This book investigates Australia’s relationship with the Eurovision Song Contest over time and place, from its first screening on SBS in 1983 to Australia's inaugural national selection in 2019. Beginning with an overview of Australia’s Eurovision history, the contributions explore the contest’s role in Australian political participation and international relations; its significance for Australia’s diverse communities, including migrants and the LGBTQIA+ community; racialised and gendered representations of Australianness; changing ideas of liveness in watching the event; and a reflection on teaching Australia’s first undergraduate course dedicated to the Eurovision Song Contest. The collection brings together a group of scholar-fans from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives — including history, politics, cultural studies, performance studies, and musicology — to explore Australia’s transition from observer to participant in the first thirty-six years of its love affair with the Eurovision Song Contest.
Chris Hay
Eurovision Music Migration Eurovision Song Contest Music performance Australian music
“In an age when Australia increasingly sees itself as a country defined by its location in Asia, this book reminds us that Australia’s relationship to Europe remains culturally and historically profound. Through a multifaceted investigation of Australia’s engagement with the Eurovision Song Contest, this wonderful edited collection shows us how ‘Europe’ remains a crucial reference point for Australians of very diverse backgrounds, pointing to the complexities of the nation’s cultural identity in the 21st century.” (Distinguished Professor Ien Ang, Western Sydney University, Australia)
“For anyone who wonders why Australia is in the Eurovision Song Contest, this expert collection of essays explores the diverse cultural and historical dynamics of this antipodal relationship. But that’s only half the story: how Eurovision is in Australia reveals the continent’s multiculturalism born of immigration, its indigenous First Nations people, and its close bonds with Asian nations. A timely and insightful study of the song contest’s far-reaching connections even as globalism is everywhere in question.” (Ivan Raykoff, Associate Professor of Music, The New School, USA)