FOLLOWING the UK's customary demise in the Eurovision Song Contest, there has been an almighty hoo-ha about countries "ganging up" to ensure Blighty and her allies were starved of points - so that one of the most successful entries ever ended up a pitiful seventh.

Not much to shout about, you say. However, it is the song that won that tells us more about Europe than any "nil points".

The shining "innocence" of the girl, coupled with the "sincere" lyrics of the, er, song illustrate perfectly the direction of a "nouvelle moralitM-N" that is creeping through Europe at present.

So, instead of celebrating the bum-wiggling, hip-jiggling, antipodean Rita Heyworth-lookalike, Gina G, it is pseudo-piety that reaps the plaudits.

I know which I think is the honest face of popular culture!

B WOOD (Mr), Preston New Road, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.