"Interesting" news from Euro-land

Lena, a tiny brunette mad woman, is representing Germany at this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

Nothing out of the ordinary, you might think, except she won the competition last year. Apparently the rules allow it, though, and Lena is the third winner to return to defend her title (but the first to do so in 50 years).

Now, I was quite a fan of Lena's song Satellite when I went out to report on Eurovision last year. I'm even quoted on Lena's Wikipedia page as saying it was "the first contemporary pop hit Eurovision has produced in decades". Well, we all get carried away sometimes.

This year's entry is a very different kettle of water (I don't put fish in my kettle. Makes the tea taste funny). Sparse and trippy, it sees Lena's wispy vocals accompanied by little more than a lone plucked double bass.

The hook line, and title, is Taken By A Stranger, suggesting a lyrical telegraph about Europe's sex trafficking trade. Or it would, if the rest of the lyrics weren't "hey, mind if I take this chair?" repeated over and over again, for no apparent reason. Maybe something got lost in translation.

Lena - Taken By A Stranger


Not a particularly obvious choice for Eurovision. I wonder how it'll fare in Dusseldorf next month?

Tweet