Eurovision fans in China were thrilled to learn that leading music channel CCTV-15 would broadcast the Eurovision semi-finals and final from October 5 to October 7. But last night, during the re-play of the second semi, they were less keen to learn that the broadcaster had censored Krista Siegfrid’s lesbian kiss.
CHINAESCFANS—the fan source for Eurovision fans in China—reports that CCTV-15 broadcast Krista’s performance of “Marry Me” but completely cut the girl-on-girl kiss that closes the number. That’s sparked outrage among Eurovision fans who just wanted to enjoy the show in its entirity. “Many active Chinese Eurovision Fans, despite of not being gay or lesbian, protested the censorship in the comment of CCTV-15’s official Sina Weibo (a popular twitter alternative of China),” CHINAESCFANS writes. “This censorship does not come as a surprise to us. We think it’s a matter of time before there is tolerance for homosexuality in the world’s most populous country, but it can not be achieved in a single evening.”
Krista Siegfrids, the winner of our 2013 Dana International Award for LGBT Inclusion, spoke out against the network’s decision on Twitter.
The world keeps on censoring the “lesbian kiss” in ESC. Can’t believe how much this world is living in denial! #WAKEUP #marryme
— Krista Siegfrids (@KristaSiegfrids) October 7, 2013
As you’ll recall, Turkey’s state broadcaster pulled its broadcast of the second semi-final as a result of Krista’s kiss in May. This had the unintended effect of bringing even more attention to the issue. Krista’s platform for equal marriage rights just gets bigger and bigger with each controversy, y’all!
The team at wiwibloggs.com applauds CHINAESCFANS for drawing attention to the issue, and Krista Siegfrids for speaking up for the gay community yet again. Let’s hope Chinese officials are listening!
http://youtu.be/JyGsoXyeKzc
You can keep up-to-date on the latest Eurovision news and gossip by following the team on Twitter @wiwibloggs and by liking our Facebook page.
Photo: Eurovision.tv (EBU)
I am sure Krista was more interested in promoting her entry than in marriage equality. Her song was about getting her long term boyfriend to marry her. She threw the kiss in at the Eurovision in concert and got a reaction so decided to include it in her final entry. She got everyone talking about her entry. In the long run it hasn’t changed marriage equality nor did it get her many points in the final.
Turkey DID cancel it because of the lesbian kiss. Jan Ola Sand, head of Eurovision, said so!!!
Why do you keep mentioning that Turkey refused to broadcast the semifinal because of the kiss? TRT had long decided not to broadcast the show, and the kiss had nothing to do with their decision, as several others had mentioned in your previous story: http://wiwibloggs.com/2013/05/16/turkey-cancels-tonights-broadcast-because-of-lesbian-kiss/26760/
Gimmick or not, it takes guts to do that. The fact is Krista DID go around Europe promoting marriage equality before Eurovision and the kiss was a natural extension of that. LOVE HER.
It made for a cute ending. The government censorship is what made it a big deal.
The whole thing around this “incident” is really hyped I think. It was not a “lesbian kiss” – BUT a big gimnick! Look at the whole performance, it was obviously meant to be a bit “tongue in cheek” visually (BUT an “earnest”, good modern pop song musically). It was not some sort of “gay protest”, or some sort of “statement”. Just for fun. People put FAR more into this, that it was ever intended to be!