'Ukraine’s 2022 victory — with its on-stage shout-out to the defenders of Azovstal — hardly derived from its musical quality alone' (Patricia J. Garcinuno/Getty Images)
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As the protests in Malmo over Israel’s inclusion in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, like the anguished defences of taking part by British and Irish contestants show, the kitschy spectacle is an inherently geopolitical format. In the interests of fairness then, should Palestine, like its neighbour Israel, enter Eurovision?
It is difficult to imagine a coherent argument against it on cultural grounds: after all, one of the arguments Israel’s supporters currently find most objectionable is that Israelis (most of whom are now descended from Middle Eastern Jewish refugees) “really” belong in Europe. In fact, the question is not technically a cultural one: as Palestine is not a member of the European Broadcasting Union, it is not eligible to join. Yet all the other Arab states neighbouring Europe are EBU members, and free to take part if they wish to: Morocco’s 1980 entry was — so far — the only Eurovision entry to be performed in Arabic, while Lebanon only withdrew its planned 2005 entry once the state broadcaster realised it would not be permitted to censor Israel’s performance. But that the question immediately asserts itself as a cultural one — a drawing of borders between our European home, and outsiders — reaches to the very heart of the contest’s meaning.
The Eurovision Song Contest, after all, was first performed in neutral Switzerland just 11 years after its contestants had finished ripping the continent apart in a war from which it has never recovered. Indeed, the first Eurovision took place a year before the Treaty of Rome establishing the European Community. Explicitly intended as a means to unite a shattered Europe in a continent-spanning shared cultural event, it is directly analogous to Nasser’s contemporaneous use of the new transistor radio and popular music to inculcate a shared sense of national identity across the Arab world. The Eurovision Song Contest, in its construction and reification of a shared European cultural space, is, like the growth of print media in the New World which underlay Benedict Anderson’s influential (and widely misunderstood) thesis on the origins of nationalism, a European “imagined community”. That it is tasteless kitsch is not an argument against this interpretation: all nationalism is kitsch to various degrees, more apparent to the external observer than to the dewy-eyed devotee.
It is a commonly held truism that Eurovision’s point-awarding mechanism owes as much to ethnic and political rivalries and solidarities as it does the quality of the songs themselves: Britain’s infamous 2003 nul points was widely, and perhaps correctly, interpreted as a reaction to the Iraq War, while Ukraine’s 2022 victory — with its on-stage shout-out to the defenders of Azovstal — hardly derived from its musical quality alone. When Britain hosted the 2023 contest on Ukraine’s behalf, it was a diplomatic message from the top about our nation’s commitment to the Ukraine War.
Equally, when Spain chose to enter an Argentine tango for the 1982 contest, held in Britain at the height of the Falklands War, it was a campy diplomatic snub. Eurovision and Europe’s volatile politics are deeply intertwined: Portugal’s 1974 performance was the signal for the military coup sparking the Carnation Revolution against its Catholic-authoritarian Estado Novo government, while the ageing Franco is alleged to have bribed the judges of the 1968 contest to win Spain glory and lessen the isolation of his regime. Israel’s 2000 entry — which came at a time when Israeli liberals hoped Bashar al-Assad’s assumption of power in Syria might lead to peace between the two countries — featured the performers wearing Arab keffiyehs and singing about their lover in Damascus, and waving Syrian flags on stage. The Israeli government withdrew all support for the entry, which flopped: when they flew back to Israel, the singer was spat on at Ben-Gurion airport.
That Britain, on the whole, does not take the contest seriously may tell us more about Britain’s attitude to Europe than it does the contest. Academics of nationalism and cultural identity have increasingly begun to focus on Eurovision as an object of detailed study, while it is in Europe’s east and south-east — the New Europe that has shifted the Union’s centre of political gravity eastward and, unintentionally, towards confrontation with Russia — that themes of culture and identity have come to predominate.
Consider the case of Yugoslavia, whose Eurovision history prefigured its collapse and reconfiguration into a cluster of stable ethnostates and unstable multiethnic protectorates. An early Eurovision participant — a means to symbolise Tito’s distance from the Eastern Bloc and openness towards the West — the former Yugoslavia came to rely on Croatian songwriters for its winning entries: the music of the former Habsburg lands was seen as more acceptably European than the exotic-sounding Balkan melodies of formerly Ottoman-ruled Serbia. When Yugoslavia hosted the contest in 1990 in Croatia’s Zagreb, the TV host announced to the world that, like an orchestra, the country was made up of many different parts which came together in a harmonious whole. Yet Yugoslavia’s diversity was not, in the end, its strength: neither Croatia nor Slovenia, Bosnia nor the Kosovars would send forward a contestant to the Belgrade heats the following year, as Yugoslavia collapsed into bloody civil war.
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SubscribeIf Eurovision has indeed become a carnival of nationalism – I’ve never seen it and have no expectation I ever will – it’s only following the well worn path of the Olympics, both summer & winter, and assorted other sporting competitions. All it needs to hit the biggest nationalist notes is endemic and flagrant cheating. Has it ever had a singer fail a drug test?
My thoughts exactly. I don’t follow the Eurovision contest as I live in the US. But I have watched the Olympics over the years as US television coverage has devolved into a triumphalist celebration of US athletic performance to the exclusion of all else. It is rare now to see any attention given to non-US athletes, and if the event has few US contestants or is not likely to result in a US medal, you can pretty much forget about seeing any coverage. It’s become just a massive flag-waving event for the US self-image and that makes it very boring if you are actually interested in the athletics.
Maybe, once upon a time, the modern Olympic games included a celebration of international friendship. But those days are gone, sadly. Now, from the US side of it, the Olympics are all about winning medals, who has more medals, and who has more gold. I just can’t watch it any more.
A friend of mine who moved to the USA from the UK in the 1980’s couldn’t believe the coverage of the Olympics which pretty much is how you describe it, very nationalistic. I saw it for myself in 2000 when a trip to see friends coincided with the 2000 Sydney Olympics. I was watching one medal ceremony in which the USA had taken Gold , silver and bronze. The flags flew as the athletes received their medals. My friend, who is one of the least nationalistic Americans I know, turned to me beaming and asked ‘If you could live in any country in the world apart from the UK, where would you live?’ France, I replied.
“Britain’s infamous 2003 nul points was widely, and perhaps correctly, interpreted as a reaction to the Iraq War…”
This was always a self-important bs excuse. It was obviously due to the first verse and chorus being sung painfully off-key in the Grand Final. Go watch it for yourselves.
True, that was an awful performance, but in general it is still political. The only time the UK has done well in recent years (to my recall anyway, I don’t usually watch it) was following the support of Ukraine.
The worst British entry was when we tried rap. The song was called Love City Groove and it was cringeworthy.
Our singers may not be up to much, but I reckon we’ve got the best TV presenters for the show.
It’s all so wrong – an article in danger of taking Eurovision seriously …
I was never too sure quite why Israel were in Eurovision anyway (the clue’s in the title). But then they let Australia in …
Are you struggling with the concept that anyone country which is a member of the EBU can field an entrant?
I’m going for Daz Sampson as an exceptional low point.
Our entries are different to most of the other countries in that our musical alphabet is at heart American. The European entries lean more heavily into their own musical traditions and have no pathological fear of a minor key.
I think Ollie’s dismal effort was worse.
“as Palestine is not a member of the European Broadcasting Union, it is not eligible to join”
Yet, Australia participates.
And Lebanon chooses not to. Ignorant Western fools think Palestinians are a poor downtrodden people desperate to take their place in the nations of the world, but my guess is that if you admitted Palestine to the EBU they would boycott Eurovision rather than appear beside the Zionist Entity.
You need two to tango. Arabs always looked down on Jews. All this nonsense about a two-state solution, when all the so-called Palestinians want is to drive Jews into the sea.
yes absolutely correct.
Can’t really imagine Hamas approving of the type of entrant fielded by most countries this year. I can’t see downtown Gaza ever being bedecked in the trans and rainbow flags.
That’s because Australia is a member of the EBU. It’s not that difficult to understand.
Sort of, Australia is not a member of the EBU, it’s an associate member (we’re quite a long way away from Europe) like China or the U.S. but you don’t find them participating in Eurovision.
Yes this Eurovision is only about politics. A vote for Israel will cost 15p.
This year I am particularly enjoying seeing all the pro-Israel virtue-signallers pledging to throw their money away… more, please! Go on, dig deep!!
Anyone with any sense can see that this year’s ESC is a car-crash. There is some interest in following the progress of that I suppose but it is not a normal year for the Contest and this year’s results will mean nothing.
15p well spent and hardly likely to leave me in penury. Decidedly proud of UK awarding Golan top marks in the public vote. Second highest public vote overall too. Looks like popular sentiment may not be with Thunberg and the screaming mobs after all. And the Dutch entrant looked like a gay Paul Calf (for those old enough to remember that).
Surprised the author doesn’t mention Riverdance, which was an absolute sensation when Ireland hosted in 1994 – at a time when unemployment in Ireland was nearly 10%. It revolutionised how Irish dancing was seen. More subtly, it was really an American form of Irish dancing and marked the beginning of how the Irish began to see themselves an Irish-Americans, looking to Clinton, Obama and Biden for validation and adopting the attitudes and behaviours of the Democratic Party.
I don’t think I shall ever forget Michael Flatley flying onto the stage, it was an absolute tour de force. Ireland had a lovely song in 1996 by Eimear Quinn, I think it was called The Voice. I had the cassette single!
Yes, the Michel Flatley Riverdance was breathtaking for sure. Since then all the dance and singing stuff coming out of Ireland has been embarrassingly commercial. I can’t bear to watch it.
You might enjoy Michael Flatley’s gloriously awful film “Blackbird”
“Modernity characterises the ideal of post-war Europe to which the Eurovision Song Contest provides literal and figurative access: a society that is democratic, capitalist, peace-loving, multicultural, sexually liberated and technologically advanced.”
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Here’s what it really means:
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https://twitter.com/RadioGenoa/status/1788880226207822295
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Aris agapi mou.. everything is nationalist Greek Easter football Olympics religion etc.but is better to play music instead eating each other like they did for 2000 in Europe.
“The UK, supported by state media outlets such as the BBC, used the triumph of the transgender candidate as an opportunity to emphasise the West’s moral superiority over Russia.”
“Unfortunately the original Palestinian entrant has fallen off a tall building. One/They will be replaced by “Heresmorephotosofcryingkids” formerly known as “”Burn the Zionist Dogs” We apologise for any confusion this may cause.”
Best response ever
Phew! The 67 word sentence in the last paragraph beat me! My view of the Eurovision Song Contest can be stated much more succinctly.
You should probably stay away from George Eliot. In fact, stay away from the nineteenth century in general. 😉
Nice research!
This essay is classic example of the pseudo-intellectual capacity to say “There is a cow in the next field” in 60,000 words of which 40,000 require the use of a dictionary.
A mathematician, physicist and engineer are riding through the countryside on a train. The engineer points out the window: “Oh look – there’s a brown cow in the field.” The physicist laughs and says, “You only know that half that cow is brown.”. The mathematician says: “You only know that there is half of a brown cow”.
Yes. Climaxing with a quote from that fountain of profundity Ridley Scott does kind of set the seal on it.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy as much as anyone. But Kingdom of Heaven is entertainment FFS. It’s not meant to be taken seriously.
What did I just read? Ugh.
“…all nationalism is kitsch to various degrees…”
(?) Categorical claims like this are generally all the better for proof; but if Eurovision songs are without exception kitsch, it must be for aesthetic reasons having nothing to do with nationalism. Nationalism and kitsch each have their limitations; but those limitations are different and arise from different sources, just like the limitations of critics unable to disentangle their aesthetic sensibilities from their politics.
A really fascinating piece. However perhaps … “ That Britain, on the whole, does not take the contest seriously may tell us more about Britain’s attitude to Europe than it does the contest.”… just signifies that the Brits have less tolerance for this form of “entertainment”, if I can call it that.
I was in Belgrade in 2005 when they were trying to select which song would go forward as the entry for Serbia and Montenegro, who were still stuck together in some kind of rump federation.
I happened to be walking by the venue where the competition was taking place: there was a massive brawl which spilled out onto the street. I think the Montenegran entry was victorious and the Serbs couldn’t hack it.
Montenegro became independent the next year.
Coincidence?
ESC is like the monarchy or the Catholic Church. Its fans are either elderly ladies or homosexual men. Never forget to have impeccable blue hair!
I thought the original purpose of the ESC was to test and improve trans-national TV broadcasting capabilities. Once that had been achieved, the ESC should have been mothballed.
It must take a lot of effort to ‘not notice stuff’ by all the LGBTQ+ folk at Eurovision to not notice that Hamas and co would wipe them out in a Palestinian state.
And that only in Israel could they have a Pride parade…
After yesterday show I don’t want to see Pride parade anywhere, sorry.
Anyone who watched this monstrosity of a music (?) show gave tactit support a murderous regime and thereby contributed to the genocide of innocent Palestinian children and they disgust me! It’s bad enough not to actively oppose the Satanic slaughter but to actually support it is, in my opinion, a crime against humanity.. not as heinous as supplying the murder weapons but tacit support nonetheless. The next time you see a distraught Gazan child screaming in anguish at the loss of a parent other own limbs you can take ‘pride’ in the fact that you contributed to it, albeit in a small way, …maybe just one child’s worth eh?
Hamas, and it’s stated intention (indeed its raison d’etre) of wiping Israel and it’s Jewish inhabitants off the map is infinitely more disgusting than what you describe. If someone threatened to wipe you, your family and and your tribe off the face of the earth, i guess you’d just sit back and applaud their audacity?
When, and only when Hamas and it’s Iran-sponsored ilk stop threatened to exterminate Israel will Israel achieve it’s wish to live in peace with its neighbours. It has no other purpose in responding than it’s ultimate wish for peace, while Hamas uses its “Gazan screaming child” as a means of manipulating the narrative in the most cynical way. The narrative only succeeds, and the cycle of death and suffering only continues, because those who make the same case as in your comment allow it to.
But i do agree: the show is a monstrosity.
the response to which you reply is the standard Columbia U response….from the former encampment. It is the standard of virtue signaling artists in all fields. Now I see a video addressed to “Dr. Jill” our “first lady” from Annie Lennox et al PLEADING for an end to “genocide.” what a cow as you Brits say.
Ah! How wonderful of you to perform your faux outrage from the safety of your comfortable western existence. We are all humbled into intellectual submission by your cogent balanced and rational argument.
Here’s my exemplar of a cogent rational argument; come into my house and fk with me and mine, and I will pursue you to the ends of the earth in order to ensure you cannot do so again!
Can you understand that response – or should your nearest-and-deaezt look askance in you direction?
If guilt by association is to be our moral measure; let me scratch at the surface of you life, and see what morally unacceptable crimes you may be guilty of.
All the best LO
Are you seriously suggesting that simply watching a TV show means you are contributing to genocide? Please go and lie down in a darkened room or better still seek medical help.
It sounds like you were actually there.
Talking of Satanic slaughter…….that Irish entry, eh?
It’s easy to see now, having read this article, why the UK can never win! We are just too boring….
So boring that we produced the greatest rock bands – Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones etc etc
There was I thinking it was just another Saturday night freak show!
Watching the contest was made bearable when Sir Terry Wogan did the commentary. His lovely humour summed it all up.
Eurovision Song Contest – nul points.
The Eurovision “talent” show has been a showbiz joke since its inception more than sixty years ago. It has also always been as fiercely nationalistic as the World Cup. Why is this tired old high school musical suddenly become news? Because today’s baby journalists looked up from their phones long enough to notice it?
very knowledgable article!
Since I”m in the USA and never watched this affair, I can only look on from the outside. How did Greece, the lynchpin of Western Civilization get an “Oriental” music culture if not by hundreds of years of Islamic occupation? I say that as a fan. Who else is a fan…the next named country.
Israel’s original song was too “politiical” This hurricane song may have made a very oblique inference to what that nation is experiencing since Oct. 7. Somehow despite the Irish contestant’s constant shrying and OUTRAGE that ISrael was even allowed to be near them, Israel did better than expected.