There’s a petition to have Iceland named this year’s Eurovision winners in the wake of coronavirus cancellation
Iceland’s Daði og Gagnamagnið had been tipped to win Eurovision 2020. (Screen capture via YouTube)
Weeping. Crying. Wailing. Mass orders of comfort food on UberEats. Staring into the abyss. Listening to ABBA. Caterwauling. More crying.
These are just some of the symptoms of gay people discovering the news that the Eurovision Song Contest was cancelled Wednesday afternoon, citing concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.
In other words, COVID-19 is homophobic. Confirmed.
But some fans of the high-camp contest are refusing to let Iceland’s entrant, Daði og Gagnamagnið, lose, however, and are petitioning for them to be declared the winner.
Let’s all distract ourselves from the sense of impending doom and get Iceland to win, says petitioner.
With “Think About Things” tipped by bookies to have won the Rotterdam contest, “everybody knows Iceland would have walked it easily”, wrote Stuart Newman, founder of Belgravia Group and Viridity Brands and person behind the change.org petition.
The petition has tallied nearly 1,000 minutes in less than 12 hours.
“Eurovision being cancelled just sucked a bit more joy out of the world,” Newman told PinkNews.
“And Iceland’s entry – ‘Thing About Things’ by Daði og Gagnamagnið – is just a thick slice of fried fun. Everyone could do with a bit of cheering up right now and starting a petition seemed like it would raise a smile.
“Seems to have worked. And they deserve it.”
Indeed, while this year’s roster of contestants can all re-apply for Eurovision 2021, the organisation’s rules mean they can’t enter the same song next year.
In other words, Eurovision, nay, the world, was robbed of not only seeing the band’s oppressively tall main singer Daði Freyr perform, but see them be crowned as the omnipresent, absolute rulers of Europe.
That’s the prize for winning the contest, right? Right?
Twitter dulls the pain of Eurovision cancellation with memes, because of course.
Anyway, folks took to Twitter to, in an effort to escape the relentlessly horrific hellscape that is the year 2020, decree Iceland as the winner of Eurovision.
I have signed this petition because a) it's the right thing to do and b) it's a brilliant distraction from all the other things I should be thinking about. https://t.co/SXYwuFIiX8
— Jay Rayner (@jayrayner1) March 18, 2020
https://twitter.com/ShellyC95/status/1240344076752429056
Congratulations to Iceland for winning Eurovision 2020 so hard that the entire event had to be cancelled to ensure the other countries weren't too humiliated.— TechnicallyRon (On all the platforms) (@TechnicallyRon) March 18, 2020
Let’s just say Iceland won Eurovision 2020. Congratulations, Iceland. https://t.co/wMdaGpGxIy— Lee Madgwick (@LeeMadgwick) March 18, 2020
Iceland 's Eurovision conquer plan:
1. Take 30 years to find the winning song.
2. Sit back in 2020 and enjoy the fact that we will finally win.
3. Open a bottle of champa…#Eurovision2020 counter plan:
1. Cancel.— Yrsa Sigurdardottir (@YrsaSig) March 18, 2020
If Eurovision actually has been cancelled and dadi / Iceland have been robbed of their iconic win then that’s the absolute nail in the coffin for 2020 I’m done
— Zoe London (@zoelondondj) March 18, 2020
Following the devastating blow that the contest was cancelled Freyr wrote on Twitter: “It’s disappointing as I was really looking forward to performing in Rotterdam with Gagnamagnið.
Eurovision 2020 has been cancelled.
It's disappointing as I was really looking forward to performing in Rotterdam with Gagnamagnið.
The support has been overwhelming and many new opportunities have presented themselves.
I am really excited for the future.
Thank you so much! <3— Daði Freyr 🍉 (@dadimakesmusic) March 18, 2020
“The support has been overwhelming and many new opportunities have presented themselves.
“I am really excited for the future. Thank you so much!”
And with that, please return to your regularly scheduled COVID-19 panic.
