Spain came in second to last place at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö on Saturday. Since the voting for the most part has nothing to do with the quality of the performances, it would be better just to give the event a miss in future, the conservative daily ABC writes: "Although they did their job well, our representatives at this yearly European musical romp - the group El Sueño de Morfeo - once again failed in grand style. This edition of the gala - flamboyantly staged, as it is every year - saw us take a surprising second to last place. And like so often in the past, it was clear that those countries that see eye to eye in politics and culture unabashedly gave each other their votes. For that reason many sceptics say that in times of crisis we should just spare ourselves the trouble of participating in this camp and commercial music festival. That would not only cut costs, but also spare us the shame of such a pitiful result." (21/05/2013)

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The Romanian media council has demanded that French commercial broadcaster Canalplus make a statement on "flagrant discrimination" after it aired a puppet sketch about Romanian film director Cristian Mungiu on Wednesday depicting Mungiu as a beggar scrounging from his US colleague Steven Spielberg. The left-liberal blog portal Voxpublica urges a cool-headed response: "Whenever the talk is of Romanian beggars we get all excited. But if we take a closer look this is not about political correctness but about a familiar racist formula: we don't want the French to lump us together with the gypsies. We're much less fierce when it comes to defending the Roma. The thought that the dumb French could mistake us for the begging Roma who damage Romania's reputation abroad drives us crazy. ... Other even cruder jokes have been made in this satirical show. ... Before getting all up in arms on Mungiu's behalf we should accept that the French have bad programmes that are nonetheless apparently popular." (21/05/2013)

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All available articles from » Costi Rogozanu

The Cannes Film Festival starts today, Wednesday. The large number of French entries is the result of a film promotion policy that is unique in Europe, the daily Le Monde writes: "This festival allows people to take full stock of what really distinguishes the French notion of cinema, compared with the other film industries in the world. It's nothing more nor less than a centre of artistic creation and cultural vibrancy unparalleled in the rest of Europe, where the cinema has been more or less eradicated for lack of similar funding policies. Whether or not you're an active part of this system, whether or not you appreciate the results, you cannot deny that it enhances the reputation and influence of our country in the world. In this respect it is both desirable and advantageous that this system be strengthened. The report submitted on Monday by Pierre Lescure on adapting cultural policy to the digital era clearly goes in this direction." (14/05/2013)

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All available articles from » Jacques Mandelbaum