The Eurovision Song Contest as a Cultural Phenomenon

Drawing from the wealth of academic literature about the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) written over the last two decades, this book consolidates and recognizes the ESC's relevance in academia by analysing its contribution to different fields of study. The book brings together leading ESC scholars from across disciplines and from across the globe to reflect on the intersection between their academic fields of study and the ESC by answering the question: what has the ESC contributed to academia? The book also draws from fields rarely associated with the ESC, such as Law, Business and Research Methodologies, to demonstrate the contest's broad utility in research, pedagogy and in practice. Given its interdisciplinary approach, this volume will be of interest to scholars and students working in cultural, media, and music studies, as well as those interested in the intersections between these areas and politics, law, education, pedagogy, and history.

Adam Dubin is a human rights scholar and Assistant Professor of Law at Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid, Spain, as well as an Adjunct Professor of Politics at New York University, USA. He is also a Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg and a Visiting Professor at Southwest University of Politics and Law in China. His research focuses on human rights in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as on the intersection between human rights and pop culture. Dean Vuletic is a Historian of Contemporary Europe based in the Research Center on the History of Transformations at the University of Vienna, Austria. The author of Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest (2018), he is the world's leading academic expert on the history of the ESC and he has taught the world's first university course on this topic. He is an internationally prominent media commentator and public speaker on the ESC, and further information about his work can be found on his website www.deanvuletic.com. Antonio Obregón was formerly Vice Rector of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty of Law at Universidad Pontificia Comillas. He is a Full Professor of Criminal Law and International Relations. He holds an undergraduate degree in Law and Business Administration and a PhD in Criminal Law. He designed and taught the first seminar in a Spanish university on the ESC and is a frequent commentator on it in the Spanish media.

Part I From Lugano to the Classroom: The ESC and Academia; 1. The Grand Tour: The Origins of the ESC as a Cultural Phenomenon; 2. The Eurovision Song Contest: An Academic Phenomenon; 3. A Human Rights-Based Analysis of the Eurovision Song Contest and the European Broadcasting Union; Part II From Past to Present: History, Politics and Society; 4. The Mythology of Song Contests; 5. Teaching European History and Memory through Eurovision During the Covid-19 Pandemic; 6. A March for Power: The Variety of Political Programs on the Eurovision Stage; 7. The Molitva Factor: Eurovision and 'Performing' National Identity in World Politics; 8. A Critical Pedagogical Eurovision Euphoria: The Potential of the Eurovision Song Contest to Promote Values Propagated by the European Union within Formal Learning Contexts; 9. Sharing Values in the Eurovision Song Contest and OTI Festival: The Moral Fourth Person in the Lyrics of the Winning Songs; 10. Eurovision in the Boardroom: What Does Voting Order Tell Us About Decision Making?; Part III From Stage to Screen: Film, Media, and Music; 11. High, Low, and Participatory: The Eurovision Song Contest and Cultural Studies; 12. Queer Camp Against Franco: Iván Zulueta's Eurovision Song Contest Parody Un Dos Tres; 13. The Eurovision Song Contest and European Television History: Continuity, Adaptation, Experimentation; 14. From Trouble to Bubble? The Ambiguous Relationship between Professional Journalists and Fan Media in the Eurovision Song Contest; 15. Domesticity, Mass Media, and Moving-Image Aesthetics: The Visual Identity of the Eurovision Song Contest as a Hospitable Platform; 16. Armchair Researchers: Modes of Ethnographic Research for Understanding and Experiencing Eurovision; 17. Between Concepts and Behaviors: The Eurovision Song Contest and Ethnomusicology