I find myself in an exceptionally awkward position. On one hand, it has been ages since I last watched Eurovision, back when I recorded it on VHS and memorised the songs I loved. Back then Eurovision meant the kids from the neighbourhood, only a handful of countries took part, it lasted a single evening and our entire relationship with it ended at the television screen.

On the other hand, most of the people on a sort of… ad hoc national board of high aesthetic standards, who have signed a letter condemning the song Jalla, which will represent Cyprus in the 2026 contest, are people I deeply respect or love. At least half of them, I would vote for President, or if I were President, I would appoint them as my ministers. Okay, they did not like it. Fair enough. Neither did I. But when did entertainment require unanimous approval?

I’m not sure they realised that apart from themselves only a few far-right ELAM MP candidates reacted. Among their arguments was the alleged violation of the sacred Greek language in the name of Mon Dieu, damned multiculturalism. They seemed to suggest that amid Cyprus’ EU presidency and our presence at le Louvre our Eurovision entry is somehow as lowly as Jalla? It really makes you wonder how so many educated people can throw everything into a single pot, not the art pot, but the taste pot. I mean it is 2026. Couldn’t the song even have been written by AI? And seriously what do the Louvre and our traditions have to do with Eurovision? With all due love, Eurovision is a party, a lavishly expensive spectacle that isn’t for everyone yet delights thousands. It is for TikTokers, YouTubers and influencers, whatever those terms even mean.

I find it somewhat overblown and overly proper that the public broadcaster CyBC board is being asked to withdraw this “offensive video clip,” “remove this song from the contest,” and above all to inform Cypriot taxpayers what the production and participation costs were and who the members of the jury were. Honestly, of all the problems at CyBC, the many and very serious ones, which taxpayers have funded for decades with no qualitative return, this is what offends us? And then, are we going to dictate what should inspire each artist? Since when has entertainment been the playground of the chosen few?

Here, a new museum was decided and announced overnight and not a single eyelid twitched. People die daily on Cyprus' roads, domestic violence is boiling over in the nicest homes, and our political news revolves around Aleksoui’s sources, whom they now invite on journalistic programmes. The filth that truly harms the country was not the questionable video clip but the #videogate of this country's well respected figures. We have far more to unite over, far greater issues to amplify, than this petty moral policing of a song.

Jalla, Load Up Jalla