Dana International – Diva

This weekend the BBC aired a 60th anniversary Eurovision celebration concert where previous champions performed their winning entries. Transgender pop star Dana International sang her 1998 winner, Diva. You’ll note that audience appears to be overwhelmingly male. Ahem. The full show is here, but may not last long.

RELATED:  There was a minor gay rights skirmish during the show when host Graham Norton had to reintroduce Russia’s 2008 winner due to strong booing from the crowd.

The jeers from the crowd were aimed at Russia’s encroaching anti-gay laws rather than Dima Bilan, who has voiced his opposition to legislation and previously signed an open letter condemning the government’s actions. “There was indeed a lot of booing from the crowd when Graham and Petra initially introduced the Russian act Dima Bilan,” a BBC spokesperson told Pink News. The spokesperson explained that Graham had talked directly to the audience and told them the concert was “not a competition” and said “we are here to support all the acts, so be nice”. “Once Graham had addressed the crowd the introduction was re-shot, Dima was cheered and welcomed to the stage, got a great reception and put in a top performance which was broadcast [on the] night.” The Independent’s music critic, who was also at the concert, noted that Graham told the audience, “You can boo in Vienna [this year’s host city], you can boo at home, but not here.”

The BBC edited out the first introduction.