Eurotastes

Kieran Healy on the bad taste of Eurovision Song Contests.

The songs themselves have evolved in interesting ways. ?Diggi-loo Diggi-ley? represents the high-point of the nonsense-chorus Eurovision song, designed to appeal to the multi-lingual audience. This lowest common denominator approach produced successes throughout the first thirty years of the contest, including such classics as ?Boom-Bang-a-Bang? (UK), ?Ding Dinge Dong? (Netherlands), ?A-ba-ni-bi? (Israel) and of course ?Diggey-loo Diggi-ley.? (I promise I am not making these up.)