Bring me a cup: how Estonian Eurovision contestant offended Italians

Italians are outraged by the number of the upcoming Eurovision contestant from Estonia, Tommy Cash. They demand that he be banned from performing at the contest with the song Espresso Macchiato because of the stereotypical representation of their people. The lyrical hero demands espresso, admits to sweating like a mafioso, and calls life as tough as spaghetti. Read more about the reaction of Italians to the parody number and why today's Eurovision participants are betting not on the songs, but on epatage - in the material "Izvestia".

Mom! Mimo!

Tomaso has a huge house, "brilliants" and private jets. His day is scheduled by the hour, because to provide himself with all this luxury, you have to work all day and night, so he "sweated like a mafioso". In general, life is tough as spaghetti. The only thing that helps No stresso is espresso.

"Mi amore, mi amore

Espresso macchiato, macchiato, macchiato.

Por favore, por favore

Espresso macchiato corneo," he sings in Italian with a deliberate accent.

Estonian singer Tommy Cash confesses his love for coffee. With the song Espresso Macchiato he will represent the country at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. However, these plans are now trying to hinder the Italians. While video clips of an Estonian wriggling in a dance as their compatriot are going viral on the web, some commentators are indignant: "Why don't they sing about their country, but use stereotypes about others?", "Zero points from Italy", "Mocking another country and laughing at the mafia... 'United by music'?", "Why do they sing about their own country? (Eurovision slogan. - Ed.) Really?"

Local consumer protection association Codacons appealed to the European Broadcasting Union and questioned the appropriateness of allowing a song that, in their opinion, offends a country and an entire community to participate in the contest, The Guardian reports. The activists were outraged by clichés about the love of pasta and coffee, the mafia and ostentatious luxury. Gian Marco Centinaio, vice president of the Italian Senate, was not to the parody's liking either.

"This singer should come to Italy to see how decent people work before allowing himself to write such silly songs full of stereotypes," he wrote on his social media page and expressed hope that the organizers would not allow the contestant to participate in Eurovision.

"Artists in monster masks, transvestites and many others have won here."

Musicologist Sergei Uvarov explained Estonia's choice by the fact that today sending a serious performer with extraordinary vocal data and non-parodic personality to Eurovision is like "shooting at sparrows with a cannon".

- Tommy Cash's number is, of course, a parody. And to take it seriously is a losing proposition. And the love song to coffee (somewhere Sabrina Carpenter shuddered and Bach grinned with "Coffee Cantata"), and dancing of a gutta-percha pseudo-Italian with an American pseudonym - in a good way all this should cause only a smile, nothing more. Why the descendants of ancient Romans should be offended is completely incomprehensible. Rather, Estonians should think: is their culture so poor that nothing original and somehow representative of the nation has been found? However, Eurovision was and still is a freak-show. Artists in monster masks, transvestites and many others have won here," the expert said.

The rules of the game have changed, music industry experts explain. Today, the song contest with a long history is ruled not by music, but by hype.

- It is unclear what Estonian television was guided by in choosing such a strange parody using Rossini's motif from "The Barber of Seville", which is indeed very politically incorrect in some places. However, it should be remembered that it is scandals of not the highest caliber with national overtones that provide the participants with the media publicity they need. Suffice it to recall the scandal at the same Eurovision Song Contest in 2004 with Ruslana's "Wild Dances", which was immediately accused in Ukraine of denigrating the Ukrainian people, allegedly represented by savages. This song won the contest then," Yevgeny Safronov, founder of InterMedia, recalled in a conversation with Izvestia.

The expert believes that the contest, created in the 1950s to unite Europe politically and culturally, has now degenerated.

- I assume that it is simply because of the exhaustion of the idea. In my opinion, the last numbers notable in terms of originality and compositional skill were presented by artists - natives of the USSR: Dima Bilan (Russia) and Alexander Rybak (Norway), - said Evgeny Safronov.

Ilya Bachurin, producer and general director of Moskontsert, also recalls the old times. According to him, the degradation of meanings in Western mass culture is an obvious trend, and Eurovision is one of the brightest examples of this.

- If a few decades ago there were performers who were really authoritative, very big, loved by a huge audience, such as ABBA, and the contest songs became hits for many years, today we have a completely different picture. The product that is offered is absolutely immediate and must work in the format of this year's competition, and then it does not matter what happens to it," said Ilya Bachurin.

Therefore, the expert explains, the parameters of this product have changed. One of the main ones is the bet on eupatage.

- Any eupatage (verbal, visual, stylistic, sexual) is acceptable in order to draw attention to oneself and win this very short race on the distance of one contest, - said Ilya Bachurin. - Honestly, I am sincerely sorry that a talented Estonian guy Tommy Cash, well known in Russia, takes part in this rather meaningless action, because he could have shown himself somehow more meaningful and worthy. But getting into the conditions of the competition, corresponds to them, in my opinion.

According to Ilya Bachurin, the performer did not want to offend Italians with his song. In addition, he assumes that most of the numbers at the upcoming contest will carry "muchgreatersemantic flaws".

In May 2025, Eurovision will be held for the 69th time. This time it will be hosted by Switzerland. "Izvestia" sent an inquiry to the organizers about the situation around the Estonian contestant. The prescription in case the scandal still affects Tommy Cash's participation in the contest, the performer laid down in his own lines: "No stresso, no need to be depressed, it's gonna be espresso".