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The Eurovision Song Contest catches headline news. In the early days when families sat round their relatively new TV set it was a one night programme from a concert hall. Seven countries competed in the first contest in 1956. By 1965 eighteen countries participated, mainly from Western Europe, all coordinated through the European public-service broadcasting.
Contrast this modest origin with the 21st century extravagances depending on a multi-night large-scale arena show with major economic and touristic impact on its host cities. The 2023 contest hosted in Liverpool on Ukraine’s behalf was supported by the most extensive cultural programme in the event’s history.
Though Eurovision’s rules declare it to be a non-political event, its entries, hosting and voting have frequently been entangled in the international politics of their time. Few international political developments have left more of a mark on the contest than the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the subsequent revolutions, and the break-ups of Yugoslavia and the USSR in 1989-91. These were directly reflected in the contest throughout the early 1990s, and also opened up participation in Eurovision to many central and south-east European countries for the first time, beginning the contest’s own ‘eastward enlargement’. Why has a song contest become so important?
Dr . Catherine Baker lectures on 20th century European History with particular research on post-Cold War Eastern Europe and the political changes, the breakup of Yugoslavia, and the cultural and political impact of popular music. Her research on the former Yugoslavia and the countries created there in the 1990s highlighted the complex colonial and cultural factors, the horrors of the Bosnian war and the humanitarian work. She is investigating music and its political impact on identity politics. She is well known for her research on the political influences in extending the Eurovision Song Contest.