Eurovision Research Network

Just a brief post here to say that we had a superb discussion this morning in oru ‘New’ Europe workshop. Mari Pajala, Marilena Zaroulia, Phil Jackson and Peter Rehberg offered brief overviews of their papers on ‘Feeling European’, kicking off a lively exchange between ten network members and three students working on Eurovision (from the UK, Italy, and the Netherlands). Topics ranged from the flashmob at the Oslo contest to the possibly utopian affective power of a Eurovision landslide win, to the power structures and economics behind the post-2004 Eurovision brand identity, to to the heteronormative dynamics of Stephan Raab’s role in Germany’s Eurovision efforts this year and last. A fuller report will follow – in the meantime there is the matter at hand to attend to -it’s Eurovision researchers predictions time, and then the big event at 9 pm… Happy watching!