Turkey should soon return to Eurovision. Not just because the contest needs more televotefriendly entries, or because the more the merrier. But because their shouting-from-afar is getting annoying.
The Turkish broadcaster may not be present in Tel Aviv, yet there is no shortage of Turkish influences in the contest. There are plenty of Turkish journalists present, not in the least part noticeable at the press conferences. While there was a particular interest in Italy’s Mahmood and his ethnic background, he was not the only one receiving TUrkish attention. Azerbaijan’s singer Chingiz was questioned to boredom about his relation to Istanbul. It ended in him saying that he “represents both Azerbaijan and Turkey in Eurovision 2019.”
Or take for instance the San Marino representant Serhat. Not only was he born and raised in Turkey, he also uses Turkish language in his performance, it is visible on the LED-backdrop. And at the press conference, he jumped at the chance of saying that Turkey needs to come back to Eurovision soon.
TRT is against the jury vote in Eurovision
The main reason for Turkey to drop out of Eurovision was a change in the rules after 2009. The professional jury came back, and that did not work out well for Turkey. Their daring, ethnically loaded pop songs were often too modern for the juries to vote for. After 2012, another year in which Turkish entry Can Bonomo had fared better with televoters than juries, TRT dropped out.
Ever since, the broadcaster has not lost one opportunity to complain about EBU’s Eurovision rules. If it was not the jury vote, than it was the BIG-5 rule, or the fact that Australia can take part. These complaints do Eurovision no good.
It is always easier to complain from the sidelines, than to step in and face your own mistakes. Turkey’s sense for strong televote entries has brought the Eurovision Song Contest many amazing hits. Yet it is time for them to come to terms with reality.
If TRT sets their mind to it, I am sure they could find an entry that is suitable to a 50%-50% voting system. This would be a great contribution to the Eurovision Song Contest. On top of that, we could cancel the discussion about Turkey’s return altogether and focus on the current artists, the current contest. The current reality.
Turkey’s absence from Eurovision has to be viewed in the context of the current political climate in the country. Unless that changes, I wouldn’t hold your breath for a Turkish return.
İşiniz gücünüz sahtekarlık pezevenkler.
That would not change, because countries other than the United Kingdom ??, Spain ??, Albania ??, Azerbaijan ??, Ireland ??, Sweden ??, Finland ?? would not want Turkey ?? to return and also Turkey ?? does not want to return to Eurovision contest by itself.