Funny comments are funny – provided they are funny. This is the general idea in the EBU's new battle against too much commentator humbuggery.

Many people most likely remember the stir-up caused by BBC commentator Terry Wogan when during ESC 2001 he, among other things, christened the two hosts 'Dr. Death and the Tooth Fairy' and called the Olsen Brothers, 'those two old geezers'.

This turbulence has now made the EBU initiate a so-called “lex Terry Wogan”.
»I can confirm that the EBU has had a discussion on the commentators' role and functions as well as the problems which their comments during the Eurovision night may arise,« says Jill Paulsson-Gaspare at the EBU.

The concrete result of this discussion is an amendment to the official EBU Eurovision Song Contest rules, which states that, »participating countries' commentators shall respect the fairness of the competition and elude talking during the songs.«

Johnny Logan – the Eurovision icon of them all – made this statement on the hosts to the Estonian ESC paper City Paper; »Many of the hosts who throw mud at the Contest are like eunuchs in a harem. They see it be done every night, but can't do it themselves.«

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