The Eurovision Song Contest, ESC for short, has always been a European event, although it is no longer just European countries that take part in the competition. In our “3 on 1” series, three experts explain why it still makes sense. All episodes of “3 on 1” can be found here.
international understanding
Peter Urban has commented on the Eurovision competition on television for 25 years. He says: The ESC stands for openness, tolerance, understanding and mutual respect.
Originally founded in 1956 as a measure to unite peoples so that the previously enemy nations of Europe could also come closer in the field of musical entertainment, the ESC or Grand Prix became the largest television music event in the world, with over 200 million viewers in over forty countries, and it can too still be a wonderful example of international understanding in politically difficult times, among artists, officials, fans and also among my colleagues, the commentators.
Harmonious coexistence is not a cliché, the ESC stands for openness, tolerance, understanding and mutual respect. Music and the ESC cannot end wars, but they can accuse, comfort, cheer up, provide moral support and heal – and when one day, hopefully soon, the cruel aggression is over, the ESC can cheer and celebrate carefree again.
Queer aesthetic
Nadine Long is pop music and Queerspiegel editor of the Tagesspigel. She has been writing about the Eurovision Song Contest for many years and finds it continues to hold a strong empowering force for the queer community.
The Serbian flag next to the light blue, pink and white stripes of the trans movement – certainly not an everyday sight. He offered himself during the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Liverpool Arena this week. The fans with the mini flags cheered on the openly gay singer Luke Black, who made it to the final round with the song “Samo Mi Se Spava”. The fact that he is representing a country that is not known for being queer-friendly reflects the emancipatory power of the ESC.
In addition to the Pride season, it is one of the high holidays of the LGBTIQ community, which has significantly shaped the competition over the decades: glitter, glamor, lustful exaggeration – all of these are core qualities of queer aesthetics. You simply cut a good figure with it on the gigantic stages of the ESC. Many participants therefore make sure to give their performance a certain queer factor. Sometimes empowerment also wears glitter make-up, tower hair and high heels.
Very political
Farangies Ghafoor writes for the daily mirror. She thinks it’s great to hear niche languages at ESC, but that shouldn’t hide the artificiality of the show.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) boasts it is broadcasting an “apolitical” music program to millions of TVs. Music is above politics. But it is very political when gays and drag queens win and Turkey cites this as the reason for their ESC boycott. Or when Ukraine won in 2016 with a song about the illegal annexation of Crimea and didn’t let the Russian candidate into the country at the 2017 ESC. Or when the EBU instructed the Portuguese Salvador Sobral to forgo his “SOS Refugees” sweater.
Or when Azerbaijan, notorious for its lack of democracy, interrogated everyone who voted for the Armenian song in 2012. The ESC is political because the states market themselves. We don’t remember Serbia, we remember the queer ESC marketing of anti-queer Serbia. While the EBU tries to avoid political controversy, the ESC is no less apolitical. But as political as a competition of up to 51 nation states can only be.
