Anyone care to comment on the Austrian culture that spawned Hayak, Mises, and the Austrian School, and Alf Poier and his song? Are they aberations, or is Austria truly a more individualistic nation?

I ignored Eurovision this year, but at one point during the Austrian performance, someone in my home shouted to me, "Oh my God, he's singing about his homepage!" If that's true...Well, I won't be surprised. Wouldn't mind seeing the complete lyrics.

He sang in German, but in English the lyrics are

I like most animals on this earth But I really prefer little rabbits and bears

Soon all birds and beetles will die
But Adam's in bed with Eve busy reproducing

Rabbits live in the woods
Cats in the meadows
And cockroaches
Live under tiles

Little rabbits have short noses
And kittens soft paws
And Mother Holle likes her wool
From the african dromedary

The difference between animals such as apes and primates
Is no bigger than between noodles and pasta

But whoever wants to know more about animals should study Biology or inform himself on my homepage

Some animals have wings
And others have fins
Some live outdoors
And others in cans

Small rabbits…..

This guy is clearly a genius.

Well, Alf was fun but I thought the Belgian entry had a better tune. Surely someone on this site can translate that one as well.

What really puzzles me is how we are told Turkey has an "Islamist" government yet their winning band was easily the least-dressed. Perhaps it should be the Eurovision Flesh Contest.

Hitler was Austrian also. And according to David Letterman critique of the American mininseries "Hitler the Rise of Evil" his middle name was "Dwayne."

OT BTW I was listening to Frank Zappa's album "Joe's Garage" and the song "I'm the Slime" may have actually been the first rap recording. Of course Frank did always kind of rap on most of his stuff.

At least Tatu didn't win. Their music is no good, but the critics get orgasmic over them simply because they engage in public homoeroticism.

I'm reminded of the Israeli entry from a few years back that involved putting a condom on a cucumber. Musically, the song was worse than Mr Cliff Richard's "Millennium Prayer", but because the act was designed to offend the Orthodox rabbis, critics thought it was genius.

I'll never understand critics. Which is probably a good thing.

Innocent Abroad: What we should conclude is that Ataturk was a great man.

Everyone:

Is there any possibility that the NUL POINTS scored by the Royaume Uni might be some kind of political backlash for supporting the liberation of Iraq? Eurovision Song Contest voting has always been pretty corrupt and tactical, so I for one am pretty sure it's no coincidence.

Could this be the beginning of Britain's expulsion from the EU, by popEUlar demand? It's a happy thought.

Congratulations, Brits! The fact that your country can't produce an entry worthy of scoring points in the Eurovision Song Contest demonstrates beyond question the fact that your arts retain some vestige of the characteristics that made Western Civilization great.

Take this score, and wear it as a badge of honor, much as George W. Bush interprets French "Tsk"-ing as applause.

Brian Micklethwait: "Is there any possibility that the NUL POINTS scored by the Royaume Uni might be some kind of political backlash for supporting the liberation of Iraq?"

I suppose that's possible. A far more likely explanation is that the song sucked donkeys and the performance blew chunks too.
I personally liked the entries from Romania and Germany (god help me) and not much else.

At least Turkey had something comparitively modern this time, although if you listen to Turkish mix or Turkish pop radio you'll hear 5 more interesting songs every hour.

Are you sure you are not confusing him with Bruno, Sacha Baron Cohen's gay Austrian alter-ego? Or are the Austrians really starting to realise libertarianism is the way forward and that socialism is a failed ideology? Hope springs eternal...

Well, if the UK were punished for the complicity in the invasion of Iraq, then Europe has more sense than I originally credited it. And it took the fantastic route of justly punishing them without pain or bloodshed - thus moral high ground is intact! Vive l'Europ!

However, it's more likely that the UK got nul points merely because their song was dire.