Rude Dutchman Mars Eurovision 2006

A RUDE and homophobic Dutch Television correspondent nearly ruined the Eurovision 2006 song contest yesterday when he taunted one of the presenters, Sakis Rouvas, with off-color comments.

I was shocked by a nasty exchange Sakis had with the Netherlands Television anchor Paul de Leeuw who was presenting the votes of the Dutch televiewers. The Dutch anchor looked clearly drunk, but that is still no excuse for his despicable behavior. Even though he is gay, I still think he should be fired from his job for his lecherous behavior. The exchange went as follows:

Sakis: Hello Netherlands!Paul: Hello Greece!Paul: You look like Will & Grace you two.Paul: Are you ready? Eight points...I like your blouse.Paul: Will you have my mobile number now or after 12 points?Sakis: Give it to me now.Sakis: I bet its 696969.Paul: No, no, no.Paul: 3162474443210. Dial 1.

Watch this video for yourself to see the exchange:

I’m surprised but pleased that Sakis kept his cool throughout the whole exchange. I don’t think anyone would have minded if he had given that Dutch idiot a piece of his mind! The comments were completely inappropriate and out of place. I don’t know the Dutch TV correspondent’s name, but he should be sacked immediately for such boorish and homophobic comments. What has happened to the much-vaunted Dutch tolerance for difference? Down the drain it seems…

***THE Finnish heavy metal group Lordi yesterday won the Eurovision 2006 singing contest with a silly song and even sillier makeup that made them look like weird monster escapees from an episode of “Star Trek”.

If there was an anti-Eurovision song contest contestant, Lordi was it and televiewers responded accordingly, voting for a group that refused to take itself seriously.

The Finns had been in an uproar when Lordi was chosen to represent their country, but I imagine much of that opposition has vanished after their win.

If you haven’t lived in Europe you probably never saw the Eurovision song contest, a consistently camp singing competition among singers from all European countries, plus Israel.

Many a famous singer was discovered on the contest, ranging from Lulu, Abba and Celine Dion who sang for Switzerland. I still remember watching Abba win the contest in 1974 with their hit song “Waterloo”. I was a ten-year-old fan living in Geneva, Switzerland, and I ran out and bought the 45rpm single, and still remember listening to it repeatedly while singing along.

The most exciting part for me is watching the voting of the various countries’ audiences. Today, of course, one can vote by SMS.

After years of not being able to watch the Eurovision contest because I was living outside Europe, I finally was able to watch it again live on BBC Prime.

As always the wry commentary of BBC 1 radio’s Terry Wogan vaguely annoyed me, though he did manage to keep his snide remarks to a minimum this year. As Wogan says on the BBC website: “I have always taken a porky, light-hearted view of the Eurovision Song Contest because in my view you have to. Its a silly old thing but its magnificent in its foolishness.”***This year’s contest was hosted by Greece, last year’s winner. Hosting the show in Athens were Maria Menounos, an actress, and the above-mentioned singer Sakis. Now I must say that Sakis is a dishy-looking guy, tall, dark and handsome. He was wearing a gold suit with a white, unbottoned shirt underneath.

Sakis was discovered in 1991 by the Polygram recording company and has become one of the most awarded singers in Greece.

Check out his website to see pictures of this handsome hunk and to sample some of his music.

His official biography says that he was a gymnast and pole-vaulter before becoming a singer and that is clearly visible in his well-toned body.

The final delight of last night’s show was seeing the singer Nana Mouskouri appear on stage with the presenters. She looks good for her age, especially in view of the fact that she first appeared on TV in the 1963 Eurovision contest.