We really don't think traveling to any country just to visit their brothels is particularly cool, but we did learn something amazing about sex tourism this week: it's worth a lot of money.

According to some Serbian "experts," in quite-near-by Bulgaria, the semi-legalized prostitution industry (other experts say it's illegal, so we don't know who to believe) brings in €1.8 billion ($2.5 billion) a year – and that's a whopping 7.2% of the country's GDP. They don't say quite how much of that cash comes from tourists, but they sure imply that it's a lot.

These same experts are proposing that brothels get legalized in Serbia, so that the country can rake in all the profits of sex tourism. They make the case that "foreigners associated Serbia with pretty women in general," so it would be easy to promote it as a destination for, well, a bit of night-time fun. Call us prudes, but we'll stick to visiting Serbia for its retro communist supermarkets and Rocky Balboa statues.

Related Stories:
· Serbia Should Follow Bulgaria Prostitution, Sex Tourism Model [No Invite]
· Germany Cracking Down On Recession-Friendly Brothel "Flat Rates" [Jaunted]
· Sex Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: jotor] ]]> amandak 2009-08-20T09:19:38-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/7/10/105057/441

Do not try this at home, even though Lily Allen definitely was far from home when she did it. While leaving Serbia after performing at the Exit Festival this week, the "Smile" singer got "bored at Belgrade airport" and hopped onto the X-ray machine at airport security.

Looking at the photo of the stunt, we say that Lily is lucky she pulled this in Belgrade because it would not be tolerated in the US or Europe, unless she's perhaps headed out of a private hangar with a TSA staff with a sense of humor. But since we know that TSA staff with senses of humor don't exist, Lily better keep her airport antics limited to the former Yugoslavia.

Now Lily heads to Dublin for the Oxegen Festival, and we continue following her as one of the most irreverent travel twitters out there.

Related Stories:
· Lily Allen's Twitter [Twitter]
· Airport Photo Shoots Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: TwitPic]]]> JetSetCD 2009-07-10T12:14:18-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/3/5/121752/7309

Oh, goodie! Someone has resurrected the sparse and depressing concept of a Communist-era supermarket in Belgrade. Everyone, off to Serbia! Inside of what was the first discount supermarket in Communist Yugoslavia, a Belgrade design firm has arranged various relics of cold war life and reopened the space as a concept shop.

With repurposed refrigerators, a VW bus, whole hospital examination rooms, and even bathroom doors ripped from a derelict freight elevator, the ReMiks Supermarket reinterprets the ascetic aesthetics of the "Golden Years of Communism" in order to show off spectacularly designed consumer products for modern living. Cracked cement floors and white warehouse lights dominate the space, in order to serve as an "imperfect background for the educated consumers' perfect fetishes." Sounds naughty!]]> JetSetCD 2009-03-05T13:56:15-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/27/61517/6036

We're shattered that Eurovision is over for another year, and it's lucky we had an extra long weekend so we could get over the disappointment of geriatric rapper 75 Cents and his crew not winning.

We did predict, though, that good-looking Russian candidate Dima Bilan had a good chance, and now we wish we'd put some money on it: He and his nation raced away with a more than 40 point victory over Ukraine.

We're also a bit disappointed that the Latvian entry slipped under our radar until grand final night, because we would have liked to show them some support. For reasons surely known only to them, they entered a pirate song! And we loved it. Roll on Eurovision 2009. We'll see ya in Moscow.

Related Stories:
· The Eurovision Grand Finale [Jaunted]
· Turkeys (And Singers) to Watch at Eurovision [Jaunted]]]> amandak 2008-05-27T08:50:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/23/62137/1315

The excitement of Eurovision, coming out of Belgrade this year, is coming to climax tomorrow: The semi-finals are all over and we know that quite a few of our favorites have bitten the dust.

We were keen on the invented-language magic of Belgium, but the band Ishtar got knocked out. We've also made no secret of our crush on Ireland's turkey; he didn't make it either.

Depending on who you listen to, the favorites might now be Sweden's Charlotte Perrelli who's singing a song called "Hero," or it might be a 75-year-old Croatian rapper. The French are probably hoping, though, that their electro-pop singer doesn't win because it's a national scandal that he's singing in English.

We're of course behind the geriatric rapper 75 Cents. (Real name!)

Related Stories:
· Favourites Through to Eurovision Final [AFP]
· We Heart Dustin the Turkey [Jaunted]
· Eurovision 2008: Bringing Belgium Together [Jaunted]

[Photo: Eurovision]]]> amandak 2008-05-23T09:15:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/20/105732/304

The semi-finals for oddly captivating song contest Eurovision happen tonight in Belgrade, and Belgian group Ishtar will be doing their track "O Julissi." Written in a made up language, composer Michel Vangheluwe says it was inspired by the happiness of childhood. But we suspect the song might have more than a little something to do with the constant tension between his homeland's French- and Flemish-speaking halves.

On the eve of his group's performance, Vangheluwe told the BBC:

Language nowadays can be a political issue, but it shouldn't. Music is something that brings people together and whatever language you sing in, you get the message and that's the most important thing.

As it happens, "O Julissi" isn't the first contest song featuring invented language. In 2003, another Belgian act, Urban Trad, took second place with "Sanomi." Check out that video after the jump.]]> pbb 2008-05-20T11:01:03-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/16/42324/5813

The weirdness that is the Eurovision Song Contest is almost upon us. On Tuesday, the first semi-final will run, and the second one follows on Thursday, when the list of the 25 finalist countries will be ready.

The big event itself is on Saturday May 24, and if it's not screening on a TV near you, don't panic because you can watch online. And if you're living or vacationing in Europe, you can take part in the voting, too.

Eurovision--the contest that brought us ABBA--is full of controversy this year. You can't vote for your own country, but many believe some neighboring countries vote for each other regardless of the quality of the song, so this year they've split these neighbors over the two semi-finals to help fix this problem.

There's also the question of whether some nations are taking the contest seriously or not. While Russia is sending its serious singing sweetheart Dima Bilan, pictured, Ireland is sending a turkey. For us viewers, it's simply serious fun, so don't forget to tune in and see the Bosnian singer who takes his chicken on stage.

Related Stories:
· Eurovision 2008 [Official Site]
· We Heart Dustin the Turkey [Jaunted]
· Eurovision coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Eurovision]]]> amandak 2008-05-16T09:15:01-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/