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Contributing To ESC Insight

As well as the editors and staffers you can read on the site and hear on our podcast and radio shows, ESC Insight has published guest posts from many contributing writers. Some of those writers have become regular contributors, some have stayed as single articles, and others have joined the team to become more involved. New contributors are invited to write about a specific topic, sometimes we spot ideas on social networks and ask if the idea could be expanded, others have pitched ideas to the team.

Let’s talk about that latter… how you can contribute to ESC Insight.

Meeting Eva, Delil and Alice all together in the Eurovision Press Centre

Meeting Eva, Delil and Alice all together in the Eurovision Press Centre

What We’re Looking For

We think our mission statement is clear and gives you a great idea of the level you should look to achieve:

ESC Insight brings you in-depth editorial, discussion and commentary around the Eurovision Song Contest.

Beyond that, what excites you, what angers you, what brings out your emotions? Write about that!

Jon Jacob At The Proms (image: Jon Jacob)

A few of ESC Insight’s contributors and some friends (image: Jon Jacob).

Some Helpful Advice

Guest articles are usually between 500 and 800 words. We don’t really have an upper word limit, instead we look for a balance between giving your article as much story and content as possible without overwhelming the idea or padding out the length.

Although ESC Insight has addressed some rather big issues in our time, we find that the best guest articles will concentrate on a narrow topic, such as a specific rule, a single country, one new idea, or one question.

Ask yourself what your unique viewpoint is on the issue. There’s nothing to stop you from looking at a popular Eurovision topic but you should try to add something of substance to the debate.

Once you know what topic you want to write about, make sure that you are answering the question you set. If you’re going to highlight a problem you should always propose a solution, even if all you want to do is open up a debate.

Måns Zelmerlöw | Sweden

Måns faces the awaiting journalists in the winner’s press conference.
Eurovision.tv

Suggested Reading

One of the quickest ways to get an idea of what could work on ESC insight is to read guest articles on the site. Just remember that while ESC Insight is a team effort, everyone has their own unique style and we’ll help you develop that. You could hit the archives (here’s a link to our 2023 coverage), but here are some articles that have worked really well.

Remembering Birmingham And The Last Eurovision Revolution, by Keith Andrew.

Every Eurovision Song Contest has innovated on the success of previous years, but the BBC’s hosting of the Contest in Birmingham 1998 saw more innovation than most. In the week of Liverpool’s hosting of Eurovision 2023, Keith Andrew looked back at a Contest that helped define Eurovision for the 21st century.

How Måneskin Influenced A New Generation Of Eurovision Performers, by John Lucas

With their massive global success and an ever-growing fanbase, you could make a strong case for Måneskin as the most important Eurovision Song Contest winner in decades. As the Eurovision performers list for 2022 was finalised, John Lucas took a look at how that year’s intake might have been influenced by the groundbreaking Italian rockers…

Every Fan Of Eurovision Is A True Eurovision Fan, by Ewan Spence

The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the largest musical parties of the year. Ewan Spence addressed the undercurrent of gatekeeping and entitlement from parts of the community that these fans aren’t true fans because they haven’t lived and breathed their Contest for countless years. Every fan is a true Eurovision fan in our community.

How Do You Rank Your Eurovision Songs?, by Harriett Robinson

As the artists go through their final rehearsals before performing their Eurovision numbers to the public from the Liverpool Stage, Harriet Robinson asked how we individually rank our favourites and why the jurors and viewing audience have to take a different approach.

15 Song Semi Final? Why Only Nine Should Qualify, by Ben Robertson.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 featured 37 countries. That meant one of the Semi Finals in Liverpool was scheduled to have just 15 songs. When the entry list was confirmed, Ben Robertson argued that, with both the United Kingdom and Ukraine hosting together, 2023 would be the perfect year to reduce the number of qualifiers from each Semi Final to nine.

Ewan interviewing the BBC’s Paul Condon for the podcast.

What Happens Next

Send us your ideas in an email ([email protected] and [email protected]). Sum up the story idea in a single sentence, then give us a broader idea of the article in a single paragraph. We’ll look over the pitch and get feedback to you as quickly as we can.

What About The Podcast?

We are also expanding our audio coverage in the podcast, and we’re always open to your ideas for audio contributions. As for the oft-asked question of “can I appear on ‘Juke Box Jury’?” our Judges are generally chosen from the Insight team and frequent guest writers after we have met in real life.

And Now, Over To You

ESC Insight has evolved over the years it has covered the Eurovision Song Contest, so we’re open to any of your ideas if you want to contribute to the site. The team look forward to hearing from you.

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