The last couple of weeks have seen two elections that have given surprising results, but the surprises are not about the winners, but more about the ones who did not win…
The first election was not a political election, but a TV vote by some 250 000 people for Finland’s best candidate for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. The bookmaker’s money was on a Sara Siipola with “Mä oon Paskana” (“I am Shit” in English) who more or less imitated the style of last year’s Swedish winner, Loreen. But the song was a moving and meaningful warning about global warming performed in a professional manner and strongly plugged by the big recording companies and their faithful media…
That song came second after the winner called “Windows95man” from a complete outsider. This song is a jolting reminder of the frustrations of blue screens and slow computers! The song is a light-headed slapstick piece of fun from one man dancing in his underpants and another crawling and moaning on the stage floor. The lyrics are nonsense and the tune tuneless… But they won easily! So much for the popular vote…
The second election, a most serious affair, was for our president. It resulted in a close call in favour of Mr. Stubb and his wife from the UK, who beat Mr. Haavisto and his partner from Brazil. Naturally partners are not elected but they do play an important role when the elections are decided.
The result was expected because Mr. Stubb is a sporty, active type, financed by deep pockets of the wealthy (c. €2 million), and who is married to a working lady. Mr. Haavisto on the other hand, is a soft-spoken, low-key thinker, who was only able to collect small amounts of cash from a large number of donors (c. €1 million). However, the probable reason for his defeat was that his registered partner is a working man, something about which many here still have qualms…
Both candidates are well-qualified for the job, but it was Mr. Stubb has “dropped plenty of clangers” in past political positions, while Mr. Haavisto has managed to maintain an almost faultless career in politics.
On reflection, the surprise of this election’s result was not that Mr. Stubb won, but that Mr. Haavisto managed to secure such a huge number of votes; a result that in no way reflected the fear of homophobia that some in our media managed to stir up a little.
There were no stirring up about heterosexual relationships of the other candidates – of course not! But there was talk about the President’s Independence Day Gala, where a presidential couple must formally receive some hundreds of VIP guests in front of the glare of strong lights and cameras. It is the most watched program after the Eurosong Contest!
So we must admit to being positively surprised with the tight presidential election results and with the good news that Finland’s chosen candidate for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest has reminded us all about equality without prejudice, even if it is a rather more trivial matter.
