Vue lecture

Eurovision has faced political boycotts before – how does the latest compare?

Par :Philip Oltermann European culture editor

5 décembre 2025 à 16:52

Decision by four countries to pull out over Israel’s inclusion is significant for the contest but crisis may not be existential

The decision by four European broadcasters to boycott next year’s Eurovision over Israel’s inclusion is undoubtedly a watershed moment in the 70-year history of the song contest.

One of the few genuinely popular, non-elitist and pan-European cultural events will be without Spain, one of the “big five” nations in terms of financial contributions; Ireland, which has won the contest more times than any other country bar Sweden; the Netherlands, a 1956 founding member; and Slovenia, symbolic of the EU’s eastward enlargement.

‘Embodying the zeitgeist more than ever’: German sitcom character Stromberg revived for Merz era

The Guardian

Par :Philip Oltermann European culture editor

4 décembre 2025 à 06:00

New film is based on TV series inspired by The Office, whose lead character is said to resemble the chancellor

He’s the middle-manager who talks as if he’s the CEO, a beacon of workplace inclusivity in his own head but a bigoted chauvinist as soon as he opens his mouth. And listening to him creates a mix of familiarity and embarrassment-by-proxy that turns out to be surprisingly pleasurable.

Ricky Gervais’s cringe-making general manager of a soul-destroyingly dull Slough-based paper merchant stopped being a regular presence on British TV over two decades ago, but the many comedic characters that he spawned across the globe have outlived him.