The Eurovision Song Contest is a unique event that each participating country approaches differently – some use the contest to make appeals to the European in-group while others make a mockery of the spectacle. Germany takes the song contest at face value and puts forth their best effort to succeed at the final each year. As determined in my second blog post titled “Inglorious Ballads”, Germany’s Eurovision performances from 2010-2014 are mostly radio-pop songs void of particularly German elements. While the songs themselves do not reflect the German national identity established by my first blog post, the process by which they are selected demonstrates the Germans’ commitment to democratic principles. Additionally, Germany has figured out how to reap economic benefits by holding an annual national selection contest which aligns with the idea that Germany takes pride in having a strong economy.
Borrowing from the work of Anna Triandafyllidou, national identity can briefly be described as the psychological feeling of belonging shared by individuals of a given nation (595). As established by my first blog post, the modern German national identity, rather than being characterized by feelings of national superiority, is centered around Germans’ pride in preserving the democratic principles and prosperous social market economy established during the days of the Bonn Republic. Upon first inspection, this national identity does not seem aligned with Germany’s activity in Eurovision between 2010-2014. As mentioned in “Inglorious Ballads”, all of Germany’s Eurovision songs during this period were radio pop songs. A theme that is not mentioned in my second blog post is that four of the five songs are about relationships and love to some extent. “Standing Still” and “Is It Right” are both about lost love, “Satellites” is about being in love, and “Taken by a Stranger” is a story about a one night stand. While this theme could suggest the German people enjoy love songs, it does not reflect any meaningful aspects of their modern German national identity. However, a look at how Germany selected their Eurovision representatives during this period reveals that an alignment between their treatment of the song contest and their national identity does indeed exist.
Most countries determine their Eurovision entries by either holding a national selection competition or internally selecting an act on behalf of its citizens. The German national broadcaster, the ARD, allows the German people to choose their Eurovision representatives each year by hosting a national song competition that mirrors the Eurovision final. Since Germany is committed to upholding their citizens’ democratic rights, it is unsurprising that the ARD lets the German people determine their representation rather than internally selecting acts. However, in 2011, the ARD partially took this privilege away from the German people.
After Lena won Eurovision 2010, the ARD internally decided to give her the opportunity to defend her crown. One might argue this action contradicts the previously established notion that Germany is committed to democratic principles, but the ARD still allowed the German people to have the final say in their representation at Eurovision 2011 by holding an open song-selection contest. In this contest, the German people were given twelve songs written by different artists to choose from and ultimately selected “Taken by a Stranger” written by Gus Seyffert, Nicole Morier, and Monica Birkenes (“Germany in Eurovision 2011”). Even though an artist was chosen on behalf of the German people during this year, they still got to choose what song they wanted to be represented by at Eurovision which bears more weight than choosing the artist. A song’s meaning does not depend on who performs it but rather comes from its musical and lyrical content. While the process by which Germany’s Eurovision 2011 entry was selected does not reflect the nation’s commitment to democratic principles as strongly as the contests of other years, the fact that the German people were given the final say in their representation still aligns with this aspect of the German national identity.
In addition to being the fairest way to select Eurovision representatives, holding a national selection competition each year has economic benefits for the ARD. While the ARD acts as the primary organizer for all things Eurovision in Germany, they regularly sold off the TV rights to ProSieben, a major private German broadcaster, in order to maximize the economic benefits of the Eurovision competition during this period year (Schader). These TV rights for the national competition are likely expensive hast to do with the popularity of Eurovision in Germany. Last year, 9.3 million Germans tuned into the Eurovision final, accounting for 36.8% of the German TV-watching population (“Eurovision attracts 204 million viewers”). The emphasis Germany puts on having a strong economy is also strongly reflected by what they did with the pre-performance postcards when hosting Eurovision in 2011.
Countries often lose money when hosting Eurovision because it is costly to put on the event. In 2011, Germany counteracted the expense of hosting Eurovision by marketing itself to tourists. They chose to display people from different countries enjoying the various attractions that Germany has to offer during their countries’ respective pre-performance postcards (“BBC – Eurovision 2011 Final”). Making an appeal to tourists from other countries in this way reflects the economic savvy that has integral to the German national identity. While this may seem like a nation-branding action at first, it turns out not to be as Germany’s main intention in appearing this way is to reap a tangible economic benefit rather than to become known as a nation that likes having a strong economy. However, Germany’s attempt to grow its tourism industry at 2011 is the closest thing it did to nation-branding between 2010-2014 at Eurovision.
While Eurovision is meant to be just a song contest, it provides a platform for countries to propagate political messages to the rest of their European neighbors. Politically-driven entries seem to regularly slip into the final despite rules meant to keep these types of entries out of the contest being in place. Fringe-European countries that have been othered by Western-Europe use the contest to make appeals to the European in-group by presenting themselves as having similar social-political beliefs or playing into Western-Europe’s skewed fantasies of their cultural traditions. Contrarily, countries within the European in-group often send radio-pop songs that say nothing about their national identities to Eurovision. This is because, by already being a part of the in-group, they have little to gain by making appeals to other European countries. Germany’s Eurovision entries are often void of significant cultural themes because they are part of and arguably the most powerful member of the Western-European in-group. Rather than trying to push a certain national brand, Germany aims to preserve the brand it has established outside of the Eurovision Song Contest.
As I established in my first blog post, a commitment to preserving human rights is an integral part of the modern German national identity. Xavier Naidoo, a popular German R&B artist, was nominated to represent Germany at Eurovision 2016. However, his winning the national competition sparked a large public backlash as “Naidoo [had] previously been accused of using anti-Semitic slurs and homophobic language in his songs” (Polanco). Upon observing this backlash, the ARD pulled Naidoo from the competition to preserve Germany’s image as a global champion for human rights. While this event does not fall inside the period I have been focusing on, it was a significant event that garnered international attention nonetheless and needs to be included when discussing how Germany treats Eurovision.
Germany takes the Eurovision Song Contest seriously. One action that supports this notion is Germany’s revamping of their selection process in 2010, which I discussed in my second blog post titled “Inglorious Ballads”. By appointing German megastar Stefan Raab to head talent acquisition for the national selection contest, the German national broadcaster made it clear they wanted to succeed at the Eurovision final. That same year, Lena won Eurovision 2010 for Germany with her song “Satellite”. The German national broadcaster’s attitude towards Eurovision reflects that of the German people, who thoroughly enjoy the spectacle of the event. Last year at Eurovision 2016, Germany provided more Eurovision viewers than any other country with 9.3 million German citizens tuning into the final as mentioned earlier. Despite Germany’s historically poor performance in the final, last year’s German Eurovision audience was the country’s largest since 2011, the year they hosted the contest (Eurovision.tv). Additionally, Cascada’s voluntary participation in the 2013 competition emphasizes the fact that Eurovision is not taken as a joke in Germany. Cascada was a world-famous multi-platinum group before ever taking part in Eurovision, which means they did not choose to participate because they needed exposure but rather simply because they wanted.
While Germany does not use the contest as an opportunity to affect its national brand the ways some other participants do, it takes the Eurovision song contest just as seriously as those that do. And even though most of its entries are generic and not telling of the German national identity, the ARD’s decision to hold some sort of national selection competition is representative of Germany’s commitment to democratic principles. Additionally, the ARD’s ability to generate revenue from these contests as well as the Eurovision final the year it hosted aligns with the notion the Germans take pride in experiencing economic success. If Germany did not treat Eurovision with the sincerity it does, it would be hard to observe these meaningful alignments between their actions surrounding the Eurovision Song Contests and the modern German national identity as it has come to be known.
“BBC – Eurovision 2011 Final (14 May 2011).” YouTube, uploaded by Giannis V., 27 April 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRziAqEY8cc
“Eurovision Song Contest attracts 204 million viewers!” Eurovision Song Contest, 25 May 2016, http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=eurovision_song_ contest_attracts_204_million_viewers
“Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011.” Wikipedia, 9 Mar. 2017, https://en.wiki pedia.org/wiki/Germany_in_the_Eurovision_Song_Contest_2011#Final
Schader, Peer. “Germany’s Eurovision Dilemma”. Spiegel Online, 1 June 2010, http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/germany-s-eurovision-dilemma-public-broadcasters-shudder-at-price-tag-for-2011-song-contest-a-698061.html
Triandafyllidou, Anna. "National Identity and The `Other.'." Ethnic & Racial Studies vol. 21, no. 4, 1998, pp. 593-610 SocINDEX with Full Text.
Polanco, Luis. “Controversial Contestant Xavier Naidoo Withdrawn As Germany's Contestant for 2016 Eurovision Song Contest.” Billboard, 23 Nov. 2015, www.billboard.com/articles/news/6770402/xavier-naidoo-withdrawn-germany-contestant-eurovision-song-contest.
No comments:
Post a Comment