Introduction: Eurovision and the ‘New’ Europe

Fricker, Karen; Gluhovic, Milija

doi:10.1057/9781137367983_1

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Besides performance, this also involved activist strategies, media discourses and practices of organisers, viewers and fans. Following recent cultural studies research that reframes the study of Eurovision around its position in the ‘affective components’ of European citizenship and simultaneously in the politics of marginalisation within the European idea (Fricker and Gluhovic, 2013: 12), this article shows that geopolitical narratives about Europe and Russia being opposite poles with respect to ‘LGBT rights’ have been constructed not just around one mega-event, the Olympics, but around another, Eurovision. It also suggests that, even when Eurovision itself has accommodated (certain) gay, lesbian and trans representations, wider LGBT equality discourses surrounding Eurovision often depend on a more abstract ‘rainbow’ signifier, which may have less to do with emancipatory politics than with a narrative of European exceptionalism regarding modernity and human rights.…”

Section: Lgbt Politics and Contemporary European Belongingmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Baker, 2008; Bolin, 2006; Carniel, 2015; Heller, 2007; Johnson, 2014; Jones and Subotić, 2011; Jordan, 2014b; Miazhevich, 2010, 2012; Mitrović, 2010; Pajala, 2012; Rehberg, 2007; Sieg, 2013a; Tragaki, 2013; Ulbricht et al, 2015); its functions for fan communities (e.g. Lemish, 2004; Singleton et al, 2007); the political, financial and cultural structures surrounding its organisation (Badenoch, 2013; Fricker and Gluhovic, 2013; Gluhovic, 2013; Motschenbacher, 2013; Singleton, 2013); and how journalistic and viewer discourses have drawn Eurovision into international LGBT politics (Gluhovic, 2013; Ulbricht et al, 2015). Eurovision, a popular-cultural text/event produced by a non-state international actor, illustrates significant dynamics in international politics that Queer IR acknowledges but does not necessarily centre.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The ‘gay Olympics’? The Eurovision Song Contest and the politics of LGBT/European belonging

Baker

2016

European Journal of International Relations

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The politics of gay and transgender visibility and representation at the Eurovision Song Contest, an annual televised popular music festival presented to viewers as a contest between European nations, show that processes of interest to Queer International Relations do not just involve states or even international institutions; national and transnational popular geopolitics over ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights’ and ‘Europeanness’ equally constitute the understandings of ‘the international’ with which Queer International Relations is concerned. Building on Cynthia Weber’s reading the persona of the 2014 Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst with ‘queer intellectual curiosity’, this article demonstrates that Eurovision shifted from, in the late 1990s, an emerging site of gay and trans visibility to, by 2008–2014, part of a larger discursive circuit taking in international mega-events like the Olympics, international human-rights advocacy, Europe–Russia relations and the politics of state homophobia and transphobia. Contest organisers thus had to take positions — ranging from detachment to celebration — about ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender’ politics in host states and the Eurovision region. The construction of spatio-temporal hierarchies around attitudes to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, however, revealed exclusions that corroborate other critical arguments on the reconfiguration of national and European identities around ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality’.

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Section: Lgbt Politics and Contemporary European Belongingmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ‘gay Olympics’? The Eurovision Song Contest and the politics of LGBT/European belonging

Baker

2016

European Journal of International Relations

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“…It is a spectacle and performative event, one that allegorically represents the idea of "Europe"'. Fricker and Gluhovic (2013)…”

Section: Imagining a Unified Europe And National Brandingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An interesting theoretical development was recently proposed by Fricker and Gluhovic (2013), arguing that the ESC is a good example for Eisenstadt's (2001) theory of multiple modernity. Revising the theory of a linear progression of all countries towards one modern model, Eisenstadt suggested that there are various ways to be modern.…”

Section: Added Thatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Douze point: Eurovisions and Euro-Divisions in the Eurovision Song Contest – Review of two decades of research

Yair

2018

European Journal of Cultural Studies

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The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual international competition held by the European Broadcasting Union. The present article provides an updated review of the academic literature devoted to the study of the Eurovision Song Contest which in the past two decades developed into a serious and rich academic field with four main areas: (1) studies of imagining a unified Europe – wherein I review research devoted to cosmopolitan European visions and nation branding; (2) studies focusing on gender and what is often referenced as gay or ‘camp’ features in the Eurovision Song Contest; (3) studies of Euro-Divisions which focus on political bloc voting and cultural alliances – exposing consistent and persistent rifts and coalitions in the celebration of European unity; and (4) studies making use of Eurovision data as a cultural seismograph for explaining external phenomenon like economic trade and political conflicts. Two decades of study of the Eurovision reveal that the ideal of unity is persistently challenged by national and cultural commitments. While commentators often deem the Eurovision Song Contest to be a silly kitsch show of musical mediocrity, this review proves it to be an appealing and productive area for the serious study of European civilization and its discontents.

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“…More recently, the winner of the 2014 contest Conchita Wurst, commonly referred to as the 'Lady with the beard', became an LGBT icon, symbolic of a progressive Europe tolerance, respect and equal rights. Wurst has also spoken about these issues internationally at EU-organised summits, furthering the reach of the ESC community (Fricker, 2015). National performances at the ESC have also manipulated gendered, sexual and ethnic stereotypes in articulating visions of European nationhood.…”

Section: Eurovision As a 'Gay Event'?mentioning

confidence: 99%

‘All Kinds of Everything’? Queer Visibility in Online and Offline Eurovision Fandom

Halliwell

2018

Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture

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The annual televisual spectacle, the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) is an international media event that is a nexus around which questions surrounding identity surface. This paper focuses specifically on the contest's active promotion of queer visibility, that intersects through national stage performances and its international fan base. It untangles the relationship between the contest and its problematic construction as a 'gay event' and how fans are increasingly using social media platforms to legitimise their fan and queer identities. Mainstream social media platforms, such as Twitter are an important site where issues surrounding queer visibility may be expressed and constructed. These ESC fan practices are contextualised in relation to literature surrounding male same-sex hookup apps which can inform our ideas surrounding queer code/space. It also suggests that fans self-regulate who or how they 'come out' as ESC fans which establishes an ESC closet because the ESC is prone to stigmatisation in some national contexts.

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Introduction: Eurovision and the ‘New’ Europe

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

The ‘gay Olympics’? The Eurovision Song Contest and the politics of LGBT/European belonging

The ‘gay Olympics’? The Eurovision Song Contest and the politics of LGBT/European belonging

Douze point: Eurovisions and Euro-Divisions in the Eurovision Song Contest – Review of two decades of research

‘All Kinds of Everything’? Queer Visibility in Online and Offline Eurovision Fandom

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