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The Panto That Is The Eurovision Song Contest Written by on December 21, 2016 | 1 Comment

All your favourite songs, an evil queen to scream at, and the worry of who is behind you. Yes it’s Panto season in the United Kingdom, but how close is the Eurovision Song Contest to the classic British theatre genre? Ewan Spence pulls out his jesters stick to explore the evolving nature of theatre and performance.

It’s that time of year again where the ‘Pantomime’ of the Eurovision Song Contest starts up once more. The National Final season steps up a gear this week with Albania’s Festivali i Këngës lighting up the winter, Israel takes over in the first week of January, and the ball is then well and truly off and rolling.

It’s a comforting time of year to be a Eurovision fan, there is a familiarity to the offerings, there are new names, but the songs arguably fit into a similar style. There is a reason that it feels like that other great British institution of the winter. Is the Eurovision Song Contest the biggest pantomime of all?

Hello Boys And Girls!

Pantomime, more colloquially known as the Christmas Panto, is a uniquely British form of theatre. What we know today as Pantomime has its ancestry in 16th century ‘Masque’, the Italian ‘Commedia dell’Arte’ and ‘Victorian Burlesque’. It mixes variety hall songs, bawdy humour, dance troop numbers, comedy routines, double entendre, and cross-dressing. Typically based around traditional fairytales, the stories weaved every year are by definition new stories, but everything new feels traditional, feels comfortable, and everyone knows exactly what to expect.

It’s a long-running show, family, fun, songs, humour, drag, and painful jokes? To the British ear that sounds a lot like the Eurovision Song Contest.

What would “Panto Eurovision: He’s Behind You” look like? Every Contest has its principal boy and girl singing the winning song (Mans Zelmerlow and Jamala), our Good Fairy (Petra Mede), the big baddie (whoever Russia sends), and the Panto Dame (by a process of elimination this role has to go to Jon Ola Sand – he’d make a wonderful Widow Twanky). Just add some thigh slapping and you’ve got Panto!

Jon Ola Sand (Image @ShockedJonOlaSand)

Tradition dictates that this is captioned “He’s behind you!!!” (Image @ShockedJonOla)

The tropes are all there, from the annual awarding of twelve points and the over-the-top interval acts to the postcards and Portugal’s inability to place higher than fifth. And no matter who writers the scripts, you can be sure our hosts will deliver an introduction worthy of anything you would find at the end of an English pier or in a slightly fading market-town theatre.

But hold on a minute. Pantomime is a pretty static art form, having reached a level that not only sustains itself but is widely accepted by all. There’s no real competition in the festive theatre calendar – Panto is far too profitable. That’s not the case with the Eurovision Song Contest. In today’s rapidly chaining media landscape, our Song Contest has to continue to evolve to stay relevant. If the Pantomime is a mature product, then the Contest is in a Darwinian fight for annual survival.

Oh Yes It Is!

It’s fair to say that the Song Contest evolved out of theatre based variety shows of the forties and fifties. Early Contests were targeted at radio listeners, and the style of music reflected not the popular music of the charts but the music you would find at a packaged variety show. The evolution of Eurovision quickly moves away from the theatre and towards the needs of new media; first radio, then television, and now adapting to the online environment.

Pantomime remains closely tied to the traditions of the theatre which is not as fast moving as other performance media. That’s no bad thing – many smaller theatres rely on the income from the winter’s Panto season to subsidise productions throughout the rest of the year. And without pantomime every year, what would Nicki French do over the winter? (Catch Nicki in Portsmouth this Panto season!)

Nicki French as the Ice Queen (image: New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth)

Nicki French as the Ice Queen (image: New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth)

Panto is a fully formed art, and it’s unlikely to face any pressure to make drastic changes – a Pantomime today is very similar to that of five, ten, or even twenty years ago. Looking forward in time any panto I take my grandchildren to in the future will not feel that much different to one I take my children to today.

The case is not the same with the Eurovision Song Contest?

Oh No It Isn’t!

Is the Eurovision Song Contest a Pantomime?

Oh yes it is!” But at the same time “Oh no it isn’t!

Jamie-Lee, Germany 2016 (image: Wiwibloggs.com)

Jamie-Lee, Germany 2016 (image: Wiwibloggs.com)

Eurovision stands along as a unique piece of performance art that changes every single year, that is always in flux, and demands an every changing mastery of disciplines if you want to participate successfully. It’s more than a collection of three minute songs, it’s more than light-entertainment programme, it’s more than reality television. It is art that stands alone, art that can be appreciated, art that reflects popular culture, and society…

…plus the occasional drag queen!

About The Author: Ewan Spence

British Academy (BAFTA) nominated broadcaster and writer Ewan Spence is the voice behind The Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast and one of the driving forces behind ESC Insight. Having had an online presence since 1994, he is a noted commentator around the intersection of the media, internet, technology, mobility and how it affects us all. Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, his work has appeared on the BBC, The Stage, STV, and The Times. You can follow Ewan on Twitter (@ewan) and Facebook (facebook.com/ewanspence).

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One response to “The Panto That Is The Eurovision Song Contest”

  1. Eurojock says:

    Congratulations, Ewan, on coming up with an article that somehow makes Eurovision relevant to the festive season. It reminds me of when I organised an office World Cup forecasting competition and managed to shoehorn a round of Eurovision predictions in on the basis of some highly dubious points of comparison.

    Still, panto comparisons aside, an exploration of shifting trends at Eurovision is an extremely interesting one. Maybe you could develop this line of inquiry further particularly concerning how musical and staging styles have changed over time. It seems to me that the sort of song that would have won ESC only ten years ago is no longer the kind of music that would triumph now – as Sergei Lazarev found out to his cost.

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