book cover for: Performing the ‘New’ Europe: Identities, Feelings and Politics at the Eurovision Song Contest
Professor Karen Fricker of Brock University’s Department of Dramatic Arts reports about the Eurovision Song Contest for the May 19th, 2015 edition of the national CBC radio show “Q”.
“Eurovision turns 60: Karen Fricker on what to watch for this year
Yes, Eurovision is a song competition — but it’s also a microcosm of geopolitical tensions, says scholar Karen Fricker.”
(source: CBC website)
Professor Fricker is co-founder of the Eurovision and ‘New’ Europe academic research network. She has spent the last decade attending “Europe’s favourite TV show”, the Eurovision Song Contest, the annual pop song festival watched by over 170 million people all over the world.
Professor Fricker, who lectures in the praxis concentration at DART, launched her co-edited book Performing the ‘New’ Europe: Identities, Feelings and Politics at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013. This volume argues that this popular music competition is a symbolic contact zone between European cultures: an arena for European identification in which both national solidarity and participation in a European identity are confirmed, and a site where cultural struggles over the meanings, frontiers and limits of Europe are enacted.
To listen to the radio interview, read more about the 60th anniversary edition of Eurovision and to see select videos of participating artists see the cbc.ca article here: http://bit.ly/1HqiC1a
A spotlight is shining on Azerbaijan this May as it hosts Eurovision, the annual European song contest known for its outlandish performances, and viewed on TV by more than 100 million people. But it’s not all glitz this year. While Azerbaijan attempts to show off its strength to the world, it’s also come under scrutiny by activist groups for its unsavoury human rights record, and its crackdown on anti-government protestors and journalists leading up to the contest.