Richly contextualized via a masterful introduction, this book’s story of the Eurovision Song Contest sings with the verve of topicality. The ‘new’ Europe is revealed in fascinating guises through clear-eyed accounts of what has been invested in its performance in particular places and among specific audiences. In the macronarratives shaping this global contest as much as the micromoments of its annual unfolding, national and supranational politics, we learn, are no less intriguing than that chameleon-like entity we still call Europe. A provocative and timely collection. –Helen Gilbert, Professor of Theatre, Royal Holloway, University of London. A book full of insight, facts, opinions and great stories about the world’s most successful TV format ever. –Svante Stockselius, Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest (2003–2010). This impressive collection takes Eurovision studies to the next level, and it is especially timely now that the new post-Wall unified Europe faces some of its greatest economic and political challenges. The newly expanded Song Contest is far more than just an entertaining or embar- rassing TV show – it’s actually still ‘a battlefield’, in the memorable words of one of the book’s contributors; a way of channeling the ten- sions and rivalries that still lurk beneath and now often break through the surface of this ideal imagined Europe. How do Britain and Russia see and sing themselves from their post-superpower positions, how do Israel and Serbia and Azerbaijan perform their inclusion in the European project, how do ethnic minori- ties like Roma play a role within national and cultural identities, and how do feminists and queers find themselves represented in a show that attracts many women and gays? The eleven contributors shine a light on all these questions and more in their incisive and often provoca- tive analyses, while the lively panel discussion brings in broadcasters’ voices. All this makes for exciting new views on the ‘new’ Europe and its changing ‘Euro-visions’ that bridge music, culture, politics, and eco- nomics every spring. –Ivan Raykoff, Associate Professor, The New School; Co-editor of ASong For Europe: Popular Music and Politics in the Eurovision Song Contest (2007). Studies in International Performance Published in association with the International Federation of Theatre Research General Editors: Janelle Reinelt and Brian Singleton Culture and performance cross borders constantly, and not just the borders that define nations. In this new series, scholars of performance produce interactions between and among nations and cultures as well as genres, identities and imaginations. International in the largest sense, the books collected in the Studies in International Performance series display a range of historical, theoretical, and critical approaches to the panoply of performances that make up the global surround. The series embraces ‘Culture’ which is institutional as well as improvised, underground or alternate, and treats ‘Performance’ as either intercultural or transnational as well as intracultural within nations. Titles include: Khalid Amine and Marvin Carlson THE THEATRES OF MOROCCO, ALGERIA AND TUNISIA Performance Traditions of the Maghreb Patrick Anderson and Jisha Menon (editors) VIOLENCE PERFORMED Local Roots and Global Routes of Conflict Elaine Aston and Sue-Ellen Case STAGING INTERNATIONAL FEMINISMS Matthew Isaac Cohen PERFORMING OTHERNESS Java and Bali on International Stages, 1905–1952 Susan Leigh Foster (editor) WORLDING DANCE Karen Fricker and Milija Gluhovic (editors) PERFORMING THE ‘NEW’ EUROPE Identities, Feelings, and Politics in the Eurovision Song Contest Helen Gilbert and Jacqueline Lo PERFORMANCE AND COSMOPOLITICS Cross-Cultural Transactions in Australasia Milija Gluhovic PERFORMING EUROPEAN MEMORIES Trauma, Ethics, Politics Helena Grehan PERFORMANCE, ETHICS AND SPECTATORSHIP IN A GLOBAL AGE Susan C. Haedicke CONTEMPORARY STREET ARTS IN EUROPE Aesthetics and Politics James Harding and Cindy Rosenthal (editors) THE RISE OF PERFORMANCE STUDIES Rethinking Richard Schechner’s Broad Spectrum Silvija Jestrovic and Yana Meerzon (editors) PERFORMANCE, EXILE AND ‘AMERICA’ Silvija Jestrovic PERFORMANCE, SPACE, UTOPIA Ola Johansson COMMUNITY THEATRE AND AIDS Ketu Katrak CONTEMPORARY INDIAN DANCE New Creative Choreography in India and the Diaspora Sonja Arsham Kuftinec THEATRE, FACILITATION, AND NATION FORMATION IN THE BALKANS AND MIDDLE EAST Daphne P. Lei ALTERNATIVE CHINESE OPERA IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION Performing Zero Peter Lichtenfels and John Rouse (editors) PERFORMANCE, POLITICS AND ACTIVISM Carol Martin (editor) THE DRAMATURGY OF THE REAL ON THE WORLD STAGE Carol Martin THEATRE OF THE REAL Yana Meerzon PERFORMING EXILE, PERFORMING SELF Drama, Theatre, Film Lara D. Nielson and Patricia Ybarra (editors) NEOLIBERALISM AND GLOBAL THEATRES Performance Permutations Alan Read THEATRE, INTIMACY & ENGAGEMENT The Last Human Venue Shannon Steen RACIAL GEOMETRIES OF THE BLACK ATLANTIC, ASIAN PACIFIC AND AMERICAN THEATRE Marcus Tan ACOUSTIC INTERCULTURALISM Listening to Performance Maurya Wickstrom PERFORMANCE IN THE BLOCKADES OF NEOLIBERALISM Thinking the Political Anew S. E. Wilmer NATIONAL THEATRES IN A CHANGING EUROPE Evan Darwin Winet INDONESIAN POSTCOLONIAL THEATRE Spectral Genealogies and Absent Faces Forthcoming titles: Adrian Kear THEATRE AND EVENT Studies in International Performance Series Standing Order ISBN 978–1–4039–4456–6 (hardback) 978–1–4039–4457–3 (paperback) (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England Performing the ‘New’ Europe Identities, Feelings, and Politics in the Eurovision Song Contest Edited by Karen Fricker and Milija Gluhovic Introduction, selection and editorial matter © Karen Fricker and Milija Gluhovic 2013 Individual chapters © Respective authors 2013 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-0-230-29992-4 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-33559-6 ISBN 978-1-137-36798-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137367983 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Contents List of Figures ix Series Editors’ Preface xi Acknowledgements xii Notes on Contributors xv Introduction: Eurovision and the ‘New’ Europe 1 Karen Fricker and Milija Gluhovic Part I Feeling European: The Eurovision Song Contest and the European Public Sphere 1 ‘Sharing the Moment’: Europe, Affect, and Utopian Performatives in the Eurovision Song Contest 31 Marilena Zaroulia 2 ‘It’s Just Not Funny Any More’: Terry Wogan, Melancholy Britain, and the Eurovision Song Contest 53 Karen Fricker 3 Europe, with Feeling: The Eurovision Song Contest as Entertainment 77 Mari Pajala 4 ‘The Song Contest Is a Battlefield’: Panel Discussion with Eurovision Song Contest Broadcasters, 18 February 2011 94 Part II European Margins and Multiple Modernities 5 Back to the Future: Imagining a New Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 111 Yana Meerzon and Dmitri Priven 6 ‘Playing with Fire’ and Playing It Safe: With(out) Roma at the Eurovision Song Contest? 125 Ioana Szeman vii viii Contents 7 From Dana to Dustin: The Reputation of Old/New Ireland and the Eurovision Song Contest 142 Brian Singleton Part III Gender Identities and Sexualities in the Eurovision Song Contest 8 Competing Femininities: A ‘Girl’ for Eurovision 163 Elaine Aston 9 Taken by a Stranger: How Queerness Haunts Germany at Eurovision 178 Peter Rehberg 10 Sing for Democracy: Human Rights and Sexuality Discourse in the Eurovision Song Contest 194 Milija Gluhovic 11 Conundrums of Post-Socialist Belonging at the Eurovision Song Contest 218 Katrin Sieg Bibliography 238