Eurovision Comes to Vienna! (Well, It Could Have Been Fun.)

Thanks, Vienna, for ruining Eurovision.  We love Conchita Wurst, but isn't the contest supposed to be entertainment? Now it's little more than an over-the-top display of political correctness dressed in shantung and lace.  It is sad that Vienna's "pride" debuted as a marketing opportunity (no pun intended).

There are now t-shirts available for purchase, too, of the-oh-so-timely gay couple crossing lights.

Despite the gag-inducing political correctness and the terrible coverage by ORF1, we have managed to find some entertainment in watching the contest.

 Go Poland!

The Eurovision Village resides at Rathausplatz, and is a pretty dull scene around lunchtime. On a recent visit many of the country tents were not open, save for a couple of wurstel and beer places. Not much to inspire the Eurovision visitor.

And whatever is going on in the greenspaces surrounding Rathausplatz makes no sense at all. Vienna seems to be giving itself "12 points" (the Eurovision maximum score for a contestant) for its green spaces, using cardboard cutouts of 1920's era (?) singers? We were not the only ones pondering these scenes.

Perhaps sticking to the known is better for the city, like the Burgenland Kulturinarium Fest running through the weekend at Am Hof. Beer, Wine, Wurst, lots of tourism literature...

 ...and Austrian music. Absolutely delightful, and without a dose of political correctness.