Estonian in Italy: Tommy Cash's Espresso Macchiato has caused quite a stir

According to Estonian journalist Ülle Toode, who is head of the Italian Estonian Society (Itaalia Eesti Selts), Tommy Cash's hit "Espresso Macchiato," which earned him a place at Eurovision, has caused quite a stir in Italy. Discussion about Cash's song has been in the Italian news almost every day since he won Eesti Laul.
"My own friends, for the most part, are enjoying the song and saying that we should laugh at life. We have to be able to laugh at ourselves. But of course there are also a lot of more critical voices. For example, there was a very serious controversy on state television RAI, during which a very well-known TV star, Caterina Balivo, accused our Tommy of somehow insulting the Italians," Toode said on ETV show "Terevisioon."
"This controversy really is in the air. Estonia is in the news almost every day now, and I'm sure a lot of Italians are looking at a map to see where Estonia is," she added.
According to Toode, Italians may also be surprised by the way Cash drank an espresso macchiato during his performance on stage.
"Here, it's drunk in these fast-food type places, it's not so connected to the Italian lifestyle. Most Italians never drink it like that. Instead, they go to a coffee bar in the morning, they take the kind of coffee, where the cup is heated or, maybe they take it inside a glass," explained Toode.
"Maybe this is where we should think about how multilayered Tommy Cash's message is. Certainly the Italians are digesting it now. Maybe it hasn't been understood that it's more the Italian-American context, which Tommy is talking about. The language he speaks (in the song -ed.) is not Italian. It is often said that he is speaking poor Italian, but it is in fact the language of Brooklyn and New York, which is largely used by Italians who have emigrated to America. It's worth thinking about the context and his image here," said Toode.
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Editor: Neit-Eerik Nestor, Michael Cole
Source: "Terevisioon," interviewer Liisu Lass