The Eurovison Song Contest is “disgusting,” “phony,” and “absolutely awful,” according to upcoming Eurovision contestant John Lydon.
The former Sex Pistols frontman trashed the contest on RTE’s Radio 1 just one day after announcing that his band, Public Image Ltd., would be vying to represent Ireland.
“It’s absolutely awful, the songs,” Lydon said (via Metro). “The whole thing of it is disgusting to me. I’m a songwriter, I perform live, and these shows just come across as so dreadfully phony to me.”
He added that he had never watched Eurovision in his life.
“But look, we’re giving it a chance to break out of that mould,” he said, though he had “no idea” how to go about it, and in fact seemed unsure of what would be demanded of him. “Apparently, I have to do karaoke over a backing track,” he said.
Public Image Ltd. will be performing a song called “Hawaii,” which Lydon wrote for his wife, Nora, who is struggling with dementia. “My wife, when she sees this, it’s going to melt her, Alzheimer’s or not,” he said. “It’s the most rewarding thing.”
In November 2022, Keith Levene, an early member of The Clash and founding guitarist of Public Image Ltd, died at the age of 65.
