What can Eurovision teach us about the spread of ideologies across borders?
History of Eurovision
Eurovision is a song contest held in Europe each year. Porter (2019) explains that ‘the Eurovision Song Contest began in the 1950s by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU.) The contest began as a positive way to foster national pride and friendly competition.
(Porter 2019) suggests, that the very first Eurovision contest began in 1956 in Switzerland, Lugano. Although only seven countries competed, it was the longest-running television program in the world. Studies outline that, ‘it was the most watched non-sporting event with about 125 million tuning in each year’ (Porter 2019.) Essentially, Eurovision was ‘intended to display the unity of people’ (Hensher 2017.)
Winners of the Eurovision song contest 1956-2017
The Eurovision contest works by after a series of semi-finals, each country performs live on television followed by voting. The requirements for the contest are that ‘all vocals must be sung live, songs cannot be longer than three minutes, only six people are allowed on stage and live animals are banned’ (Porter 2019.)
The competition has been a platform for well-known performers including, ABBA, Celine Dion, and Julio Iglesias.
Eurovision has a lot to teach us about the spread of ideologies across borders. Each country performers in English or their own language, bringing a diverse range of ideas, and ideals through their performance. Ultimately, different countries have different ideologies and set of norms. Through this song contest viewers are able to learn about other countries ideologies and share their own.
(The Conversation 2015) establish in their article that, in 2014, Austria won the contest hosting rights, with their victory performed by Conchita Wurst, a bearded drag queen whose song, ‘Rise Like A Phoenix’ dominated the voting system.
Wurst’s performance ‘had no political message, her performance was automatically politicised by her drag persona, and the jarringly masculine presence of her beard against the delicacy of her build and the exquisitely applied makeup’ (The Converstion 2015.)
Essentially, this shows how her performance stood out and sent a message across borders of Europe and countries outside of Europe of equality and fairness.
In 1998 Dana international, a transgender representative for Israel, won the contest with her song Diva. However, The Conversation (2015,) establish that, the contest prior to this performance was not open to queer audiences in its camp spectacular.
The contest has however developed over time. Its popularity amongst LGBTI communities worldwide is now an acknowledeged feature of the contest. Studies suggest that, ‘the themes of equality, diversity and tolerance have gained increasing traction in the politics of Eurovision’ (The Conversation 2015,)
The official European Broadcasting Union sanctions against overtly politicised lyrics and performances, messages about diversity, tolerance and acceptance have been coded into many Eurovision entries.
The founders of Eurovision had the intention of bringing diverse countries of Europe together in two ways. The first was ‘to enable a simultaneous live broadcast across national borders- an immense challenge in an age before satellite’ (Hensher 2017.) The second being ‘to bring different cultures together in a celebration of light entertainment’ (Hensher 2017.)
Ultimately, Eurovision explores formats of ‘cultural proximity’. ‘Cultural proximity’ refers to when audiences prefer their own language and culture in the media, or secondarily, the media of similar cultures. Through popular online social platform twitter, the hashtag #eurovision is trending each year. Through this online platform audiences from around the world communicate and share their say about the performances, especially the ones that have communicated equality.
References
Hensher, P 2017, ‘Have we lost our Eurovision? What the contest means in today’s Europe,’ The Guardian, no.1, viewed 22nd August 2019,
Porter, E 2019, ‘What is Eurovision?,’ tripsavvy, no. 1 viewed 22nd August 2019
<https://www.tripsavvy.com/what-is-eurovision-1519907>
The Conversation 2015, ‘A song to unite? The gender politics of Eurovision still divide,’ The Conversation, no. 1, viewed 22nd August 2019,
<https://theconversation.com/a-song-to-unite-the-gender-politics-of-eurovision-still-divide-41754>
Dejana Ristic 