Meet Hatari: Iceland's Controversial Entry in This Year's Eurovision Song Contest
Iceland's Eurovision hopefuls Hatari: 'We're the pink elephant in the room' https://t.co/h8U7D7c4Pw
- The Independent (@Independent) March 12, 2019
“Our message is a warning in uncovering the dystopia that is happening in Europe, in America, all over the world” - Matthias Haraldsson of Hatari
The 2019 Eurovision song contest is a controversial one, as it will be held in Tel Aviv, Israel from May 14-18. There were several calls for countries to boycott the long-running international music competition, but no countries ended up officially doing so.
Iceland's entrant into this year's song contest, however, has proven to be quite divisive and is drumming up a great deal of controversy of their own - with some Israeli groups calling for the group to be banned from participating this year over concerns that they are using the contest as a political platform (politics are not allowed at Eurovision - but are always a part of Eurovision).
Hatari have emerged clearly as a fan favourite (although they do have their fair share of haters) with their anti-capitalism message, BDSM inspired stage outfits, sarcastic and trollish sensibilities, and their overall political commentary that seems especially apt given the discussions taking place both globally in a political sense as well as within the frame of Eurovision this year.
Click to viewHATARI'S 2019 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST ENTRY - HATRIÐ MUN SIGRA (TRANSLATION: HATE WILL PREVAIL)
The Independent conducted a great interview with Hatari recently (which you can read, in full, at the source posted above - which OP highly suggests you do!). Below are a few highlights:
Klemens Hannigan: “As soon as people start placing us within a genre, we instinctively react against that in trying to avoid a stamp. We started out with long hair and Mattias screeching, appealing to the metalhead scene. Our participation in Eurovision is yet another experiment.”
Matthias Haraldsson: “You sign up to a contract that says you’re not allowed to be political in the competition, but if anyone thinks they’re going to Tel Aviv without a political message they couldn’t be more wrong. It’s a paradox because all of the songs that make it to that stage will offend the sensibilities of many people by virtue of the context of where the contest is taking place, and the legitimate criticisms many people have.So that in itself is a breach of the Eurovision rules. You can’t go to Tel Aviv and perform on that stage without breaking the rules of Eurovision. That goes for us and everyone else. And you can’t be completely silent about the situation, as the silence in itself is a massive political statement too.”
Click the [cc] button for translated lyrics on their music videos.
Sources: Twitter | YouTube 1 | YouTube 2