Weāre still more than two months out from the Eurovision Song Contest final on May 26, but with all of the 42 participating countries now having picked their national crooning representatives, the jockeying to see who can become Europeās newest pop/schlock royalty has begun.
And speaking of Jockeys, blessed France has just released the sizzling official video for āEcho (You and I),ā its 2012 Eurovision entry (above). 
The clip is hyped up on homoerotics, with a pack of incredibly hot military men whoāwhen not whistling, sewing and making out with each other through their gas masksāenjoy just hanging out together in their tighty-whities. (As reader Tomer points out, the male lead here is Israeli model Yonatan Wegman.)
Oh yeah, the singerās pretty smokinā too: Sheās 37-year-old Indonesian-born AnggunĀ (left), whoās been charting across Europe and Asia for a decade and a half.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
āEcho,ā which actually begins after a 45-second bit featuring none other than gay god Jean Paul Gaultier, is pretty dang good, especially as Eurovision songs go.
If the gays have anything to say about it (which in this realm, they always do), France and Anggun will do well in the May final.
Ready for more Eurovision? Never fear, yours truly is a shameless aficionado whoāll be bringing you all sorts of Euro-ridiculousness in the weeks to come.
Images via YouTube and Ueli Frey
Frank
Hot guys…weird song….c’est simplemet bizarre
Tomer
it’s Israeli model Jonathan Wogman
Tavdy79
I haven’t even heard my nation’s offering (I’m British) nor have I bothered to listen to the French one yet, but I already know the Frogs will thrash les Rosbifs hands down – we’ve chosen Engelbert Humberdinck as our singer. WTF?
Adrian
The tone in her voice reminds me a little of Annie Lennox.
RJM
Love the gasmask kiss at 3:11 š
file
i like it
AladinSane
Can’t believe a woman capable of doing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXtAMGwUqgM has been reduced to this tripe.
Dan Allen
@Tomer: Right you are about Yonatan, thanks for the info… link added above.
Paul
GREAT to see Anggun again and that’s she’s enjoying success! She was much more fab to watch than the boys! Shame she’s not more popular in the US.
Belize
@AladinSane: Oh my God. I’ve completely forgotten about that performance.Thank you. š
AladinSane
@Belize: Anytime. It was hard for me to believe they were one and the same person. One has passion and talent, the other a dance beat… :p
Brink
@AladinSane: I know this song seems to be passionless, unfortunately this is the type that seems to capture todays youth .. sad but truth . anyways I still feel a sense of pride for anggun, because even though this song is a little bit generic, she still has meaning when she wrote it .. but you should listen to her new album “echoes” it will show you just how genuine and versatile she is as an artist. Full of talent this woman š Her album luminescence was a hit .. it shouldve been released in the US š would have done wonders!
J Ascher
Good video and song! For some reason, when the soldiers starting coming down the assembly line, I thought it was something out of a Doctor Who episode!
bobito
@AladinSane: Wow! thanks for posting that, really! Always loved Bowie, but never heard this cover. She’s wonderful.
Sistercylon
That is a terrible song.
Adrian
I’ve been a fan of Anggun for over a decade, yes she’s done other better things, but this is good stuff, especially, you know, for Eurovision.
Worry not, she still has that passion and talent : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl9kscuuV6o – and her latest album, Echoes, is quite alt-rock (!) leaning. This woman is seriously versatile in her music – one minute she does dance-pop, one minute she plays the piano singing ballads. She’s amazing. I hope she’ll find more success and recognition with the new album.
James
The Russians aren’t going to like this…
Scott Rose
Que fait le cochon la-dedans?
NormdePlume
Let me save you some time. Start around 1:30; Stop around 2:30ish
kiltfan
@Tavdy79: Our entry this year is very credible indie artist called Molly with a song called ‘Children of the Universe’. We will definatly get 12 points from Ukraine as one of the repeated lyrics is ‘Power to the people’. This is the link to her page on the official Eurovision site with a video of the song:
http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/year/participant-profile/?song=31363
I like it a lot.