Hats and hay in the land of Europe

[koganbot]

Xhuxk asked this question on Rolling Country:

though countryish schlager songs are all over those '70s comps that I write about on that other thread, is such music still being made now?

I confused matters by claiming that cowboy hats are an "ongoing trope on Eurovision," by which I meant I'd seen a Texas Lightning vid and someone else's vid, that for me qualifying as an "ongoing trope" (not that this has anything to do with schlager, necessarily). But for all I know cowboy hats are an ongoing trope, as I tend not to see many of the Eurovision entries.

So, any of you have knowledge of (1) cowboy hats on Eurovision, (2) countryish schlager music that postdates the 1970s, (3) Europop that's country, or at least dresses like it, or (4) what country music and/or cowboy hattage there is in general on the continent? I've heard a track or two by Jill Johnson, not much else other than Texas Lightning and whatever that other band was.

Comments

[chuckeddy.livejournal.com]

For reference (Frank knows this but you might not), I've been beating most of the above questions to death in the last couple weeks on these two ILM threads (by asking them over and over again, in as many different ways as occur to me; I have not the slightest idea myself what answers to them might be):

Thread about German K-Tel compilations from the '70s:

http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=68741

Thread about country music in 2009:

http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=68321#unread

Euro-hoedown, you say?

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=op01FpEo4TQ

(can't find the original video anywhere, I think they've all been taken down by their label)