This is an open call for presentations and papers for this symposium focusing on the Eurovision Song Contest as a Television Event.

Researchers working in any discipline are invited present their work on the Eurovision Song Contest, with special emphasis on aspects of the event that relate to television studies. Some of the questions we’re interested in addressing include, but are not limited to:

how has the Eurovision Song Contest developed as a television event since the 1950s?

what television legacies does the Eurovision Song Contest feed from and/or into across Europe and beyond?

how have other televised song contests been influenced by the Eurovision Song Contest and what impact do other televised music and talent shows have on it?

what are the dimensions of the relationship between national broadcasters and the recorded music industry in an era when digital downloads have became a major format for music distribution?

how significant is the use of televoting in growing the Eurovision Song Contest audience, particularly in relation to other television shows that use televoting?

what does the future hold for the Eurovision Song Contest as television and the internet continue to move closer to each other as media?

how do Eurovision Song Contest fans add value to the television event, particularly when pan-European telecommunication has been decentralized through the Internet?

The symposium will also include a special panel of invited guests from the German broadcasting industry to discuss various topical aspects of the Eurovision Song Contest. This part of the event will be in German; the rest of the symposium will be in English.

To participate in this symposium, please send a brief abstract (100-200 words) and a two-sentence bio note to Toni Sant and Irving Wolther by Monday 25 April 2011. You should also outline your technical needs for the presentation, if any.

Selected paper/presentations will be notified by 1 May 2011. A full schedule for the symposium will be published along with details of other ERN events in Düsseldorf on the Eurovision Research Network website one week before the event.

As with all other ERN activities, there will be no entry charge or registration fee for this symposium.

This is an open call for presentations, papers, and/or provocations for this symposium.

Researchers are invited to give an overview of their current Eurovision-related research activities. Anyone who has already published in this area is asked to present the context of their work along with any updates, as appropriate. However, unpublished research and position papers about proposed research will equally be considered for inclusion in this symposium.

The symposium will also include a special panel for postgraduate students from the University of Oslo’s Department of Media and Communication, who are currently following a course on fan culture and researching various aspects of the Eurovision Song Contest.

To participate in this symposium, please send a brief abstract (100-200 words) and a two-sentence bio note to Karen Fricker and Toni Sant by Monday 17 May 2010. You should also outline your technical needs for the presentation, if any.

A full schedule for the symposium will be published along with details of other ERN events in Oslo on the Eurovision Research Network website one week before the event.

There will be no entry charge or registration fee for this symposium.