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I was wondering whether other countries have this, or is it an exclusively Croatian phenomenon.
On July 17th Croatian pop/rock/folk singer Marko Perkovic "Thompson" filled a soccer stadium and held a concert.
Few local stars can draw such a crowd (more than 40 000 people). I can only think of two actually. Stadiums are usually used only by global superstars like The Rolling Stones or U2 when they come here.
The concert (I attended) was basically a celebration of patriotism and nationalism in various forms. Some commentators have called it a "pagan spring ritual". While Thompson sang about tradition, family and loyalty in politically correct terms there were also more extreme "views" in the audience with some attendees donning fascist insignia and crowds occasionaly doing the Roman salute and chanting slurs about other ethnic groups.
Thompson is denounced as a xenophobe and a nazi sympathiser by various foreign and domestic organizations but those protests fall on deaf ears as he continues to sell out his concerts.
My questions for you are:
1) Does your country have a comparable pop icon? Someone who basically makes money singing nationalist songs?
2) If not, why not? There's always a market for that.
3) Should this guy be banned? There are attempts to do so. He certainly is provocative. His albums and public appearances are "clean" but he was caught singing some ugly song of the "kill the Serbs" variety on some wedding years ago.
A sample:
On July 17th Croatian pop/rock/folk singer Marko Perkovic "Thompson" filled a soccer stadium and held a concert.
Few local stars can draw such a crowd (more than 40 000 people). I can only think of two actually. Stadiums are usually used only by global superstars like The Rolling Stones or U2 when they come here.
The concert (I attended) was basically a celebration of patriotism and nationalism in various forms. Some commentators have called it a "pagan spring ritual". While Thompson sang about tradition, family and loyalty in politically correct terms there were also more extreme "views" in the audience with some attendees donning fascist insignia and crowds occasionaly doing the Roman salute and chanting slurs about other ethnic groups.
Thompson is denounced as a xenophobe and a nazi sympathiser by various foreign and domestic organizations but those protests fall on deaf ears as he continues to sell out his concerts.
My questions for you are:
1) Does your country have a comparable pop icon? Someone who basically makes money singing nationalist songs?
2) If not, why not? There's always a market for that.
3) Should this guy be banned? There are attempts to do so. He certainly is provocative. His albums and public appearances are "clean" but he was caught singing some ugly song of the "kill the Serbs" variety on some wedding years ago.
A sample:
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