A Night of European Oneness?
The greatest Eurovision ever? Definitely the best I have ever seen. Usually it is amusing and entertaining because the songs are so bad but last night the music was of a surprisingly high standard. From Germany's swing song, to Hungary's blues to Russia's Girls Aloudesque rendition. I loved it. I was watching the event in Britain with one Eurosceptic and one ex-Eurovision lover turned cynic. My unbridled enthusiasm for the evening of European fun was somewhat outnumbered, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle and felt very happy to be European and to be able to witness such an entertaining event.
My Master thesis, which I will be starting to write soon, is all about European identity and I was wondering what Eurovision could offer on this topic. Can it be described as a night that brings Europe together? A night of true European culture? A demonstration of Europe's unity? Or is it more a case of lots of countries that happen to be quite close to each other choosing a song that may or may not represent their country (Scooch are NOT in anyway representative of Britain. I was truly embarrassed to be British last night. By far the worst song in the competition and fully deserving of the 'nul point' it would have received had it not been for the ex-colony of Malta and our darling neighbours Ireland) in the hope of beating or getting one up on their neighbours? The Eurosceptic on my sofa claimed that all those 'Eastern European' countries aren't really Europe at all. For a whole generation of Brits, ex-USSR countries apparently don't belong to their Europe. That surprised me. I'm not sure it helps the argument that Israel is also included in the Eurovision and Belarus is far more European than Israel. Probably not.
The other great controversy that accompanies Eurovision each year and that the British commentator goes on and on about is the so-called 'block voting'. This was wonderfully demonstrated by the Balkan countries - all the former Yugoslavian states voting for each other, as well as the Scandinavian countries. I actually think part of the reason the British commentator made such a big thing of it is that we get no votes from 'friendly voting' because we have two neighbours - one is Ireland, who we invaded several centuries ago and there has been a civil war there pretty much ever since; and the other is France, who everyone knows loves us about as much as we love them, which would be not very much at all. If it weren't for us having a former colony within Europe, or at least within Eurovision's definition of Europe, we would have been bottom last night. Granted, Serbia did win last night and they did get lots and lots of votes from the Balkan countries, just like Ukraine got lots of votes from ex-USSR states, but they didn't just get votes from their friends. For some reason, lots of other countries gave Serbia lots of points. Not sure why, but there you go. That is Eurovision for you.
I would like to make some meaningful conclusion about what all this means for European identity, but I'm not really sure there is one. I enjoyed Eurovision and was pleased to be European and to be a part of it. This may be to do with the fact that I live in Germany and that I have friends from various other countries represented. My two fellow Eurovision spectators certainly didn't express the same love for the event. Did it make me feel closer to other Europeans? I already feel quite European due to my living in another European country and studying with lots of people from other European countries. But for others Eurovision seemed to emphasis differences - it was all too easy for the Eurosceptic and the cynic to spend the whole time complaining about there not being enough Western European countries represented, about the rubbish songs from other countries and about the cheating during the voting. I think really it is one of those things that if you approach it with a smile, it will give you a lot back, but if you watch it determined to complain about how unfair it is that the Western European countries get no votes and the Eastern European countries all vote for themselves then you will never really get in the spirit.
So, Eurovision was a night of fun for all of Europe to share in, a night to come together and have a jolly fun time, but as a demonstration of a common European identity, of a European oneness, it has a long way to go...
