The Estrada competition, which will be won by the one who assimilates the best
Who will be Miss Brexit? The one who abandons her nature and replaces "honesty with etiquette". Do you want to stay in Britain? Act like the Brits in the media, but not the way they behave in real life.
This parody of musical theatre, which features live music, presents musical theatre students in London, none of whom are native Brits. Over the course of the show we learn the details of their varied, always interesting, and witty interests and traditions from their respective homelands. During the show there are notes from a keyboard, flute, and guitar.
Although the whole format of the show was Anglo-centric, each contestant had a musical performance in their native language. Thus, different languages are heard: French, Italian, Portuguese, Slovak, Spanish, but the meaning of their words remains hidden to the viewer because the subtitles deliberately did not translate these languages. All the lyrics were given in the original. The London dialect of cockney was heard, as a specific kind of language spoken by British 'natives'.
At the same time, we also learn how the contestants are chasing their glamourous dream of living in England. Watching the contestants, their diverse backgrounds and traditions, perhaps reveals that Britain itself lacks an identity. Meal deal, fish and chips, queen's queue, pouring tea, or Big Ben. Are these real traditions or touristy knockoffs? Are they not remnants of what is, in the end, a mere ornament, Britain simulating itself? So what really constitutes the identity of the United Kingdom? Let's hope it's not just this exploitation of foreign cultures and their absorption by the great hegemon called Britain.
