Europe's top song contest gets a little more European-sounding

Long before the French duo Madame Monsieur utter the first verse of their piece “Mercy” at Saturday’s Eurovision contest, their entry will have already won France itself a victory of sorts.

Perhaps not for best song – the top prize in the world’s longest-running, and most flamboyant, annual TV music competition. But definitely on the linguistic front: one of the many social, cultural, and political battles that simultaneously course through the 63-year-old event.

In a contest dominated by the English language, despite the participation of dozens of nations outside the Anglosphere, only 30 of 43 competing nations (or 70 percent) will offer English lyrics this

'English is losing importance in Europe''English might be the best compromise'