The triumph at the Benidorm Fest of the duo Nebulossa with Zorra, which makes them representatives of RTVE in Eurovision, has unleashed cultural wars in Spain among several bands – with even the intervention of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez -, and raised the debate this Monday whether the organizers of the veteran public television musical contest would consider that the lyrics do not conform to the rules of the contest. However, everything remained controversial, because at the end of the day, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), organizer of the festival, confirmed that the song meets the requirements and will be able to participate.

When asked by La Vanguardia, the press service of the Geneva-based organization stated that “the EBU understands that there are many interpretations of the song title” and that “taking into account the intended use in the context of the lyrics and message of the song, as explained to us by RTVE, we have concluded that the song is eligible to participate in this year’s contest.” The staging will be agreed upon later with the producers, as is usual with all countries, they stressed.

The regulations that the EBU has made public for this year’s festival say that “radio and television stations will at all times respect the values ??of the EBU and the Eurovision Song Contest and will take all measures to protect the integrity of the festival and its galas. “They will ensure that no contestant, delegation or country is ever discriminated against or ridiculed.” However, in previous years it had been more specific in the rules and in the Eurovision sphere it is taken for granted that they remain. Thus, in recent editions it pointed out that “no letters, speeches or gestures of a political or similar nature will be allowed,” nor will commercial messages, and “swearing or other unacceptable language will not be allowed in the letters or in the interpretations of the songs.

The couple formed by María Bas (vocalist) and Mark Dasousa (in charge of synthesizer) defend that with their song they appropriate a sexist insult to reconvert it into a symbol of feminine strength. “We have redefined the word bitch,” said Bas in the first press conference after winning the passport to Malmö, the Swedish host city in May of this 68th edition of the festival.

María Eizaguirre, RTVE’s Communications Director, had already said at a press conference that she did not foresee any difficulties in evaluating the Spanish candidacy. “If you look at what is coming in the RAE, the definition is very clear, and it is a song that we understand that the lyrics are totally in accordance with current regulations,” she stated. Among the ten meanings of the word fox/slut that the RAE dictionary includes, in the feminine gender, the “derogatory and rude” meaning (as the Academy says) of prostitute.

The controversy over the Nebulossa song has also taken on political twists and turns in Spain and is fueling the ideological debate. Pedro Sánchez said on Monday in La Sexta that “the fachosphere would have liked to have Cara al sol” and added that “feminism is not only fair but it is fun.”

Meanwhile, several battles are being fought on social networks: those who defend Zorra as a message of female empowerment; that of those who call it vulgar and inappropriate from a conservative perspective; and that of those who – among them, many feminists – warn that the vindictive use of a sexist insult guarantees that sexists continue using it. And there are also those who regret that the anger in Spain about Eurovision focuses on Zorra and not on Israel’s participation in the festival, despite the war in Gaza.

Returning to the Eurovision framework, in terms of lyrics in Eurovision the blood has rarely reached the river, as countries tend to retouch them if they consider that they may cause problems. Thus, the Italian rock band Måneskin, winner of Rotterdam’2021, changed two phrases from their song Zitti e buoni to eliminate two references to male sexual organs: Vi convenient toccarvi i coglioni became Vi convenient non fare più errori, and Non sa di che cazzo parla became Non sa di che cosa parla.

In Spain there is also a precedent, but of a political nature. In 2008, Rodolfo Chikilicuatre sang a modified version of his Baila el chiki chiki to remove allusions to Rodríguez Zapatero and Rajoy; and to the phrase “Why don’t you shut up?” from King Juan Carlos to the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez. In 2009, when Moscow was the host city – when Russia was still participating, before being banned for its military attack on Ukraine – Georgia decided not to go to the festival after the EBU asked it to change the lyrics of its song We Don’t Wanna Put In, which sounded like Putin, the Russian leader.