Coming in from a funeral on a cold Monday afternoon in February, there’s no much cheer on the horizon, but this is Ireland and there will always be some news story to brighten the day. The front page of the Irish Times is confirming a rumour aired by RTE last week that Dustin the turkey was seeking to represent Ireland at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. Dustin faces a run off against five other contenders in his attempt to sing at Belgrade.
The significance of Dustin is lost on people from outside of Ireland; the children’s puppet does not confine his remarks to the level of children’s television, but does his own version of satire and social commentary. If he were not a puppet, he would have been probably have been sued for some of his comments by now, but his victims have to limit themselves to smiling benignly and making the odd snide comment. There would be no equivalent figure on British television, if there were the politically correct would long ago have silenced him for his comments. Dustin specializes in being rude to various parts of the country and to particular groups in Irish society.
Should Dustin secure the endorsement of the Irish public, his inimitable charm in singing Irelande Douze Points will no doubt win the hearts of all who watch the show from Belgrade (or at least those who recognize it as an exercise in extreme silliness).
The following is from his Bebo page:
A small snippet of my eurovision song lyrics.. video and song to be post on this site shortly!!! Keep an eye out.. GO’ON YA GOOD THING!!!
Shake your feathers and pop your beak
Shake it to the West and to the East
Wave Euro hands and Euro feet
Wave them in the air to the turkey beat;
Give us another chance
We’re sorry for Riverdance
Flatley he’s a Yank
And the Danube flows through France
Eastern Europe,we love you
Do you like Irish stew
Or goulash as it is to you?
Bulgaria we love you Belarus,Georgia,Montenegro,Moldova,Alba
nia,Croatia,Poland,Russia,Ukraine,Maced
onia,Latvia,Turkey,Hungary,Estonia,Slov
akia,Romania,Bosnia Herzegovina – and don’t forget the Swiss.
Oh dear, can you imagine this character reaching the front page of the London Times?