Of course, Iran isn’t in Europe and the Islamic Republic wouldn’t send people to a pop music contest even if it were.
But there’s no accounting for the Diaspora! One of Norway’s most popular singers is Tooji Keshtkar, who hails from Shiraz. He speaks (and sings) fluent Norwegian. He points out that he celebrated his first birthday while his parents were in the process of fleeing Iran.
But Tooji—as he is universally known in Norway—didn’t do too well with the European audience. Of the 26 contestants from 26 European countries, Tooji came in 26th and last with hardly any points.
Were European fans displaying the anti-Islamic thread that blackens much of Europe these days?
Not likely.
First place in the contest this year went to Loreen from Sweden. Loreen is dark-skinned 
and black-haired and big-nosed. Like Tooji, she is no native Scandinavian. Loreen, 28, is a Berber from Morocco. Her real name is Lorine Zineb Noka Talhaoui. Being Muslim didn’t drive away her fans.
Second place provided the strangest winners—six fat women in their seventies from Russia. They are called the Buranovskiye Babushki or Grannies from Buranovo Village. But they aren’t Russians. They are Udmurts, a minority group of 400,000 people who speak Finno-Ugric, which is unrelated to Russian. They didn’t even sing in Russian; they sang—and bounced around a stove—in Finno-Ugric—and English. They are Christian and plan to spend their winnings on building a new church in their remote village
The televised contest has been an annual event for more than four decades and is a great cultural unifier on a continent that for so many centuries lacked any unity. It is the contest that made the Abba quartet from Sweden an international sensation. It is in some ways the predecessor of American Idol.
It is criticized for being kitschy and lowbrow. But all Europeans can share in it together. And the only other television program that draws more viewers is the World Cup.
Tooji, 24, scored all of seven points versus 372 for the Berber gal.
Fortunately, Tooji has a day job, so he won’t be crushed by his poor showing before an audience of 100 million television viewers. Tooji has completed his studies in child protection and works for the Norwegian agency that deals with children who have troubled lives or troubled families. He says he finds the job challenging and socially important.
You can check out Tooji and Loreen on YouTube. But whatever you do, don’t miss the Babushki!
