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Greek singer Maria Elena Kyriakou Ailura

Greece's Eurovision entry sounds like a cry for debt relief

Sure it’s a bit far-fetched, but stay with us on this one.

WHEN GERMANY’S 2013 Eurovision entry was unceremoniously shown the door by judges, the poor performance was blamed on Angela Merkel’s tough approach to debt-laden countries.

This Saturday, when the awards final gets under away for another year, it appears politics will again be bubbling away just under the surface.

Take the entry from Greece, titled One Last Breath, which includes lyrics like:

I’m begging you take me out of this firing hell … Nothing left / All that I have is one last breath / Only one last breath.”

While at first blush it’s a song full of heartfelt yearning, a few commentators have suggested a connection between the plea for help and the country’s ongoing debt crisis.

The Wall Street Journal made the link, noting state broadcaster ERT was backing singer Maria Elena Kyriakou for the competition.

Maria Elena Kyriakou Ailura Ailura

The station was abolished during a cost-cutting drive under the country’s right-wing former administration, before it was recently reinstated by the new, anti-austerity Syriza government.

MarketWatch went even further with the authors citing the song’s “clear echoes of dire economic situation in Greece”:

On the face of it, it’s a ballad about romantic despair. But if you’re listening right, the lyrics couldn’t be a more pointed appeal to citizens of the eurozone — who will be tuning into the contest in their millions — to help end Greece’s financial agony.”

Eurovision Song Contest / YouTube

A sense of timing

It comes amid more bad economic news for the cash-strapped country, which earlier this month slipped back into recession after nearly a year of growth.

The government has warned it could run out of cash in just over two weeks when its next major repayment to the IMF falls due on 5 June.

However it’s not the only song hiding a potential political message.

The entry from Armenia, a country which has been campaigning for the deaths of 1.5 million people under the Ottoman Empire in 1915 to be recognised as genocide, is titled “Don’t Deny” and includes some heavily-loaded lyrics:

Feels like so many times life was unfair / Will you run and forget all the despair? / If it’s breaking you down, remember the power inside / Face every shadow you denied.”

Then there’s the official video clip, which flashes between the modern day performers and what looks suspiciously like families from the early 1900s.

Eurovision Song Contest / YouTube

Both it and the French entry have both been accused of politicising the contest with references to the claimed genocide, which had its centenary commemoration this year.

But so far it doesn’t appear to have done any harm with the Greek and Armenian entries making it through yesterday’s first semi-final unscathed.

Russia Animated GIF Giphy Giphy

READ: Syriza has done another big U-turn on its election promises >

READ: Greek subway stations are showing films demanding World War II reparations >

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26 Comments
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    Mute Tweety McTweeter
    Favourite Tweety McTweeter
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    Jun 16th 2017, 9:36 PM

    Unbeelievable

    349
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    Mute abcyz
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    Jun 16th 2017, 11:41 PM

    Bee what your are. Could they bee any more Cork now saying what bhoy what bhoy over and again. Like that gobshee Niall Boylan when he had a strong common Dublin accent man fighting on air with a common strong Cork accent. It a fight everyone wanted to bee at but gob Niall had to butt in just when comedy gold was about to made.

    14
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    Mute Crístóir Ó Duinn
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    Jun 16th 2017, 9:50 PM

    I, for one, welcome our new bee overlords.

    302
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    Mute abcyz
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    Jun 17th 2017, 1:20 AM

    Joe Duffy “they are wreaking my buzz”

    19
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    Mute Tony Skillington
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    Jun 17th 2017, 9:50 AM

    @Crístóir Ó Duinn: They look busy.

    3
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    Mute H Mc
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    Jun 16th 2017, 10:20 PM

    According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. It’s wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway, because bees don’t care what humans think is impossible.

    207
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    Mute Chemical Brothers
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    Jun 17th 2017, 10:42 AM

    @H Mc: Irish Aviation Authority regulate flying in Ireland. Their “laws” don’t apply to bees.

    5
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    Mute JD404
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    Jun 18th 2017, 12:27 AM

    @Chemical Brothers: do ya like jazz?

    1
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    Mute Padraig
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    Jun 16th 2017, 10:04 PM

    Great to see bees making a fightback.If they disappear we disappear.

    238
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    Mute Martin Condon
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    Jun 16th 2017, 9:45 PM

    Must have been some buzz

    92
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    Mute JohnBeeRyan
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    Jun 16th 2017, 9:36 PM

    Wow! Wish I was there to catch them! Caught two swarms in Dublin today, great stuff! I love the summer!!

    67
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    Mute Gary
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    Jun 16th 2017, 9:40 PM

    Just remember to beecareful.

    64
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    Mute Michael cunnane
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    Jun 16th 2017, 10:15 PM

    great buzz round the town

    62
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    Mute Paul Culligan
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    Jun 16th 2017, 10:00 PM

    Bejasus!

    58
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    Mute Niall Gallagher
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    Jun 16th 2017, 9:33 PM

    Riveting

    33
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    Mute Maria Hickey-Fagan
    Favourite Maria Hickey-Fagan
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    Jun 16th 2017, 10:20 PM

    Normal behaviour, leave them be, it’s just nature, etc., I don’t care, of I see a swarm approaching I’m hotfooting it to the nearest lake or other body of water.

    27
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    Mute molly coddled
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    Jun 17th 2017, 12:15 AM

    @Maria Hickey-Fagan: bees only sting in defence. No need for you to be so dramatic.

    31
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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Jun 16th 2017, 9:35 PM

    Some man for the puns in Pádraig

    25
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    Mute Ted Logan
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    Jun 16th 2017, 10:05 PM

    Buzz Killington Dave

    18
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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Jun 17th 2017, 12:01 AM

    @Ted Logan: Hey! Words hurt you know

    3
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    Mute Ted Logan
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    Jun 17th 2017, 5:41 AM

    @Dave – Stinging

    1
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    Mute Tommy Browne
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    Jun 16th 2017, 9:44 PM

    Beewitching.

    19
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    Mute Dante Marquinhos
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    Jun 16th 2017, 10:45 PM

    Gowan da bees!

    16
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    Mute Pauric Patton
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    Jun 16th 2017, 10:36 PM

    Nothing to see here buzz off

    22
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    Mute Nydon
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    Jun 16th 2017, 11:06 PM

    “Just leave them bee”

    14
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    Mute Nydon
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    Jun 16th 2017, 11:16 PM

    @Nydon: Bee (adj):
    To buzz around in a stripey little body with functionally inadequate wings.

    8
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    Mute Nydon
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    Jun 16th 2017, 11:19 PM

    @Nydon: Human beeing:
    To wear yellow and black striped clothing.

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    Mute Nydon
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    Jun 16th 2017, 11:22 PM

    @Nydon: Beeing serious:
    Add flimsy wings to the stripey shirt and wear a black balaclava.

    1
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    Mute Enda McCallion
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    Jun 17th 2017, 10:19 AM

    @Nydon: You’re an idiot

    2
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    Mute mcgoo
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    Jun 17th 2017, 12:51 AM

    They were heading to Niall Macs for a pint by all accounts….

    9
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    Mute Alan Phillips
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    Jun 17th 2017, 12:52 AM

    Don’t go on any unnecessary journeys!

    9
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    Mute Ann Kirrane
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    Jun 17th 2017, 12:19 AM

    “Honey I’m home”

    8
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    Mute Pat Butler
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    Jun 16th 2017, 10:42 PM

    Bizzybodies the lot of ye

    8
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    Mute Trevor Connolly
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    Jun 16th 2017, 10:51 PM

    Knocked a bee hive in a ditch one time when I was young , not nice , 13 or 14 stings, they were in my tee shirt when I got home

    6
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    Mute Randal McNally
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    Jun 17th 2017, 8:53 AM

    Great to see. Hopefully, our pollinators are making a comeback. People should stop killing wasps etc as well. They are all Pollinators.

    9
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    Mute Geraldine French
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    Jun 16th 2017, 11:42 PM

    It’s unbeelievable the buzz that this story has generated.

    5
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    Mute dominic
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    Jun 17th 2017, 3:10 AM

    Has the distillery any influence on the visit?

    4
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    Mute Michael Sexton
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    Jun 17th 2017, 5:12 AM

    The apocalypse

    3
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    Mute WilhelminaMCallaghan
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    Jun 17th 2017, 3:04 PM

    @Michael Sexton: yeh that remark was weird

    1
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    Mute Quentin Moriarty
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    Jun 17th 2017, 1:21 AM

    Would expect to see a blue rinse outside with a tin of Vapona

    3
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    Mute Chicken George
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    Jun 17th 2017, 7:37 AM

    Who the hell has “their local bee keeper”?

    4
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    Mute cp
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    Jun 17th 2017, 8:11 AM

    @Chicken George: i know 3 places near where i live that keep bees. Youd be suprised. No pun intended

    3
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    Mute Chicken George
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    Jun 17th 2017, 8:51 AM

    @cp: I know a few also but they’re not exactly part of the emergency services on standby in case there’s a swarm. I can only imagine the reaction if I rang up and asked him to come in to town to deal with it. “I will in me bollix”

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    Mute mcgoo
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    Jun 17th 2017, 10:23 AM

    @Chicken George: funnily enough Midleton has an unusually high population of beekeepers! Genuinely!

    2
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    Mute WilhelminaMCallaghan
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    Jun 17th 2017, 3:03 PM

    @Chicken George: many moons ago in a kingdom far far away the government in its infinite ” wisdom ” cut some 600 trees to widen a road , swarms of bees invaded the houses and some young dude got killed for being allergic , when called the local bee dude gave this exact response you said there, lucky for us my mom having the room assailed sudden by bees called me da ( he work with insects and their pathogens ) and he came over with that white get up they have and took this one bee with him
    And all the others followed out . She was bigger than the others . He also warned us smallies do not kill any and do not go near it . So maybe someone upset their home place or the bank repossess their hive? Bees do not just go into Middleton on a Saturday to get their messages no .

    4
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    Mute funkytown
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    Jun 17th 2017, 5:40 AM

    I’d hate to bee in middle of that!

    4
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    Mute Alois Irlmaier
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    Jun 18th 2017, 12:25 AM

    As a swarm they are suppose to be placid?

    1
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