The Four Ways Eurovision Gets Political 

Little known fact, in Cyprus its considered treason not giving a 12 to Greece

Also a funfact for non eurovision watchers: everytime cyprus or greece gives eachother 12 points you can hear the whole audience booing them

Four ways Eurovision gets political 1. it will 2. Always be 3. Political 4. forever

Talking about political songs, people don't even realise that right now in 2022 Moldova's song was about uniting with Romania, joining the same train in a single country. It was MORE than heartwarming.

Interesting how half of winners being from EE is seen as political, but another half being from Western Europe isn't seen as poltical. Double standards much?

Pretty obvious message. What is really strange is that still a lot of people still believe in "music without politics" or "sport without politics". Simply, politics is a part of our life regardless of what we think about it!

Thank you for this. It astounds me whenever I see other Eurovision fans complaining about the contest being political. It's always been that way, politics in Eurovision is nothing new, and I would say not even necessarily bad. Pop culture is naturally a reflection of current events, and what can be deemed political is extremely subjective to begin with

Lmao people get pissed when Eastern European countries vote for each other but when Nordics vote each other no-one cares and they say that the song is popular but that’s the same in those countries… in the Balkans, they will most likely support a country like Serbia or Greece if they send a popular song because they are influenced or used to and like the music they are sending…

The block voting is overrated. First of all, we get very different results each year and over the last couple of years we've had winners from all over Europe, which suggests that people primarily vote on music. There indeed are some patterns showing certain countries as more likely to vote for their close countries but this isn't necessarily about politics. The cultural element is influencing this much more. If some Balkan country sends a typical Balkan ballad, their neighbours are more likely to vote for it because it's simply the kind of music they like.

3:15 I mean, to be fully fair - it was created to unite after the war. Giving people safe outlet for international fighting fits into that perfectly.

That's cool, I'd like to add a bit about Russian participation. Russia tries to present itself as a cosmopolitan, all-equal society at the contest. Recent examples are: Manizha who has a combo of Tajik nationality and women rights/LGBT activism, Babushki band who are anti-agism and Julia Samoylova who sends a message of equal opportunity for disabled people. For years, more often than not, song and performer from Russia were not the ones who were most popular or most likely to win. They are selected because of the message they can represent. All of this at the same time as more repressive laws are made. Ironic

Please don't ever make the mistake of thinking anything the Daily Mail says is remotely accurate - especially on any subject that involves the word "Euro"

Russia (Sergey) won the televoting though. Leads to a discussion about juries vs public, and if the juries were reestablished to push a political agenda in an easier way.

That quote by Jørgen Franck really says it all. The show helps maintains a negative peace to prevent real conflict as much as possible. I've noticed Miss Universe sort of works in a similar way. And I think what's interesting about the LGBTQ element is not only that EBU affirms the humanity of LGBTQ people, but that it's also a relationship that grew organically out of the show's embrace for eccentricity, fun and creating community around music and spectacle (similar to what happens with drag queens). If the EBU was hostile to LGBTQ people a lot of the most dedicated fan base that spends millions every year to get tickets to the show would not exist or would not be as invested in the show.

Usually I’m wary when the word politics is discussed along with Eurovision, most of the time it’s brought up as a negative thing.., but I have to say I have to give you props in this video for treating the subject in a well informed fair and accurate manner I wish those people who say “ugh Eurovision, it’s all about politics” find the time to watch this up to the end

I’m from Azerbaijan and it took me a decade to understand what that fabulous lady from Germany meant during the voting back in 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. wow, I feel stupid. Thank you for making this video 🇦🇿🔥❤️

Serbia 2007 win was well deserved. Almost all countries gave at least 1 point to Serbia. And that is how you secure win.

Aged like fine wine. Eurovision is inherently political and there's nothing wrong with that, except if you don't like the politics of a certain country, then it becomes unacceptable for it to even participate right?

I generally disagree about bloc voting purely because it appears political at the surface level - here's why it's not actually: - a lot of the countries in these blocs are culturally, ethnically, historically and linguistically very similar - artists tend to promote songs not just in their country but also in their region, so often a Romanian song will chart in Ukraine, Hungary and Moldova well before the contest has even started airing - the music industry in these blocs are not strictly within borders - many producers and singers work across Sweden, Denmark and Norway for example and so outside of eurovision these regional music industries are shared in these blocs every other day of the yar - the juries are compromised of music industry experts, so just like the Grammys, these music experts do not exist outside of the real everyday world, so the networking they do for the work in general often applies to the voting. You would have an unconscious bias towards a song your friend helped produce because that's just how it works! - Greece and Greek Cyprus are essentially the same people, Cypriot and Greek singers fly between the countries so regularly, to the point where loads of Cypriot entries are actually Greek and lots of Greek songs are produced by Cypriot teams so why wouldn't they share similar styles and biases! Otherwise great video x

...and of course controversies related to Israel could constitute their own category, from Jordan refusing to broadcast Israel's win and claiming Belgium had actually won in 1978 to Israel repudiating its own contestants in 1990 because they waved Syrian and Israeli flags on stage at the end of their performance to (be still my heart) Iceland's Hatari challenging Benjamin Netanyahu to a leather shorts wrestling contest and holding up Palestinian flag banners during the green room coverage when Israel hosted in 2019.

This is why - in my opinon at least - American and Canadian song contest will not succeed. What makes Eurovision spicy each year is the political undertones that influence some parts of the contest. I had a riot with Iceland's 2019 performance and yep, Ukraine in 2016 was something and the 2017 song contest IMO was part 2 of that "drama" (lack of a better term). Not to mention, the 2021 song contest had covid warnings and each country had like different precautions (eg: Australia not flying at all and literally all aussie eurovision fans blaming our prime minister for not qualifying, or how Iceland in 2020 became so viral that they used as much of their popularity that they had and they ended up in 4th place... AND IT WAS PRE-RECORDED). All ASC and the song to be CSC have is just catchy songs and big celebs hosting it but there is no drama. Its just another version of "the voice". TLDR: What makes the song contests stand out from other shows like the voice and x factor is the lowkey politics and how it ties to current events.

I don't think Eurovision being political is necessarily bad, but when it affects the results too much then it is. I want songs to be voted for for their quality

Block voting did not ruin Eurovision. The western countries didn’t take Eurovision nearly as seriously.

Western countries have big budgets, eastern countries have the power of friendship. I seriously dont understand why 6 out of 12 winners from eastern countries should be something to worry about. It doesnt seem out of proportion for how many eatern european countries there are.

British and Irish pundits have been the most active out there spreading the “it’s just politics” mantra as a way to justify a trail of poor results. Instead, it was more likely the abolition of the national language rule. Excellent video, although I think block voting is cultural and not political/partisan.

Eurovision is what got me invested in European politics and history when I was about 10, so I've always been surprised when people claim it's getting too political. Eurovision is such an interesting reflection of current events and attitudes held by and towards European nations. The Armenia-Azerbaijan relationship is especially clear, with the Nagorno-Karabakh mountain ranges and the "unpatriotic voting" in 2009, as well as the flag dispute in 2016, which cover some of the points you did. If music is can be an expression of complex and personal issues, it can very well discuss political issues. Combine that with voting and presentation and everything that goes on behind the scenes, and you get some of what I've found to be the most interesting parts of the Eurovision Song Contest (but not more than Epic Sax Guy, he's unbeatable).

This video aged well

The reason why eastern bloc countries are so prevalent as the winners in Eurovision is because they are really good at Eurovision, taking Ukraine as an example, Ukraine is the only country to be in the finale in every Eurovision since they participated besides the big 5 which automatically qualify for the finals

Actually, Eurovision is surprisingly apolitical, considering it is a competition between European nations, most of which have been in war for centuries. Yes, there are voting blocks, yes there is diaspora voting, yes there is racism against smaller/Eastern European countries and yes there are countries which are more and less 'sexy'. Still, somehow, the winner is always the most deserved entry (at least in past 10 years).

It’s so sad ukraine can’t win without people being mad about politics despite the fact ukraine always sends quality songs. I love the songs 1944 and stefania, they were both my winners

Wish LGBT acceptance didn’t have to be seen as political. It should be viewed more as prevention of censoring art but I guess there’s more nuance to it

Can you imagine if no politic involved Ukraine won't get TWO wins

At least Greece and Cyprus have only one country to reassure some points unlike the Nordic countries.

Greece and Cyprus have the same language, culture, mentality, etc., many Cypriots singers have their careers established in Greece, Greece and Cyprus are basically sister-countries. Yet, everyone gets upset if they exchange 12 points, meaning Greece will only get 1 set of 12 points from Cyprus, and Cyprus will only get 1 set of 12 points from Greece, all when they ignore the fact that Scandinavian countries are the prime example of 12-points exchange, mostly to Sweden, which is why Sweden either wins or places high on the scoreboard every single year, while sending generic sings with the same format.

Honestly, how dare you imply that Estonia won in 2001 due to "Eastern bloc nations propping each other up". I used the website that you mentioned for the 2001-2012 time period you referenced in the video, and Estonia was clustered in with Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Monaco, Finland, Ireland, United Kingdom, Lithuania and Latvia (Estonia already had a connection with the last two before the Soviet Union, so in my opinion, that doesn't really support your point). Also, in 2001, there were hardly any Eastern bloc countries in Eurovision (edit: compared to the total number of countries in Eurovision and the number of countries in the Eastern bloc).

2:09 From 2013 to 2021, we’ve only had 1 former Soviet country winning (Ukraine in 2016), you could’ve also added that 😉. Other than that, thanks for informing and making this video! Looking forward to next week 🇪🇺🥳.

Ukraine’s 1944 does not get enough credit imo. It was using the political power of Eurovision in such a savvy way

Serbia, or any other country from the former Yugoslavia, was never a member of the Eastern Block. Yugoslavia was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement. I understand it seems complicated from where you're standing, but you should get your facts straight anyway.

Talking about Political songs, in 2011 Portugal brought a song to Eurovision called “A Luta é Alegria”, which means “The struggle is Happiness”, and I think that’s the cumulus of Politics in an Eurovision song. It’s basically a protest on stage.

Interesting video, although Israel's brand building was not discussed. Or Moroccanoil as the main sponsor of Eurovision...

In 2008 Spain send a parody song "Baila el Chiki Chiki", a really dumb and simple song by a comedian playing the character of Rodolfo Chiquilicuatre, an Argentinian reagueton singer. A TV show from another channel created this song just to troll ESC, because in Spain we were tired of never winning, for many many years Spain was always at the bottom. This is a very famous episody of ESC history in Spain, everybody remembers it. The reason why I am bringing up this song is the anecdote of the slight change in the lyrics that was introduced for avoiding "political content". The lyrics of "Baila el Chiki Chiki" where simplistic, it just explain the dance and say that everybody likes to dance this song. In the national selection one of the lines of the song said the last name of two politicians. "Lo baila Rajoy, lo baila Zapatero" = "Rajoy dances it, Zapatero dances it" José Luis R. Zapatero : president of Spain at that time Mariano Rajoy : leader of the opposition at that time In the version that was sent to ESC this line was changed and they say the more generic and common first name: "Lo baila Mariano, lo baila Jose Luis" = "Mariano dances it, Jose Luis dances it" So even in a very bland song with no political message (in fact almost no message at all), this little detail was modified.

The bloc voting in the Balkans is always fascinating. Some of these countries are known to hate each other politically and there's a lot of ugly history from the past 30 some years but it's kinda nice to see them still celebrate each other's music and show that the people have a bond despite what their governments do/have done.

Correct me if I am wrong - I believe that discussion about bloc voting began heavily after 2001 (though my parents tell me that Eurovision was always considered to be politically influenced in one way or another, but the winner was decided by the juries, not by public), the year Estonia won with 75% of all available points - and that makes the song "Everybody" the 12th most successful winner in the ESC history. Nice result for entry that 'must have won on the basis of bloc voting'... Btw. I am from Croatia, no connections to Estonia whatsoever, this is just an example (and my favourite from that year was Denmark), but what I am trying to say is that it is not possible to win ESC relying solely on your neighbourghs'votes - 5 sets of 12 points would not have been enough for Estonia to win (add more 12s and a few 10s and 8s)- and I do not think UK, Malta or Slovenia are baltic countries. And my favourite ESC winners came from the public alone voting era - please someone find me better entry than Fly On the Wings of Love, Everyway That I Can (my personal favourite winner of all times), WILD DANCES!!!, My Number One (okay maybe Let Me Try), Molitva.... Eventually the best entry with the best performance wins, it was especially obvious during early 2000s when the peoples decided❤ Sorry for a way too long and probably incoherent post, but I really love Eurovision❤, and I hate when sb says it is all political (not that it is branded like that in this video, actually the whole hypothesis the video is actually very argumentatively and intelligently analysed).... That being said, I do not think for a second that Ukraine will win ESC 2022 (maybe Alina Pash would have won for non-political and music-related reasons)

The German woman actually greeted in DUTCH as the Eurovision was held in Rotterdam that year!

11:37 her song was not anti-russian but anti-soviet.

hello from 2024 this video aged ....interestingly

You know what would be the best way to really test Eurovision....Bring in all the 40 something countries in. Present the singer/s and/or band but DON'T tell which country they are. At the end, you vote by the performance and when you have a winner, you reveal the countries for each. Just to see. It would be hard because each country has to do a national competition to vote who will represent them. But it would be so entertaining.

So well dissected. You've gone beyond the surface of it all which usually loses me. Congratulations you have seriously thought this through.

as an Azerbaijani who lives abroad for long period of time, can tell that 2011-2012 ESC was a key part for Azerbaijan to be recognized by millions, especially in Europe itself. whenever i am saying to my foreign friends that I am from Azerbaijan, they say about Eurovision. 🇦🇿🇪🇺

Honestly the block voting is my favorite thing. I’m German, but no one votes for us, we make a drinking game out of it

Just discovered this channel. It gets exactly how Eurovision is both daft and serious - and all things in between at the same time. Brilliant!

Nigar has nothing to Do with the N word… Nigar is a Persian name with a different meaning and it’s pronounced differently… I guess western people act like anything that is spelt similar to something controversial they say “RACIST”

Sergey deserved to win. Both his songs were incredibly good imo. 🥺

Ukraine won this year, some say it's only due to political reasons. My responses are: A. Just because you didn't like the music that doesn't mean it wasn't worthy of winning and B. How is that a bad thing?

You forgot the 2014 entries about the ticking time bomb and the inseparable twins for politically charged lyrics

it's called eurovision song contest, you would think it's about songs competing and not politics 😔

5. Germanys points should be as low as possible....

Hands down, this is the best video I've ever seen about ESC and politics.

It’s interesting about the voting and 2016. How the voting system worked prior to the 2016 contest would have meant Ukraine wouldn’t have won and it would have been Australia who would have won because the votes were awarded to acts combining the jury and public votes together. But the voting system changed in 2016, where they separated the jury and public voting bringing in the factors you spoke of with the public vote as well as the fact much of European voting public confused why Australia was even in the contest (we - Australia can compete in the contest because we are members of the EBU). Australia had won the Jury votes that year. Ukraine won over all because of the jury vote. The political voting is more with the public vote than with professional juries.

And dont forget that eurovision 1974 was the code for the portuguese military to prepare themselfs for the Carnation revolution

Lol "We don't wanna Put In" 😂

But songs about peace, freedom, solidarity and so on, are allowed in the Eurovision. However, these are political themes too !

Is it really politics, or is it just that countries that are geographically or linguistically similar are more likely to have similar cultures and therefore like the same types of songs.

Okey but u can make a voting system that would not be so political influenced LMAO...

The website's pretty cool, would be good to see the stats from 2018 through to the present (2022)

Thank you for this video. I always get annoyed by people who complain about politics in Eurovision. Politics are cricumstances that influence artists and viewer, there is not really a way to separate it. It also ties with freedom of speech and artistic freedom. It adresses issues that people care about and give them away to express it.

It's impossible for Eurovision not to be political, the core of the contest itself is. It's made with public money, so from there it's public and political. I love all this video. You did quite the job to explain well with few.

Another excellent analysis!

so detailed amazingly done!

That Love Love Peace Peace song, was on the same page as you. Sweden used it to show the contestants a mirror.

Hey Matt, we love these videos, so much background info on the artists career and how it all relates to Eurovision. Wondering if you've noticed a 'curse' on artists who were due to enter the cancelled 2020 contest? So many tried again, and many this year through national finals but lost their chance again... 🤔

I ♥ Overthinking It - everything is "on point" there.

crazy good video. thank you Matt!

tbh I think there are even more than these 4 ways. If the EBU excludes countries, that's suuper politcal too. If a country can or cannot broadcast it and many more, like hatari holdingup a palestine banner while they competed in Israel. Hosting the Contest is like a magnifying glass on a country

1983 Ofra Haza from Israel on German soil with the act of "Khay" (alive): "Alive, alive, alive, yes, I'm still alive ! That's the song my grandfather sang to my father and today I sing I am still alive, alive, alive, the Jewish people alive ! That's the song my grandfather sang to my father and today I sing" Can an Eurovision act be any more political defiance?

2022: let me introduce myself

We can also argue the showcasing of Western values can be seen in Eurovision performances being conducted in English. There are very few songs nowadays which are sung in traditional languages, now the trend is more toward singing in English

Political ? Maybe ... But voting by jury can be even more (!!!) political then voting by people ... instead of looking for some crazy connections like "ex - communist " countries, how about similiar or even the same language... Greece and Cyprus- omg , same nation... Of course they will vote for each other ! Balkan - same language, same roots, same people , we listen "OUR" music , meaning- it doesn't matter from which ex- Yu country it comes , it's OUR music... Ex- SSSR - one fact - in many of ex SSSR countries there is Russian minority which is sometimes up to 50 % of population, mostly natives there ... Russian language is wide spoken by Russians and non- Russians... They have also a lots of mixed marriages .. Politics - its something that divide us 😛, bcs we are stupid and we allowed it 🙄, ... but music - its something that connect us ... Its NOT about communism, pretty much we all HATE communism, but it's about same culture, slavic culture, same roots , same or very similar rhythm, same or similar language.... For example , someone who's superstar in Croatia is also superstar in every single ex-Yu country. When Croatia plays football against, let's say England, ofc people from ex- YU will support Croatia . It's normal and natural. We are ours . As I said - many Slavic countries are just divided by politics in so called (and sometimes fake ) " nations " , divide et impera kinda thing ... In every other aspect- we support our people ...

Music is just another way of expressing one’s thoughts and emotions, no matter what genre or situation. And there is nothing wrong about that 😊

8:57 Update: Ukraine this year (2022) as well

I really love your work. :) I'd still suggest you let a diehard Eurovision fan proofread/fact-check your scripts. I'm sure you'll find a fan who'd gladly do this so that inaccuracies aren't spread that are often easily spotted by fans or people who were actually there.

great analysis!

They did a dirty on Austria this year.

Can I just... not sure what year but Croatia.. 'Never Say Goodbye'... one of my favourite ESC songs of all time.

TOP NOTCH VIDEO!!! keep up the excellent work

The fact that every thing could be considered propaganda makes the first point a bit useless, also I find it obvious that countries with similar cultures and shared history tend to vote each other. The third point is pretty obvious (at least for what I think) because I don’t know what values other than “eastern” ones would be showcased in a show where only eastern countries participate. 1) democracy: people like to interact with what they’re seeing, if they couldn’t vote the contest would lose at least half its views. 2) pluralism: that is actually political, but in the EU I think it’s pretty basic and accepted, we’re used to it. 3) lgbtq acceptance: If an artist wants to make a song about being gay and it gets popular enough to qualify for Eurovision then it’s not propaganda, it means that people probably like that song. 4) That point made sense, even if I find it less influential/noticeable compared to your other points (if they were as big as you told them).

The whole story of Ukraine in 2016 is misleading - in the public vote they got less points than Russia. Ukraine won thanks to the jury points.

Woule be amazing to hear your opinion on 1srael during the 2024 Eurovision contest

Politically charged songs are not admitted if they don’t match the Eurovision Agenda. If they do then they are admitted.

Croatia and Slovenia threw politics aside though by giving Serbia their 12 points.

Something as big as Eurovision of course you would see some politics in there. But we're here for the art and the songs and kudos to all artists!

Should have mentioned Dancing Lasha Tumbai in the 'thinly veiled political message' section, once you realise what Lasha Tumbai rhymes with it's clear. It's "The Shaman - Ebeneezer Goode slyly referencing drugs" of the Eurovision world

Belgium and the Netherlands aren't really a bloc though😂

Balkan people vote for balkan countries sending in balkan music, surprising! Jokes aside, loved Moldova this year. They usually bring ethnic inspired catchy party music. And last years winner had some political backing aswell, they are openly supporting LGBT and sung in their home language.

Greece and Cyprus are essentially made from the same people,besides,all the Norwegian countries do that every year, every time

romania and moldova exchange 12 points almost every year lol

I haven't seen Eurovision since 2016 and I'm glad.

Hello from Greece 🇬🇷. Why do always people refer to us and Cyprus on the matter of voting. I mean we do not even see each other as different ethnically. And so many countries in Europe do the exact same thing, but of course western Europe is always unbiased when voting, right?😂🤡🤡🤡

Glad to hear some Marry Me tunes haha :D I'm Finnish and that was the first and only year I've went to see the eurovision live. I was singing that song so much that week that I lost my voice lol

Georgia's entry was fire that year and my second favourite entry after France's.