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I love Italy, says Estonian Eurovision entry accused of insulting Italians

Tommy Cash says he did not expect Espresso Macchiato to cause such offence with references to the mafia and coffee

There have been calls in Italy for Tommy Cash’s catchy song, Espresso Macchiato, to be banned from the competition, which takes place in Basel, Switzerland, in May. Codacons, an Italian consumers association, lodged an appeal to the European Broadcasting Union questioning whether it was appropriate “to allow a song that offends a country and an entire community” to be part of the competition. In a statement in February, the association said the song was filled with “the usual cliches of coffee and spaghetti, but above all the mafia and the ostentation of luxury, which conveys a message of a population tied to organised crime.”

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