Politics have never been that far away from the Eurovision Song Contest. Since its inception, the annual event has reflected the political culture and geopolitical realities of Europe.
TIX from Norway has the stand-out costume of 2021.
EROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSE
Australia was the only nation to perform ‘live-on-tape’ in the first Eurovision semi-final. Some suggest this hindered our chances, but taped performances may be the way of the future.
Rachel McAdams and Will Ferrell in ‘Eurovision Song Contest’ will inspire viewers with more than keeping up fashionable appearances through December holidays in lockdown.
(Netflix)
The movie is indeed a silly look at how sharing song and media in popular culture can affect how we relate as individuals and nations but it also carries deeper insights.
Bursting with bubblegum Scandi-pop, this glitzy, sequinned melodrama might just be the thing to fill that discoball-shaped hole left by this year’s cancelled Eurovision.
The UK’s Michael Rice at the opening of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest.
EPA-EFE/Abir Sultan
After the UK flopped in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, there’s an appetite for another kind of Brexit. But this wouldn’t be a good idea.
Kate Miller-Heidke performs Zero Gravity during the Grand Final of the 64th annual Eurovision Song Contest: an oddball, meteoric and sincere performance.
Abir Sultan/EPA
Long known as a spectacle of quirky Euro-kitsch, this year’s contest more closely resembled singing TV shows such as The Voice. Notable exceptions, however, were Iceland’s Hatari and our own Kate Miller-Heidke.
Eleni Foureira performs Cyprus’s 2018 Eurovision entry, Fuego, in the first semi-final in Portugal.
Jose Sena Goulao/EPA
Since it began in the 1950s, Eurovision has embraced everything from metal to the global juggernaut of Scandi-pop, and of course the Eurodance and disco synonymous with Eurovision.
Nathan Trent from Austria performs Running On Air during the Grand Final of the 62nd Eurovision Song Contest in 2017.
EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO
Despite the peace and prosperity brought about by the EU, it continues to be seen as remote and antidemocratic. How can this be fixed ? One possibility is the creation of a Commissioner for Happiness.
Iron Maiden at Ottawa Bluesfest in 2012.
ceedub13/flickr
For many years now the UK has been a Eurovision laughing stock, despite a wealth of pop talent. What about if it was to pick one of these sure-fire rockstar winners instead?
Donald Trump in Scotland – musicians have asked that he refrain from using their songs at his political events.
David Moir/Reuters
The golden days of the 1960s protest song may be past, but music is still used across the world as a vehicle to voice political views. More than a sideshow, it can be a form of mobilisation and an expression of ‘soft power’.
Ukraine’s Jamala reacts to winning the Eurovision Song Contest with the song 1944.
TT News Agency
This year’s Eurovision had it all: geopolitical debates, a boycott threat, great music and a cracking Australian entry. Russia is outraged by Jamala’s winning song about the deportation of Crimean Tartars - but the contest has always had political nuances.
Leave had a 20 point lead over Remain in a recent YouGov poll – but this Brexit referendum concerned Britain’s membership of the Eurovision Song Contest, not Europe.
Australia has struggled to forge cultural ties with the Asia-Pacific region. But SBS’s deal to develop an Asian Eurovision could change this - there is more to the event than music, costume reveals and wind machines.
Jamala has been chosen to represent Ukraine at the 2016 Eurovision contest with her song ‘1944’.
Inna Sokolovksa/EPA