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Eurovision at 60: English songs dominate<a class="" href="http://theconversation.com/us/events"><span class="">More Events</span>
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Boo if you dare.
<span class=""><a class="" href="http://www.epa.eu/arts-culture-and-entertainment-photos/music-photos/rehearsals-60th-eurovision-song-contest-photos-51952628">Georg Hochmuth/EPA</a></span>
<p>Once, UK Eurovision entries had an advantage of being
sung in English. But since the rules were changed in 1999 to allow
countries to compete in any language – not just their own – all winning
songs bar one (Serbia in 2007) have been sung in the English language.</p>
<p>Of the 40 songs entered into the competition this year, 33 were in
English and one was sung in both English and Romanian. Only one song not
in the English language (apart from the bilingual Romanian entry) that <a href="http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/feature/a636570/eurovision-song-contest-2015-your-ultimate-guide-to-the-grand-final.html#%7EpdvpL5TNXuor6E">made it through a semi-final</a> was the Montenegro entry, sung in Montenegrin. Spain, France and Italy (who qualify <a href="http://www.eurovision.tv/page/about/rules">to the final automatically</a>) are still singing in their respective languages.</p>
<p>When Eurovision began there was no language policy, but most
countries entered songs in their own official language anyway. Between
1966 and 1972 a restriction to sing in one of the official languages of
the country was imposed, but this changed in 1973 and for the next four
contests, countries had the freedom to sing in any language (that’s why
ABBA were able to sing Waterloo in English). From 1977 until 1999 the
restriction to use only official languages applied again.</p>
<p>During the times when the restriction applied, some countries entered
songs in languages other than the main language of the country: France
has competed with songs in Corsican, Breton and even Haitian Creole;
Italy entered a song in Neapolitan in 1991, and in 1972 even Ireland
eschewed English in favour of an Irish language song. The UK has never
entered a song in Welsh, Scots or Scottish Gaelic, however.</p>
<img alt="" src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/82754/width237/image-20150523-32589-uo1d6m.jpg">
<span class="">Teach In’s Ding-a-Dong in 1975.</span>
<p>There have been songs in made-up languages, and we must not forget
great Eurovision classics using titles such as La La La (Spain, 1968),
Ding-a-dong (The Netherlands, 1975), Boom Bang-a-bang (UK, 1969),
A-ba-ni-bi (Israel, 1978), and Diggi-Doo Diggi-Ley (Sweden, 1984).</p>
<p>France, Italy, Spain and Portugal have always sung in one of their
official languages, sometimes combined with a few words in English. Even
partial use of the English language in their entries has gathered
criticism: <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7350193.stm">there were complaints in France</a> when their song “Divine” included verses in English in 2008 and last year the Spanish Royal Academy of Language <a href="http://esctoday.com/77735/spain-controversy-language/">complained about the use of English</a> in the chorus of the Spanish entry.</p>
<p>It’s not only the songs that are dominated by English. Another
Eurovision classic is in decline: you are unlikely to hear many “douze
points” being awarded as, although French remains an official voting
language in the contest, most national spokespeople choose to deliver
their votes in English.</p>
<p>And speaking of votes, there surely will be talk of bloc voting and
political alliances as countries deliver their points. There’s no
denying that neighbours often vote for their fellow neighbouring
countries, but is this politically motivated? It seems to me that
countries often vote for songs that sound close to their own musical
tastes. So if a Balkan country votes for another, ask yourself if the
song/look/language have much in common with the country that is awarding
votes for them.</p>
<p>British People often say the UK is shunned by other countries because of Euro-politics, but there is <a href="http://theconversation.com/hard-evidence-is-the-uk-shunned-at-eurovision-26354">no hard evidence to prove it</a>.
Maybe viewers should reflect on how much effort the BBC puts into the
British entry. The last time a big effort was made was in 2009, when
Andrew Lloyd-Webber was enlisted to write the song and find a suitable
singer. The song, “It’s My Time”, came fifth in the contest – the last
time the UK has bothered the top ten.</p>
<p>In the last few years the UK has sent either “veteran” (ahem) singers
such as Engelbert Humperdinck and Bonnie Tyler or unknown inexperienced
newcomers. This year, the song selected was announced in a 15-minute
programme available on the red button/iPlayer. Compare the UK effort
with that of Sweden, where they host the Melodiefestivalen, a huge
contest to select their representative, and you’ll get a feeling that
the UK gets what it gives.</p>
<p>Despite the evidence that Eurovision is becoming a monolingual event,
it remains a multicultural event. It really is hard to tell sometimes
whether the costumes, songs and choreographies are meant to represent
the best or the worst of the country.</p>
<img alt="" src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/82753/width668/image-20150523-32572-1bb4nm8.jpg">
<span class="">Poland’s 2014 entry, ‘We are Slavic, had women churning butter suggestively on stage in traditional costume.</span>
<span class=""><a class="" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Donatan_%26_Cleo,_ESC2014_Meet_%26_Greet_19.jpg">Albin Olsson</a>, <a class="" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
<p>Diversity, <a href="http://theconversation.com/a-song-to-unite-the-gender-politics-of-eurovision-still-divide-41754">gender politics</a>, and <a href="http://theconversation.com/conchita-wursts-eurovision-win-and-the-power-of-performance-26565">human rights </a> have become main issues in the contest.</p>
Russia’s Tolmachevy twins got booed. This year there’s anti-booing technology.
<p>Last year’s <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/eurovision-2014-russia-booed-by-crowd-during-final-9350249.html">clearly audible booing of the Russian entry</a>
because of the country’s homophobic policies and Ukraine intervention
was evidence of this, even though you couldn’t help feeling sorry for
the 17-year-old twins who represented Russia and whose performance had
nothing to do it. This year, <a href="http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/archive/segment/555e242dfe344402de000110">anti-booing technology</a> will be used to prevent similar occurrences.</p>
<img alt="" src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/82756/width237/image-20150523-32567-gpao7a.jpg">
<span class="">Australia’s Guy Sebastian won’t be singing in an aboriginal language.</span>
<span class=""><a class="" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/evarinaldiphotography/6606310593/in/photolist-b4M4YM-b4M4VB-b4M56M-b4M5g8-b4M4R2-9srHir-9ssoSs-b4M5eR-b4M4N6-b4M5da-b4M5bz-b4M5u4-9ssoS7-9ssoSh-9ssoSU-5oevGN-b4M5oD-b4M4SK-b4M4Be-b4M5mV-b4M4EM-atC5e8-atC5rZ-atC5gv-atEKkY-atC5jT-atEK7u-atC4Pn-atEK8W-atC4Xi-atC4U8-atEK2o-atEJYm-atC5ED-atEKz1-atC5v6-9sqLfi-9sqLf2-9sqLeP-9sqLfP-9sqLfv-9sqLeD-rK6qr-dAc22V-rK6Bd-rK5Pz-rK5SD-rK67b-rK6cB-rK6kQ">Eva Rinaldi</a>, <a class="" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
<p>Also new this year <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32812385">is the use of sign language</a>
to make the competition more inclusive. And to celebrate the 60th
anniversary of the contest, Australia has been invited for a one-off
entry into the competition. Alas, the representative Guy Sebastian will
not be singing in any of the 27 aboriginal languages of Australia.</p>
<p>As modern foreign language teachers in the UK know all too well,
recruiting students is a perpetual fight against the all-too-common
question: “Why should I learn another language when everyone else speaks
English?” In the case of Eurovision it does indeed feel like everyone
else does speak English. Out of 60 Eurovision contests, half of them
will have been won by songs in the English language. English, is seems,
is the language of Europop.</p><p><br></p><a href="http://theconversation.com/eurovision-at-60-english-songs-dominate-and-theres-added-anti-booing-technology-42294">http://theconversation.com/eurovision-at-60-english-songs-dominate-and-theres-added-anti-booing-technology-42294</a><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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