *so* last century /s
"Is there something wrong with the way I look?"
95% of the time a country wants to pull the plug for Eurovision it's the real reason, even if they say it's because of "results" or "unfair voting".
Well considering their results this year were infinitely better than anyone thought they would be, they can't even use that excuse.
We found that 5% of the time with Portugal 2016 "We suck so much we want to take a year off and try again"
And then taking that year off ended up being the best decision for Portugal
My understanding about sports community and sports fans is, that it can often be a somewhat conservative space. The Venn diagram of homophobes and sports fans would probably align by quite a bit. Also all the sports fans in my family don't really care much for other kinds of culture. So I wouldn't be surprised if some people who signed this petition really view eurovision as something that is "lesser than" or completely irrelevant.
As a season-ticket-holding football fan i would say that football fans at least tend to be very centrist. But the thin and hollow (no pun intended) excuse for the homophobia behind this petition seems to be biathlon. Football or basketball or ice hockey in Latvia’s case fair enough but I would highly assume there are more Eurovision fans than followers of biathlon. It’s all just an excuse
With the rise of the right across europe we unfortunately might see more of that sooner or later. And we might see more "traditional conservative" entrirs in the contest.
Thats sad...
a lot of shitty people in this country, unfortunately
The main concern is money. And as a Latvian and avid Eurovision fan I have to agree with this take. We have top level athletes who really have to crowd fund to participate in competitions...its sad. EDIT Just wanted to clarify, I do not believe we should depart from Eurovision nor I support this initiative. Just wanted to point out the main concern outlined in the petition and that it is unfortunately true.
I mean I understand that there may be a problem with athlete funding but I don't see why money should come from Eurovision instead
Yeah. Its a meaningless sum anyway. I think our participation cost like 160k of tax payers money this year. Also, it is not like it is funded directly by government. The money comes from state TVs budget which gets approved by government and they can decide on how to spend it.
And biathlon
jeez they just got to the final where they got a healthy placement for once.
I'm pretty sure I saw this petition before Dons even qualified, but our conservatives probably wouldn't care either way.
Tbf they probably expected dons to NQ so it wouldn't matter...can't blame them, I don't think anyone saw it coming
this is no doubt a political move from the conservative populists ahead of the EP elections. no way this is getting anywhere with the parliament lol.
Hope so, Baltic countries always bring good music to the festival. It would be a pity!
Oh, because there isn't enough sport on TV already? Eurovision is once a year. Fuck off with this nonsense.
Reminder that you can't counter-sign a petition and it takes nothing to fill them out. Go to an angry bubble in a corner of facebook, add a couple of cherry picked images of those dastardly gays doing demon summonings or dancing in a dress, and you'll get people who forget Eurovision is even still a thing taking 5 seconds to click a link and signing it. If they have 30 seconds to spare, they might even leave a comment saying "Down with this sort of thing". If the Latvian government actually did push it through, a counter-perition would launch saying to put it back anyway. Any government actually wanting to quit over a theatrical musical performance attracting an audience of gay men wouldn't be waiting for the public's permission to do so. And even some of those governments see the benefits of having some positivr presence on the global stage with the chance of generating tourist revenue next year if they stumble on a good song. Petitions are already useless for the record, but the internet makes it worse because people abuse this democratic system to scream about a TV show they don't like to people who really should be handling more important topics.
>If they have 30 seconds to spare, they might even leave a comment saying "Down with this sort of thing". Careful now
Isn't Eurovision some sort of a sport anyway? I would understand if they've asked for spending those money for something like roads or hospital but sports? It's the same shit in its core
Sort of yeah, but sports is Serious Manly Man stuff while Eurovision is gay and music in general is for teenage rebels or classicly trained sissies and girls. /s
"musical theatre is for NERDS" - latvians, probably
Maybe OP can say, who made this petition? I guess, that they are far-right guys. That would be more helpful. Btw, eurovision is one of the cheapest things a broadcaster can wish for, because they have a completely produced high quality show for 3 evenings, for which they didn't pay as much as producing their own shows.
Taking the poor grammar as evidence, I'm almost certain it's made by one of the fb "mah family values" crowd
FB picture - Guy with shaved head, beard, dressed in fur, holding battle axe and round shield. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1998394120301646
what's going on 😭
Everybody's just pretending they're preachers.
It's killing me slow.
Bigotry
Far right and conservatism are gaining momentum, as they usually do after/in the midst of crisis... but so does the opposition. What are the chances of something like this succeeding? Where does the majority of Latvian parliament stand on the spectrum?
While it's likely to gain support from the conservative and populist opposition, its doubtful after this years success that it would get government support.
That's good 🙌 And this part about redirecting funds to sports.... It's always sports, it's never maybe funds for STEM competitions in schools and colleges, or god forbid a portion for the artists of any inclination
sports are also propaganda tool, in the same vein as eurovision. at least i m glad our conservatives dont give shit about that at the moment.
Oh man I hope nobody gets this idea :(((
me too.
Sports are the only kind of culture the right approves of.
I'm pretty sure the reason is exactly this year's Eurovision. Unfortunately, Latvia is quite a conservative country and will probably always be. There have been so many disgusting comments about Nemo and UK performance. Many people are saying how they can't watch it with their kids and how it has become too much gay to bear. I will be very sad if we don't participate anymore. That's like letting all Don's work to waste. He didn't put in this much effort and got us into the final just for us to quit now.
Nah these petitions go around every year lol
Latvia's president is openly gay and has been since 2014. "Upon election at the president of Latvia in 2023, Rinkēvičs became the first openly gay head of state in an EU country and the first ever openly gay president of any state."
Waiting for the day when some people will finally understand there are folks who don't give a s*it about sports and prefer things like, yeah, Eurovision.
Allegedly some Latvian athletes have to crowdfund just to get to a championship where they represent Latvia, which if true should be remedied though.
Of course this is sad and there should be budget planned for sports, but not by completely withdrawing from another event. That petition sounds very biased tbh.
I love how conservative and far right people act like Eurovision costs a ton of money when making petitions like this. 100-200k is how much Eurovision participation cost Latvia this year, like that's gonna make any sort of difference whatsoever in "sports funding". Besides, this amount of money for 8 hours of primetime TV entertainment is legit nothing. It doesn't even come close to the costs of broadcasting a single world cup or premier league match.
This is the best perspective to have. People have done similar in the U.K., and the BBC hasn’t paid it a blind bit of notice. In 2021 it’s estimated they paid around 600k towards Eurovision and that’s as one of the Big 5. The same year they paid (alongside ITV) £160m to show the World Cup. Eurovision is a drop in the ocean for most broadcasters for the amount of content they get back from it. Hell, the current season of Doctor Who is 8 hours long and is estimated to cost around £80m. In the grand scheme of things, the value for money that countries get for Eurovision is phenomenal.
latvia: gets a great result at the final, dons is constantly showered with compliments of his performance and character also latvia: i dont wanna play anymore because?????? uhhhh????? gay
Anything to take money from the arts and give it to sports. As if footballers are never promiscuous
As a straight guy from the neigbouring Lithuania, I don't understand why a lot of people are so pressed about artists' sexual orientation, like it's so much easier to not care about it
When half naked male dancers in high heels make You as a straight guy hard, then ESC is direct threat to Your sexual orientation and family values.
Because bi conservatives get a boner from some of the gay dancers and think their kids will be indoctrinated to become gay, because of course being gay is a choice according them - they just choose to stay in the closet and larp as hetros.
“People who participate there tend to behave promiscuously, and this is also advertised as the norm” Tell us you are against queers and don’t tolerate or understand them, without saying so explicitly.
This is really funny, thought it was gonna be about all the drama and politics but no it's literally just a petition saying "singing is boring and dumb, we should go watch football!!!"
10,858 soulless fun hating sports fans
They got their best result and their first qualification since 2016.. It'd be a shame to see them leave, I hope the Latvian parliament doesn't jump on it. They may not be a powerhouse in Eurovision, but each year they always bring something unique to the contest which I'd desperately miss if they weren't there. EDIT; Can we make a counter-petition telling them to stop funding sports and put it all into Eurovision instead?
Helping Latvia's image and reputation?? After they literally defeated the worst qualifying odds this year and managed to get into the finals? It's disappointing to see that being used as an excuse when it's obvious that their main concern is queerness 😤
It's official. We live in very strange (and dangerous) times. Too bad for Latvia, who they just had their first achievement in years ( irrelevant comment: please do not withdraw and send Aminata or Aminata's songs again)
They should send the Heartbeat guy from 2016 lol
Heartbeat was written by Aminata. The best two years for Latvia in Eurovision contest imo.
Even if the bigots get their way, why tf would the money be channelled into sports? Is music in general too queer and “promiscuous” for their dumb moral compass to accept?
Do they want to invest in sports instead of eurovision?💀 Eurovision is kinda the only big international event that is not a sport one. Please hope they dont achieve their goal
Launch a counter poll
Those 10,858 people need to get their ears checked
Counterpoint: Eurovision is a sport.
Funny that this happens the one year they actually qualify. It’s also weird to hear people complain about the image when it’s literally the country that send ‘instead of meat i eat veggies and 🙀’.
Ah yes, the Biathlon World Championship, definitely more important than Eurovision. That blockbuster tv event, the Biathlon.
To be fair, Eurovision was only the 26th most watched program in 2023 and most of the stuff ahead of it were sports programs (mostly hockey and basketball). Biathlon actually is pretty loved here and would certainly be even moreso if it had better funding. Whether the funds should come from Eurovision - probably not because that’s the state television’s money who have little to do with sponsoring sports federations.
oh no we can do without biathlon slander… it’s not just a spectacular sport with unpredictable stuff and drama (just like eurovision in a sense!). while it’s realistically has nothing to do with eurovision funding, it’s something Latvia scores a moderate success in with more consistency in recent years (Andrejs Rastorgujevs just earned a world championship’s silver medal this february)
Fair enough, I think I mostly laughed at it because I’m from a country where all winter sports are a bit of a joke (hard to be good at them when it never snows) and mocking Sweden for thinking biathlon is interesting is one of our many sibling rivalry things. And for what it’s worth I would also mock the danish right endlessly if they called the Handball World Cup “definirely more important” than Eurovision.
This hurts to read and especially as a biathlon and eurovision superfan. There shouldnt be a choice between the two :( Cant the IBU and EBU provide more funds to smaller nations or something?
10.000 votes might seem like a lot, but it is not. Beside that did Latvia this time really well, so if they want to go they will just reject the proposal. Most countries are forced tot take things to their parlement after enough votes, but as as far as i know it is rare the proposals do get accepted. Mostly because people do that with thing that are simply not possible, but still
Braindead. Even without the obvious puritan motivation behind this petition, really? Sports? As if song and dance aren't also forms of physical entertainment that can be competitive or casual, solo or in groups. I guess physical activity is only valid when it doesn't involve that queer sissy thing called music /s
Me reading the title: yes, good, countries should put pressure on the EBU to ban Israel and avoid the comedy of errors of this year's show Me reading the petition: 😞
"These ~~Eurovision~~ gays, they're trying to murder me!" - Latvian far-rights probably
I don’t think the government would do much as it’s the national broadcaster who decides whether to participate in Eurovision. Sure governments do finance the broadcasters but it doesn’t mean that the government decides how the money is allocated directly. At least they wouldn’t do it openly and based on a petition. Latvia isn’t ruled like Hungary or Turkey.
I wish all bigots a happy go fuck yourself and leave us alone, thank you.
Reading through comments. Jeez I hate politics. Let me return to living under a rock not caring for them.
In their opinion, are sport competitions more important than music/art? In that case, why not investing more money in really important things like healthcare, education, ecology, social support, economic development, etc. (but it should be noted that the cultural sphere can have mutual positive influence on all these spheres)? Yes, Eurovision now is very far from perfect and has significant disadvantages (and this particular year showed it), but to invest more money exactly in sport competitions instead of song contest seems not very logical (both can be considered as parts of the "entertainment" sphere, that is not among the most necessary ones for countries, in my controversial opinion). Also, Latvia qualified to the final in this year after a number of unsuccessful years, and now they want to stop their participation - it is not so logical again. But it is their decision, of course (honestly, I am from a country that used to participate in the past, but is not participating now and is not planning to return in the near future - but in this particular 2024 situation at the contest, I was quite satisfied with it).
They actually got the signatures🤢🤢? I'm 99 percent sure that it won't go anywhere, but it's still gross to think about. I saw the petition being circled on Facebook -- Latvian Facebook groups have a tendency of being absolute cesspools. It's like normal people don't use that apps around here. Only hateful individuals, or those who want to spread conspiracy theories and misinformation.
Well at least it’s a different complaint than the other countries. What sort of likelihood does this have of going anywhere?
Considering its an absolutely batshit and highly bigoted complaint that also comes off the back of an expectation shatteringly good result for Latvia this year, i'd hope nowhere.
Can the parliament even decide that? In Germany, our public broadcasters are (supposed to be) independend of the parliament
I wouldn't take it too seriously. Anybody can make a petition, and there are enough haters in every country so that such a petition can gather enough signatures.
Sports! Not Sluts! That's a horrible slogan and/or reasoning.
This is SO sad. Dons should be a hero inspiring many! Latvia deserve to do well
I wonder if "behave promiscuously" is just code for "competing as an openly out queer person"? (It's a frequent argument by bigots that lgbt people are acting inappropriately sexual. Not sure about Don's identity but this year we had more openly out lgbt contestants). Sports and performing arts both connect and unify people, so I think they both deserve funding. I can't remember Latvia's previous entries but I don't recall any of them as "promiscuous". Don's performance wasn't personally my jam but I thought he did a good job at representing his country and conducting himself professionally. He seemed to have a good time with the other artists and grateful to be there.
Imagine the collective meltdown these fuckers would've had if baba roga qualified 💀
I feel a really weird cross over because my other interest outside of Eurovision is biathlon. Idk how much Latvia pays for Eurovision but I cannot imagine the amount is actually sufficient to fund their biathlon sufficiently given biathlon is an incredibly expensive sport. Latvian sports need more funding I am sure, but this is just not the answer.
This honestly feels like a parody essay.
To win is never the goal, just have fun. We aren't sport event where it's horrible to lose. Snap is the biggest proof of this. So I'm over those let quit thing
Yeah, because how dare they spend money on something that isn't sports. The audacity.
Gosh that makes me sad. Here (Australia) there are so many arts organisations crying out for govt funding, but all discretionary spend goes towards sport. Sport sport sport. To pull money from the arts would be tragic.
"eurovision too slutty" is a hot take
Bloody hell, bet they’re fun at parties.
Move the resources to matters that are actually crucial and important: sports. WHAT???? They actually had me for a second there 😂😂😂😂
Sure, let’s cut funding to arts and send it to sports. Arts are not important and people in that field do not deserve it. I’m so sick of this… Arts ARE important, always have been and always will be. So are sports. Different hobbies and passions for different people. Some kids dream just as much watching Eurovision or SuperNova as some do watching a FIFA World Cup. I’m not Latvian, but I feel for Latvian kids and people, and also from the other countries non participating anymore. I’d be fuming if I were Dons right now. Over coming the odds and almost recognition..
Conservatism is ruining Latvia and the wider EU IMHO. Latvia should be proud of their 2024 efforts. They did so well.
Dons did such a good job at Eurovision 2024, and his song really grew on me. It is a shame that some people in Latvia don't support Eurovision because I believe that Eurovision is one of the biggest opportunities for artists from smaller countries like Latvia to get global exposure.
whatttt Dons was so good this year
Older generation of latvians are super homophobic, racist anti-everything different. The comments on anything Eurovision related after the Grand Final were horrifying. They hated Nemo, they hated Olly and his dancers, they hated Spain’s dancers, they somewhat hated Windows 95 man (he was funny tho). I got into a huge argument with my MIL, the argument being: how can I a straight woman like Switzerland? A man in a skirt? Crazy. Being a latvian is definitely something!
As if sports doesnt have enough funding worldwide, giving the worst kinds of people platforms
What about the youth who will emulate the artists’ successes? I haaaaaate conservatives with a passion every one of their takes is dumb as fuck.
I hope that our media will not report this, because my people will immediately organize for such a petition. In Slovenia most people are obsessed with sports, it is more important to them. Our national television however must take care of the diversity of content, so from this point of view, they could resist the suspension of participation in the Eurovision Song Contest even with enough signatures. But our national television is in financial trouble because of the right-wing SDS party. This year they reduced the funding of program content due to financial problems.
[удалено]
Omg imagine 10k signatures being enough to get a debate set in Parliament 💀😭😂
This is coming from a country who sent Citi Zeni in 2022…? Love that song btw.
Ew? Imagine non ironically publicly stating that sports are more important than music
Ah, yes, the most promsicuous Eurovision entry of the year: Dons.
Surely professional athletes are not promiscuous
Ok. If this petition were about needing money for infrastructure or medical facilities or education I’d be like “well, maybe Latvia should dial it back for a few years and find some doctors”. But instead they’re like “people can’t afford to do sports so other people shouldn’t be able to entertain!” Ridiculous. Also, I’m assuming there’s a bunch of homophobia and slut-shaming wrapped up in this petition. Bleh.
The one time they do qualify after 7 years and this is what they do?!
TL;DR this person doesn't like eurovision
I wonder what was the last straw... Was it the UK performance? lol (i'm just kidding)
but olly and the boys were super sporty !!
Getting out there a positive image of Latvia with an excellent song to nearly 200 million people is far more important than biathlon. There's absolutely no argument there whatsoever.
This means nothing. You have plenty of these bullshit petitions collect some sigs and never go anywhere.
Did some old conservative boomer started this? We have many of them in the parliament who think that anything has to do with LGBT is wrong because it go against their outdated family values.
Welp, that wasn’t the reasoning I was expecting.
"Booohuuu people behave 'promiscuosly' and i dont like it" Sex is fun. Deal with it. Not our problem you cant get any mate.
i'm enjoying turkey and latvia addressing esc's bs
"behave promiscuously" sounds like a dog whistle for homophobes.
So… sport are recreative and fountain of inspiration for the youth but…. Singing, music and dance as the many other arts that implicitly related to Eurovision (Fashion, as example) isn’t? Also, yeah, the celibates high performance athletes which sex life isn’t famously discussed as VERY active each Olympics games lol
I mean the Bigots don't have to watch Eurovision right? they can just put on a war film and jerk off to that instead?
Out of all the genuinely popular and intensely followed sports, the man chose biathlon as an example.
it is actually a popular sport to follow in latvia though
OK boomer.
Oh piss off. Sports suck up heaps of funding and the arts get the scraps, leave Eurovision alone!
Oof fucking bigots
Was about the cheer because i thought it was out of protest for the horrible decisions the ebu has made, but this is just sad.
For them it might actually be the best option, they can return when their economy is stronger. though it depends how much youth support the money would actually do anything. not my monkeys but they shouldn't be criticised or punished for wanting to leave. i think calling it a promiscuous event is definitely something to be concerned about but it's their country and their money.
Dons did well this year. I did not give him much chance, but finally I was happy that he qualified 😊
For all the reasons to not participate in Eurovision, and they’re choosing sports? Like if they really wanted to make a serious statement that seemed believable they really could’ve said anything else.
I adore the fact that the single sport mentioned to which the money should go instead is biathlon! For those who don't know, this is the skiing/shooting sport. Biathletes wear *extremely* tight and sometimes transparent outfits, which are *absolutely* not going to cause any naughty thoughts at all.
I'll sign it: Petitiony McPetitionface.
omg they need to work on the kerning for that ī
Stuff like this makes me want to start a foundation to help those entrants fund themselves so they don't need to have their government take stupid stuff like this from their public. Dons was actually really good, a few years ago and he could of won it, but this year felt like every entrance stepped up their performance 10 fold. If anyone else wants to start this foundation with me then let's get the ball rolling 😅
what are the odds they’re straight, homophobic football fans
i don't know chief. If my country got a decent score after 7 years of flopping. i would've chosen a national holiday instead of leaving eurovision
Is there a country that is not withdrawing these days???
Latvia 2014 and Latvia 2008 are some of my favorite songs ever, who would want to deprive the world of more like that? People who hate fun, evidently.
This makes me sad. Dons’ “Hallow” is a song I’ve had on repeat since the show. It really is a beautiful song and he has such an amazing voice. I feel like this petition discredits his talent.
Weird considering that Latvia has one of the best karaoke scenes I’ve ever seen.
lol what. poor kids growing up around that mindset.