Eurovision days 2/3/4

The Eurovision bubble is certainly in full swing, I’ve no idea of what day of the week it is. After the rehearsals on Monday I went to Ukraine for two days, as you do. So this particular blog post today is less about Eurovision and more about my expedition. I’m going to be working on a research project on Ukraine’s nation branding campaign later in the year. I was last there in 2007 and so much has changed. They’ve built a new terminal which is impressive, signs in both Cyrillic and English, air condition and specific smoking areas. Euro 2012 appears to have left a lasting legacy. Old Soviet habits die hard though; the hotel was, well, interesting. I was staying in the Hotel Ukraine, right in the centre of Kyiv. 4 stars, allegedly. It’s in need of renovation but was perfectly situated. To get the room key you need to take a piece of paper to the “hostess”, there’s one for each floor, she then grudgingly gives you the key to the room. It provides jobs but is so inefficient although I suppose it stops people bringing undesirables into the hotel. Or does it? In the lobby there were adverts for an “erotic show”, which basically meant a pole dancing club where the women were completely starkers. In the evenings there also appeared to be a lot of ladies, sitting by themselves in reception… Kyiv is a really beautiful city, it was scorching hot and it was nice to be back.

On Tuesday evening I decided to check out the local gay bar, Pomada. It’s funny, we take basic freedoms for granted, people in the UK question the need for gay pride events these days. It’s worth keeping in mind that there are countries on the doorstep where being gay is particularly difficult. Arguably Kyiv is more cosmopolitan than the rest of Ukraine, however the tight security and underground nature of the bar suggests that gay life in Ukraine is discreet to say the least. It’s also worth remembering the important role that straight girls play in the lives of gay men; certainly in Pomada it appeared that they were real champions for their gay friends. The drag queen was particularly interesting given that she was dressed as a Soviet veteran, the day before the national parade commemorating the Soviet army’s victory, Europe day. Commemorations and memorials are essentially a form of nation building, affirming a national identity and reminding citizens of that constructed identity. On May 9^th people also visit the graves of their relatives, laying flowers and having a bit of a party. It was really interesting to see people having a picnic by the graveside with shots of vodka. I must have been Ukrainian in a previous life…

 

I returned to Sweden last night (Thursday) with Estonian Air via Tallinn, it was so nice to be back, even for 45 minutes. You know you’re in Eesti when the wifi works perfectly. I had to laugh though, the safety demonstration on the flight was in Estonian and English, they then played a Russian version at which point the flight attendants stopped demonstrating! Read into that what you will! When I arrived I went straight (only straight) to the San Marino party. A lovely evening was had by all although hearing a jazz version of their entry from 2012, “The Social Network Song” was a tad bizarre. Alcohol was free, well the first three drinks were. Lovely food, good company, followed by the usual dance floor fodder later, fantastisk, as they say in Sverige! Dancing the night away in the Euroclub was Farid from Azerbaijan, a sweet bloke and a very friendly delegation. There was a slightly awkward moment when the DJ played Armenia’s 2008 entry, at which point they looked really uncomfortable and stopped dancing. Fair play to them though, they could have stormed off in a huff and yet they stayed and continued to party with everyone else.

Today the press centre opened, it’s a little camp and very stylish - would we expect anything else from the Swedes? They’re handing out bottles for water, boasting that Sweden has some of the best tap water in the world. We all know its Scotland which has THE best of course! There’s free tea and coffee, lots of space available and it’s all incredibly well organised. The EBU press conference took place earlier and questions were asked about human rights in Eurovision. Should countries which don’t uphold basic freedoms be allowed in the contest? The EBU replied, rather diplomatically, that they work with national broadcasters and not the state and therefore they should be allowed. What happens though if the national broadcasters are tightly controlled by the state? A good point was made; change comes from within and by working with countries which have difficult political situations then positive change can be achieved. However this change also has to come from within the specific countries too. Similarly to the complexities surrounding gay pride in Moscow, these things can’t be imposed from outside.

More people are arriving and it’s all getting a little hectic. More tomorrow!

Eurovision 2013 - Day One

Eurovision 2013 has officially started! It’s scary how quickly time flies. I’m here in Malmo where it’s all kicking off. Armenia is back after withdrawing last year so no doubt it’ll be business as usual for them and Azerbaijan (i.e. ignoring each other!) Whilst it’ll be interesting to see the interaction between the Swedes and the Belarusians following the teddy bear incident last year, after the controversy of 2012, it’s looking like a tame year in comparison, politically speaking.

So far so good here in Malmo, the city is small but friendly, expensive but clean and it’s shaping up to being the perfect city for Eurovision. Often when the event is in larger cities it gets lost somehow, Moscow and Istanbul were classic examples of this. Small cities like Tallinn, Helsinki and Malmo allow for an intimate atmosphere. I’m in a hotel with my friend Elaine for the first week before moving to an apartment in week two. It’s a rather small hotel, with a transparent shower screen. Good job we know each other pretty well! (We certainly will do after this trip!)

 

Eurovision of course has a massive gay following and the Swedes, unlike our Azeri hosts last year, are not afraid to reach out to the contest’s core fans. In the hotel reception there are gay magazines, Eurovision guides and maps of the city’s gay scene. We certainly won’t have any exciting experiences this year like we did in Baku; underground gay bars and local pubs for local people. However, it’s quite refreshing really to feel welcomed in a city where people are safe to live their lives.

The theme for the show this year is “We are one” which is an interesting one, fashioning Europe as a united entity when in reality it’s a fractured construct, economically, politically and socially. Much has been made here in Malmo of the multicultural vibrancy in the city, so perhaps it’s fitting that such an international event is here, in the city where over 150 languages are spoken.

The Swedes are doing things differently this year, they’ve arranged Eurovision on a much smaller scale. The venue is small, the press centre is restricted until Friday and currently the assembled press are crammed into the Slaghuset (the slag house, and venue for the Euro Club). SVT are undoubtedly aiming to present a slick, professional television show. For them, this is just that, a television event. Unlike previous hosts where Eurovision has become almost like a circus, the Swedes don’t appear to be engaging in a quasi-propaganda offensive. To be blunt, they don’t need to prove anything to anyone.

Rehearsals began in earnest this morning. I will try and update the blog daily, although I am going to Ukraine for two days tomorrow, back Thursday. Euro Club opens tonight so no doubt there will be a few sore heads and lighter wallets tomorrow! More later!

The countdown to Malmö has begun!

Earlier this week the Heads of Delegation for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest met in Malmö. All 39 songs have been selected and across Europe the stage performances are being conceived and rehearsed. The UK’s Bonnie Tyler rehearsed this week with her backing singers and according to the BBC it’s sounding great already! Eurovision is changing; the Swedes have taken the contest back to basics. The venue is smaller, the bling seems to have been toned down and SVT appear to be concentrating on producing a slick television show rather than a brash circus. From the fixing of the running order to the standing room only tickets, many fans have been upset by the changes which have taken place this year. I think we should wait and see how 2013 works out since the changes in the running order might just make the contest more varied and interesting to watch.

Here are the Heads of Delegation touring the venue and enjoying some Swedish hospitality. Looks like the Swedes have a big booze budget!

I’ve been a little quiet on here lately as I’ve been concentrating on my book which is due to be submitted to the publisher in September and I’ve also been writing blogs for the BBC. Please do pop along to www.bbc.co.uk/eurovision to check them out!

What's in a name?

Earlier this month the official slogan for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest was unveiled. We Are One. Prior to the introduction of a generic logo for Eurovision in 2004, the logos for Eurovision were different each year which excited and exasperated fans in equal measure. Since 2002 a further slogan or theme was adopted every year (with the exception of 2009). These slogans and themes have become part of the branding of the event, a way for the host country to make their mark in addition to using the generic Eurovision logo. Whilst at first glance the slogans Modern Fairy Tale, Awakening and We Are One might seem somewhat innocuous, however, on closer inspection they can reveal much more about the country promoting the message and the wider political context.

Estonia's theme from 2002, Modern Fairy Tale, was used as a way of not only showcasing the country but also as an avenue for telling a story about the country itself. It is no accident that Sleeping Beauty was the choice fairy tale in the postcard leading up to the Estonian performance. The modern fairy tale can actually be seen as a metaphor for how Estonians see their own history:

If Estonia were a fairy tale, it could perhaps be likened to Sleeping Beauty. Having awoken from the ice cold slumbers of Soviet Rule, Estonia today is a bold, young country, vibrant with creative energy and eager to take its place in Europe (Rene Vilbre cited in The official programme of the 47th Eurovision Song Contest 2002)



Turkey's theme from 2004, Under the Same Sky, might at first sound like a fluffy slogan but given the wider political context it can be read as Turkey opting to promote itself as an equal, European country, under the same sky as the rest of Europe, namely the European Union, which Turkey first applied for membership in 1987. Turkey's victory in the 2003 contest and the opportunity to stage the event in 2004 were seen as important breakthroughs by the political elite in the country. 2004 also marked the first time that Turkey has voted for Cyprus in Eurovision. 

Kyiv in 2005 remains one of the more politically charged contests over the past decade (2012 aside) and their theme of Awakening was a very obvious point in hand. Given that the Eurovision Song Contest was taking place in a country which only months before had been the focal point of the world's attention as a result of political protests, it is perhaps unsurprising that the contest that year was tinged with political rhetoric. Whilst the theme was not overtly political per se, the developments going on behind the scenes in Ukraine in 2005 definitely were. The then President, Viktor Yushchenko planned to make a lengthy speech on the Eurovision stage. The EBU did not allow this to go ahead although Yushchenko did still appear to present Greece's Elena Paparizou with her winning trophy.

The EBU continuously reinforce the point that Eurovision is not a political event. This is strictly true but it has and does become politicised whether the organisers like it or not. These slogans can serve as a platform for articulating political message in a subtle manner. It's soft politics, however, it is still politics.

The theme for 2013, We Are One, is an interesting concept. It presents Europe and Eurovision nations as united entities. This is at a time when Portugal, Turkey, Bosnia Herzegovina and Slovakia have all withdrawn from the contest in the last year. It is also a time when Europe as a social, economic and political construct is fractured. Recent debates concerning the Euro, bailouts and the UK referendum on the EU highlight that Europe is anything but at one. This is where Eurovision is powerful. For one night only, Europe sits down and watches a television programme in unison. It is unique in the television year and an opportunity for escapism. Despite some pretty naff slogans along the way, Eurovision has continued as a format for nearly 60 years and given the wider developments going on in Europe today, it appears that is it an event which is stilled needed just as much as it ever was.



2012: A year to remember

A new year, a new Eurovision season. 2013 is already shaping up to be an exciting and interesting year. However 2012 will go down in Eurovision history as the most politically charged year in the history of the contest. I am delighted that I experienced Eurovision in Azerbaijan, it was a setting like no other. Now that the dust has settled, let's take a look back to May 2012, a contest which will be remembered for years to come.

 

In previous blog posts I have written about the political situation in Azerbaijan with regards to freedom of the press, freedom of expression as well as the on-going tensions between neighbouring Armenia. In the summer it was reported that those activists who held peaceful protests in Baku at the time of Eurovision had been put on trial. Eurovision 2012 was nothing other than a facade for the Azeri government to present a friendly face to the world. There are some particularly nasty regimes governing countries which are members of the European Broadcasting Union, of which Azerbaijan is far from the nadir. However if action is to be taken against countries which do not uphold basic human rights then the EBU needs to look a little closer to home. Belarus is one obvious example.

 

All of this does not mean that the contest should not have gone to Baku though. Azerbaijan won the contest fair and square, it would have been wrong to deny them the opportunity to host the event. The time to take action against Azerbaijan was in 2009 when the government called people in for questioning over voting for Armenia. This blatant violation was against the contest rules and yet the national broadcaster got away with it. If anything Eurovision 2012 backfired for the Azeri government since all of the allegations of human rights abuses came to the foreground. In front of the world's media. People were talking about the situation in the country when only a year previously it barely raised an eyebrow or got a mention in the press. This can only be a good thing.

 

Sweden does not need to play the same game that the Azeris did last year or the Russians in 2009. Eurovision is first and foremost a television show. The venue next year will be smaller, accreditation is likely to be restricted and the first week of rehearsals will be behind closed doors. They're even making the fans stand! Eurovision is changing. Whilst the arenas will stay, we are unlikely to see such spectacles like 2009 (largest LED screen in the world) or 2012 (brand new venue built specifically for Eurovision and making hundreds homeless in the process) for a long while, if ever. Eurovision in Azerbaijan was an excercise in public diplomacy, albeit an expensive one. The Swedes are taking the show back to basics in 2013. This is probably just as well considering that several countries have announced that they will not enter the contest this year. Some were not surprising - Poland and Portugal are both feeling the pinch and some of the smaller countries in Eurovision are continung to stay away - Monaco, Andorra and the Czech Republic. However the two big shocks were Bosnia Herzegovina and Turkey.

 

Bosnia and Turkey have incredibly successful records in Eurovision, the former having qualified to every single final and the latter scoring its best ever placings over the past decade including that all important victory back in 2003. The Turks appear to be in a strop about the Big Five rule as well as the return of jury votes. This is curious as Turkey came second in 2010 and fourth in 2009. These are showings that many countries would love! Moreover the Big Four/Five rule has been in place since 2000! I suspect that there are other issues at play here. The Turkish government appears to be slowly turning its back on Europe - economically, politically and in the case of Eurovision, culturally. Of course for many countries the burden of the participation fee has led to many questioning the value of entering the contest. For the most part, the participation levels have remained reasonably steady and in the case of Malta, Greece, Estonia and Latvia, sponsorship has been sought which has allowed them to fly their respective flags once more. Eurovision usually takes a while to catch up with whatever is going on in the wider world and it appears that four years after the financial crisis hit Europe, austerity has come to Eurovision. Interesting times ahead, watch this space.

 

For me personally 2012 was an amazing year. Visiting Azerbaijan for Eurovision was an experience I'll never forget and was an extremely fertile ground for my own research interests. The everyday people I met in Baku were wonderful and it just goes to show that it's the citizens not the government which make a country. I think valuable lessons have been learned at the EBU. To those brave and inspiring people who risk their own safety to bring greater freedom to Azerbaijan, I wish all the very best for their journey ahead. As the German spokesperson, Anke Engelke said during the voting, it's good to have a vote and to have a choice, good luck on your journey Azerbaijan!

 

2012 was also a busy one since I did a lot of television and radio work which I really enjoyed. I am particularly grateful to the BBC Three crew for having me on their live coverage of the semi finals - I loved the experience and would dearly love to do it again. 2013 is shaping up to be a busy year since I have a publishing contract to write a book on Eurovision. Tartu University Press have given me a tight deadline to finish the manuscript so I had better get my head down!

 

As the 2013 season starts, I wish all of you a happy new year, thank you for reading and may the best song win!