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We now know that austerity is going too far because Sweden has decided to slash the budget for this year's Eurovosion Song Contest. Every year, more than 100 million viewers across the globe slide back into their sofas to giggle at the ghastliness of Eurovision but the Swedes are imposing Teutonic discipline on a TV extravaganza that once brought us ABBA and Celine Dion.
Sweden has clearly lost the plot; according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, this year's shindig is budgeted at €15-million ($19.9-million), less than half the amount spent by Azerbaijan last year where we were entertained by singers on ice skates.
More than half a century old, Eurovision is a ritual in which aging male crooners from the Balkans are set against bizarrely-clad electropop Nordic ensembles.The connection with Europe is a bit tenuous; in 1998 Israel won the competition courtesy of its entrant, the transexual pop star Dana International. The winner is decided on points, as TV watchers from each nation cast votes on the national contestants. Often, to the delight of many, the spectacle is embarassing, not only because half of the singers are out of tune but because scores awarded by each nation reveal simmering tribal conflicts and ethnic loyalties.
But Eurovision is not just about weirdness and bad tunes. It is a truly Roman celebration of excess, and if we cannot look forward to divas in sequined tutus diving through flaming hoops, there is a risk that the world will conclude that Europe has utterly lost its mojo.
Still, like the Olympic Games, Eurovision is always political. For Azerbaijan, which hosted the event last year in a show that excelled in every measure of bad taste, including cost, the competition was an opportunity to boast and put the nation on the global cultural map. If Sweden is shrinking Eurovision, it too is making a political point. The Swedish government has made no secret of its impatience with EU extravagance. Almost four decades after ABBA won the competition with Waterloo, the Swedes may be sending a message to the embattled nations of the euro zone: "Nul points."
Carl Mortished is a contributor to ROB Insight, the business commentary service available to Globe Unlimited subscribers. Click here for more of his Insights.
Carl Mortished