"I don't care. I thought it was fun." Peter Tagtgren dismisses plagarism accusations against Croatia's Eurovision entry Baby Lasagna

(Image credit: Per Ole Hagen/Redferns/Getty Images/Martin Sylvest Andersen/Getty Images)

Eurovision loves a bit of rock and metal, these days. From Blind Channel to Voyager, Bambie Thug to 2021 contest winners Måneskin, the pop competition has hosted more than a few breakthrough artists in recent years.

But one of the entries from the 2024 competition has caused raised eyebrows when music fans noticed some glaring similarities between their song and a recent metal single. Croatia's Baby Lasagna has been accused of ripping off Swedish industrial metallers Pain with his entry Rim Tim Tagi Dim bearing more than a passing resemblance to Pain's Party In My Head.

The video below explores the similarities between the songs.

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But Pain frontman Peter Tägtgren has publicly dismissed any notion of plagarism. Speaking to Tonela Magazine, Tägtgren admitted he "didn't even hear [it] at first" but isn't too fussed about the similarities.

"People were, like, 'Oh, I think Croatia stole your song,' blah, blah, blah," he says. "I was, like, 'What? I don't hear it.' I just hear 'woo hoo hoo' [in the chorus], but you hear 'woo hoo hoo ' in I Love It Loud with KISS since '81 or whatever. So, for me, I was fine with that. And then, actually, our bass player explained, 'Well, he has the same kind of figure of singing.' Whatever. I don't care. I thought it was fun!"

Tägtgren also goes on to say that he's happy to see metal in the Eurovision spotlight. "I think it's good that they put in a little bit metal in this Eurovision thing like they did with the Lordi 15 years ago," he acknowledges. "When you get it right, it gets popular. So people want more metal."

Baby Lasagna ultimately finished second in the competition, winning the televote with 337 points and giving Croatia it's highest ever placing in the competition. Speaking to Wiwibloggs ahead of the competiton, Baby Lasagna - real name Marko Purišić - said the song was inspired by German industrial metallers Rammstein.

"Rammstein all the way!" he says. "When I first started, the first riff, I wanted [Rim Tim Tagi Dim] to sound like a Rammstein riff."

Watch the full interview with Peter Tägtgren below. Pain's latest album I Am is out now via Nuclear Blast.

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Staff writer for Metal Hammer, Rich has never met a feature he didn't fancy, which is just as well when it comes to covering everything rock, punk and metal for both print and online, be it legendary events like Rock In Rio or Clash Of The Titans or seeking out exciting new bands like Nine Treasures, Jinjer and Sleep Token.