BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — One song generating a lot of froth at the Eurovision Song Contest is “Espresso Macchiato,” a dance-pop ditty by Estonian rapper and visual artist Tommy Cash.
Estonia’s entry in the pan-continental pop competition, which holds its grand final on Saturday in Basel, Switzerland, is a playful dance-pop track that reels off a string of Italian cliches — including references to spaghetti and “sweating like a mafioso” — before a singalong chorus: “Espresso macchiato, macchiato, macchiato.”
The song has some fans singing it in the streets of Basel. But it raised a few eyebrows in Italy, where a consumers’ association branded it offensive and complained to Eurovision organizer the European Broadcasting Union.
Cash said that he’s seen media articles about a backlash, but “I see only the love.”
“Everyone coming to me is like ‘I’m from Italy, you’re a legend there and we’re so happy to have your song,’” he told The Associated Press on Friday amid rehearsals for the Eurovision final.
Cash said that if U.S. singer Sabrina Carpenter can have a hit about espresso in her Grammy Award-winning 2024 hit of that name, he too should be able to sing about coffee.
“She should be singing about Big Gulps,” he joked. As Europeans, “we’re the OGs. (Coffee) originated from Italy.
“The thing is, coffee is for the world,” he said. “Everyone can drink coffee. Americans, Europeans, and this brings us together.”
Italian themes are in vogue at Eurovision this year — another competitor is Italian DJ Gabry Ponte, representing tiny San Marino with “Tutta L’Italia.”
Many Italians have embraced the cheery catchiness of “Espresso Macchiato,” even though most would never dream of adding milk to espresso, widely considering macchiato a tourists’ drink.
“We Italians are nice and we laugh at these things,” said Francesco Malferrari, enjoying an espresso — no milk — in a Rome cafe. “Yes, there are some stereotypes, but we in Italy are used to it, so in reality we smile.
“But this year we have to root for Lucio Corsi,” the glam rocker who is Italy’s Eurovision competitor. “Because we are for Italy, so let’s root for Lucio Corsi. But let’s have an espresso and laugh it off.”
Jill Lawless first covered Eurovision in Athens in 2006, when it was won by masked Finnish metal band Lordi with “Hard Rock Hallelujah.” She has been a fan ever since.
Dario Artale contributed to this story from this Rome.
Tommy Cash from Estonia performs the song "Espresso Macchiato" during the first semi-final of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel, Switzerland, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Tommy Cash from Estonia performs the song "Espresso Macchiato" during the first semi-final of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel, Switzerland, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Tommy Cash from Estonia performs the song "Espresso Macchiato" during the first semi-final of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel, Switzerland, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — Search and recovery teams continued scouring the site of one of India’s worst aviation disasters for a third day after the Air India flight fell from the sky and killed at least 270 people in Gujarat state, officials said Saturday.
The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel in a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff Thursday, killing 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground. One passenger survived.
Recovery teams working until late Friday found at least 25 more bodies in the debris, officials said.
Dr. Dhaval Gameti at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad told The Associated Press the facility had received 270 bodies, adding that the lone surviving passenger was still under observation for some of his wounds.
“He is doing very well and will be ready to be discharged anytime soon,” Gameti said Saturday.
Hundreds of relatives of the crash victims have provided DNA samples at the hospital. Most bodies were charred or mutilated, making them unrecognizable.
Some relatives expressed frustration Saturday that the process was taking too long. Authorities say it normally takes up to 72 hours to complete DNA matching and they are expediting the process.
“Where are my children? Did you recover them?” asked Rafiq Abdullah, whose nephew, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were on the flight. “I will have to ask questions. Government is not answering these questions."
Another relative persistently asked hospital staff when his relative’s body would be handed over to the family for last rites.
“Give us the body,” the relative insisted.
Investigators on Friday recovered the plane's digital flight data recorder, or the black box, which was recovered from a rooftop near the crash site and likely will lead to clues about the cause of the accident.
India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said it had started working with “full force” to extract the data.
The device is expected to reveal information about the engine and control settings, while the voice recorder will provide cockpit conversations, said Paul Fromme, a mechanical engineer with the U.K.-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, a former crash investigator for both the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration, said investigators should be able to answer some important questions about what caused the crash as soon as next week as long as the flight data recorder is in good shape.
Investigators likely are looking at whether wing flaps were set correctly, the engine lost power, alarms were going off inside the cockpit and if the plane’s crew correctly logged information about the hot temperature outside and the weight of the fuel and passengers, Guzzetti said.
Mistakes in the data could result in the wing flaps being set incorrectly, he said.
Thursday’s Air India crash involved a 12-year-old Boeing 787. Boeing planes have been plagued by safety issues on other types of aircraft.
There are currently around 1,200 of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide and this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of operation, according to experts.
Hussain reported from Srinagar, India.
Ratheesh Nair, left, brother of Air India plane crash victim Ranjitha Nair, leaves a hospital after giving his DNA sample to identify his sister's body in Ahmedabad, India, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Salma Rafiq Memon, in white scarf, gestures angrily as she speaks to media personnel while waiting for the bodies of four relatives who died in the Air India plane crash, at a hospital in Ahmedabad, India, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Relatives of the victims, who died in the Air India plane crash, wait outside the DNA collection center at a hospital in Ahmedabad, India, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Onlookers watch wreckage from Thursday's Air India plane crash lying atop a building in Ahmedabad, India, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Ayub sheikh gestures angrily as he waits for the bodies of four relatives who died in the Air India plane crash, at a hospital in Ahmedabad, India, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
