Forget the Fury vs Usyk fight on May 18. When it comes to boxing, the two big attractions this month — for LGBTQ people at least — are this Saturday.
Out and proud Welsh star Lauren Price will hope to become a world champion when she takes on Jessica McCaskill in Cardiff.
Meanwhile, in Malmo, Sweden, on the same night, it’s the Eurovision Song Contest — and the U.K. entry this year promises to be a sweatbox of delights for the gays.
Photos of Olly Alexander in rehearsal have provided a first glimpse of the staging for “Dizzy” and it’s sending fans gaga.
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Actually you might say it’s less Gaga, more Christina. Remember Miss Aguilera gyrating with her fellow dancers between the ring ropes in the iconic 2002 video for “Dirrty”?
Yes, this banger is sports-themed too! The official blurb says Olly’s performance “transports viewers into a post-apocalyptic dystopian boxing gym locker room, aboard a spaceship hurtling toward Earth through a black hole in 1985!”
The color palette of black, white and ruby red is used throughout, from grimy gym tiles and showerheads to the groin guards and satin shorts worn by the hunky boxers who circle Olly before doing push-ups atop each other.
As for the song, the BBC describes it as “Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’ by way of The Pet Shop Boys.” While it doesn’t quite deliver a knockout punch, it definitely goes the distance.
The bookies seem to agree, with most pricing Olly at odds that would see him make the top 10 on Saturday night. Before that, there are midweek semifinals to whittle down the 37 songs before Saturday, with the U.K. one of the “Big Five” nations guaranteed to be in the Grand Final along with hosts Sweden.
Olly is among eight out LGBTQ entries this year. One of them — Switzerland’s Nemo, who is nonbinary — is the second favorite, behind Baby Lasagna of Croatia, who ticks all the traditional Eurovision-winning boxes of being bold, brash and a bit bonkers.
Worth a listen and a look in my opinion is “Luktelk” — which translates as “Hold On” — by Lithuania’s Silvester Belt, who is bisexual. It’s a thumping house track with lyrics about feeling like you’re in limbo, influenced by the homophobia Belt experienced while struggling with his sexuality in his teens.
Eurovision is often likened to a major international sports event, replete with much of the politics and controversies of competing nations.
Israel has been included in the contest for over 50 years but campaigning groups such as “Queers for Palestine” have been calling for a boycott and putting pressure on artists like Olly Alexander to pull out.
It all adds to a even greater sense of unpredictability this year. And if you’re thinking that none of this really counts as sports, may I point you back to that aforementioned Fury vs Usyk fight, which it won’t surprise you is being held in Saudi Arabia.
The multi-million dollar boxing match is getting in on the act with its own official song, titled “Can’t Lose This Fight.” It’s had over 8m views on YouTube.
If you can get past the grim irony of lyrics “blood, sweat, tears, dripping from my eyes” being used to promote a box-office bout in one of the most barbarous countries on earth, it’s an enjoyably upbeat blast of pop that wouldn’t feel out of place at Eurovision.
The admittedly excellent cartoon video does have a shower scene but that’s about as homoerotic as it gets.
So if you do fancy something a little steamier, be sure to get out your scorecard and stream “Dizzy” this week.
