If you follow the annual cheese-fest known as the Eurovision Song Contest, you’ll know that it happened in Belgrade this year (Russia won). I couldn’t help but wonder how the entire event would pan out considering the recent protests and riots over Kosovo’s proclamation of independence.

I checked in with Stanislav of The Little Lighthouse, who grew up in the ill-fated Croatian/Serbian border town of Vukovar. He assured me that Serbs know how to throw a good party,” even with an enemy. All current enemies were apparently treated well” – the “Albanian and Dutch representatives got cheers,” and there were “no boos.” One Slovenian announcer was shown saying things like “Zdravo braco Srbi!” (Hello Serbian brothers!). Also, the Bosnian entry got the full 12 points from Serbian voters as did the Serb entry from the Bosnians.

My response: “Is there any hope at all for a successful Eurovision having an impact in healing the tenuous political situation?” His response: “Eurovision is a huge party… I don’t think people see it as a political statement.” He’s right – some people really do tend to wallow in entertainment-related subjects as though they had some profound function.

Stanislav did remind me of some of the Yugoslav entries of the ’70s and ’80s, such as the Serbian progressive outfit Korni Grupa in 1975. “They had a pretty decent song [‘Moja Generacija’] about WW2 although it probably depressed most of Europe.” So they bombed at Eurovision ’75 as martyrs for meaning.

Korni Grupa – “Moja Generacija” (1974)