The Changing Face of Eurovision

There's nothing like a bit of light-hearted fun to bring out the very worst type of latent xenophobic imperialism in Britons. Yes, I am referring to the Eurovision Song Contest.

With every passing year, the Eurovision Song Contest becomes an increasingly self-referential parody of itself. Its musical sophistication has not matured alongside what we – in Britain – recognise as modern sound, and the delightful campness, kitsch and truly dreadful costumes have now given rise to the practically compulsory inclusion of at least one transvestite performer. The show has made an institution out of Terry Wogan, and his dry, ironic comments are as much an expectation of the contest as the tuneless, forgettable entries.

This weekend, I was whisked off to Blackpool by some zealous Eurovision fan friends of mine, to visit some even more die-hard fan friends, who threw a truly fantastic party, complete with personalised score booklets for each guest. We had to score each performance on categories including song, sex appeal, costume and performance. Fabulous!

However, the euphoria of such a fun weekend has been overshadowed for me by the outcry in the UK following the result. Now, I, for one, thought the UK entry was “on the money” (as Simon Cowell would say!), in terms of what Eurovision has always been about for us: Euro-trash pop, deliciously camp, a bit saucy, ironic, post-modern (sorry if that sounds pretentious, but it is), with dated choreography and dreadful costumes. Yes, I also thought the UK would score higher points. However, what everyone seems to be forgetting is that it’s not 1977 anymore. We are now in the 21st Century, and Europe (albeit with dodgily-defined parameters for the sake of Eurovision) has moved on.

Are we forgetting the breakdown of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, not to mention Britain’s own involvement in subsequent events? Are we completely oblivious to the emergence of new, independent nations? These have impacted on the changing face of Europe not only politically, but also culturally. Frankly, I’m not bloody surprised that Baltic and Eastern European nations would rather vote for each other than for Britain (and I certainly didn’t hear anyone in western Europe complaining when nations this side of the continent used to score highly off their neighbours back in the day). Furthermore, what we all seem to be overlooking is the fact that alongside the emergence of new nations comes the kind of national and cultural specificities that embrace different musical forms. The UK entry in this year’s Contest was representative of the old sound of the Eurovision Song Contest. But today, the borders of Europe have shifted, and glasnost (for want of a better word) has paved the way for countries outside of western and central Europe to express their popular musical sounds. What is a camp joke for us is a serious(ish) contest for other nations, and represents a significant step forward in the expression of freedom and emerging cultural forms.

I feel quite sickened by the cultural imperialism displayed by the British media in the light of Serbia’s victory on Saturday night. It is tragic that such attitudes are alive and kicking in 21st Century Britain; we are happy to ally ourselves with the US, to go charging around the world interfering in other countries’ foreign policy, starting legally questionable wars, refusing to fully embrace the European Union, and then when it comes to the Eurovision Song Contest, we are suddenly European again and think the rest of the continent owes us a vote.

Oh, and for the record: Eurovision? Pur-lease! Give me Justin Timberlake any day.