Evaluation of Eurovision Song Contest as a Cultural Impact Tool

Abstract

In this study, three claims/arguments regarding the emergence and function of the Eurovision Song Contest were put forward and tried to be grounded. First, the contest emerged as a tool for Western Europe to influence Eastern Europe culturally in the Cold War but it didn’t become an ideological conflict area of East-West. Second, the contest functioned as a stage of expressing the political problems/situations that countries experience within themselves or with each other in the Cold War era and aftermath. Third, although Turkey took place in the Western Europe side in the Cold War, this contest made Turkey feel non-European while having a different identity. In this context, the subject is discussed from the historical perspective with the assumption that the subject of history is unique. The study focused primarily on the concept of the Cold War and the contest. Then, it was explained with the examples which political problems/situations different from the Cold War ideological conflict environment were brought up on the contest platform. Finally, it was emphasized that the contest contributed to “us vs them” dichotomy in Turkey against Europe, contrary to Eurovision’s aim to form/create a common European culture.

Heavy metal in Turkey: Tracking the tensions of democratization in the 1990s

“…In the context of this study, as a remarkable case in the musical arena, during the 1980s and 1990s, participation in the Eurovision song contests (Dubin et al, 2022) with the approval of state officials was significantly important to represent the country on the scene of Western Europe (Bekcan & Hançarlı, 2021). Pop music was organized in the hands of various iconic names with musical knowledge, in the social cooperation of the state and the market.…”