Music Monday
Is it too early to talk about Eurovision 2026?
The short answer is “yes”. The other answer is, “Not if you heard the news that Canada is floating the idea of gaining entry into the contest.”
Wait! Canada isn’t in Europe!
Neither is Australia but according to the rules, “Participation in Eurovision is open to public service broadcasters that are members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)”, which means, if you are a public service broadcaster and you are accepted into the union…
Okay it’s not that easy. The broadcaster in question does have to put on a song contest to choose a national winner. Which is great news because just this week the Government of Canada released their budget which includes money to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)—which happens to be the country’s public broadcaster—to explore that option.
The other fact that has no relevance is that Canada actually shares a border with Europe.
Hans Island, which lies halfway between Greenland and Elsmere Island, has been disputed territory between the two countries. Since a ruling that granted it to Denmark lapsed in 1973, it was left out of the redrawn border. It wasn’t until 1984 that the Danish Minister for Greenland landed on the island and left a a bottle of schnapps and a a sign that read, “Welcome to Denmark.”
Not to be outdone, the Canadian Navy countered with a bottle of whiskey, and “The Whiskey War” was on. For 38 years bottles were removed and replaced with each country’s offering until 2022 when it was decided the war was over as the two countries resolved a decades-long territorial dispute by agreeing to divide the island, allocating approximately 60% to Greenland (part of the Kingdom of Denmark) and 40% to Canada.
Since it is still unknown whether the absconded bottles were opened and enjoyed—although one might argue it is no possible to enjoy schnapps—the war is considered the only one fought without a single shot.
Pun definitely intended.
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
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