Wonderful Example Of Young Germany

“I paid what I owed and had lent, and everything restarts once again,” sang the Greek entrant in the Eurovision Song Contest, a wildly optimistic lyric as Greece is trying to rebuild a collapsed economy on the back of a $150 billion bailout from the European Union.

But in the end it was Germany, the main contributor to the Greek bailout, that took the Eurovision prize.

The Daily Telegraph was among the UK papers that mused over how Eurovision is often a barometer for European politics, with countries “traditionally voting for their allies regardless of quality.”

The argument has previously been used to explain how old Eastern Bloc countries have won the competition by voting for their neighbours, although it may also be the reason that the UK has come last in three of the last four years.

German chancellor Angela Merkel told Bild that the winner of Eurovision was a wonderful example of what young Germans can achieve, after 19-year-old Lena Meyer-Landrut’s performance of “Satellite” wowed the TV audience watching the live show screened from Oslo’s new Telenor Arena May 29.

She is the second German to win the extravagant talent contest in its 55-year history. Germany last won in 1982 and, as this year’s winner, will host next year’s competition.