Every year 200 million people tune in to be part of the Eurovision Song Contest.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) who run the contest insist it is non political, and have even banned songs like Georgia’s 2009 ‘We Don’t Wanna Put In’ [Putin].
But there have been discussions this year about the location after Netta Barzilai won with this entry:
As a result, the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 will be held in Tel Aviv. This has caused some controversy. The band Wolf Alice are just one act who have publically criticised the country.
Guitarist Joff Oddie told Sky News that Israel, the hosts of this year’s song contest, are “serial human rights abusers”.
But Madonna has defended her decision to perform at Eurovision in Israel saying
“I’ll never stop playing music to suit someone’s political agenda nor will I stop speaking out against violations of human rights wherever in the world they may be”
But can you separate the pop from the politics? City News spoke to author Chris West about the competition. He wrote a book called Eurovision! A History of Modern Europe Through the World’s Greatest Song Contest.
He told City News that the competition has always been political. Starting with dominance of the French language in the competition’s early years.
But quickly the rest of Europe started to gain interest. Chris West thinks that 1974 was a turning point, when ABBA stormed to victory with Waterloo.
Politics on stage
Chris West says that in the 1970s and 1980s, Eurovision began to reflect what was going on in the wider world. He told City News about the year that Russia joined the competition, just a few years after the height of the Cold War.
And the story of Estonia, who saw their victory as their first step towards becoming a full member of Europe, after their time in the Soviet Bloc.
A place for Gender Politics too
Finally, he says gender politics have begun to play out on the stage too. He thinks that Conchita Wurst’s performance on behalf of Austria was a significant moment for the competition.
What do you think? Can you separate the politics from the pop? Let us know @CityLondonNews
We’ll be talking all things Eurovision in our Afternoon show from 1pm
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Standfirst
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HeadlineEurovision: Can you separate the pop from the politics?
Short HeadlineEurovision: The Politics of Pop
StandfirstTwenty six countries will take to the stage in Tel Aviv this Saturday to try and win the Eurovision Song Contest
Every year 200 million people tune in to be part of the Eurovision Song Contest.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) who run the contest insist it is non political, and have even banned songs like Georgia’s 2009 ‘We Don’t Wanna Put In’ [Putin].
But there have been discussions this year about the location after Netta Barzilai won with this entry:
As a result, the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 will be held in Tel Aviv. This has caused some controversy. The band Wolf Alice are just one act who have publically criticised the country.
Guitarist Joff Oddie told Sky News that Israel, the hosts of this year’s song contest, are “serial human rights abusers”.
But Madonna has defended her decision to perform at Eurovision in Israel saying
“I’ll never stop playing music to suit someone’s political agenda nor will I stop speaking out against violations of human rights wherever in the world they may be”
But can you separate the pop from the politics? City News spoke to author Chris West about the competition. He wrote a book called Eurovision! A History of Modern Europe Through the World’s Greatest Song Contest.
He told City News that the competition has always been political. Starting with dominance of the French language in the competition’s early years.
But quickly the rest of Europe started to gain interest. Chris West thinks that 1974 was a turning point, when ABBA stormed to victory with Waterloo.
Politics on stage
Chris West says that in the 1970s and 1980s, Eurovision began to reflect what was going on in the wider world. He told City News about the year that Russia joined the competition, just a few years after the height of the Cold War.
And the story of Estonia, who saw their victory as their first step towards becoming a full member of Europe, after their time in the Soviet Bloc.
A place for Gender Politics too
Finally, he says gender politics have begun to play out on the stage too. He thinks that Conchita Wurst’s performance on behalf of Austria was a significant moment for the competition.
What do you think? Can you separate the politics from the pop? Let us know @CityLondonNews
We’ll be talking all things Eurovision in our Afternoon show from 1pm
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