Reference to Facebook could cost Eurovision entry its place
Reference to Facebook could cost Eurovision entry its place
San Marino’s entry into the Eurovision sung by Valentina Monetta was put on hold on Saturday, when officials in the song contest objected to the song “Facebook Uh Oh Oh”. The officials at the governing body European Broadcasting Union cited rule 1.2.2.g which states, “The lyrics and/or performance of the songs shall not bring the Shows, the ESC as such or the EBU into disrepute. No lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political or similar nature shall be permitted during the ESC. No swearing or other unacceptable language shall be allowed in the lyrics or in the performances of the songs. No commercial messages of any kind shall be allowed. A breach of this rule may result in disqualification.
Almost every year, a song is reprimanded under this rule. San Marino now has until March 22 to change the song title or submit a new one (and I have a competitive song if you’re interested, San Marino). “Facebook Oh Uh Oh” was written by Ralph Siegel, Timothy Touchton & Jose Santana Rodriguez. Click through for the vid
I wonder what the writers were thinking if they thought that a song with a brand name and that contains invitations for cybersex would get past the EBU filters? On top of it all, the song is pretty tepid anyway.
The Eurovision 2012 semi-final rounds will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan on May 22 and May 24, with the final on May 26 in Baku Crystal Hall, which is currently under construction. The arena has a capacity of up to 23,000 spectators. Approximately 16,000 people will be able to attend each of the three Eurovision Song Contest live shows in May.
Do you think this one has a chance?
Facebook got its name from a common publishing idiom: a face book. If she puts a space between the words she’ll be fine, and it will refer to all ‘face books’, which perform similar functions to Facebook.
She can call it “Face Book Uh Oh Oh” and get herself off the hook, and rewrite/submit the lyrics like that.
Excellent, Ian! Or use rhymes that clearly refer to it, such as “Space Book Uh Oh Oh” or “Chasebook” (a special version for stalkers).
It brings up the question of how a generic name consisting of two such common nouns could be trademarked. Something tells me, however, that the Eurovision people would not be willing to take the risk of finding out. These is also the reference to cyber-sex, which is a no-no in Eurovisionland.
Anyone else got any titles to suggest?
Michael
I just noticed that they are now crowd-sourcing a video for two versions. Hmm. http://www.eurovisionary.com/eurovision-news/competition-san-marino-best-video-social-network-song
M