The ESC Insight newsletter is back once more updating you on the happenings in Eurovision world. After Super Saturday this week we have a song from Denmark and the results of tons of semi finals, click onto this link for the full review of the news.
The newsletter also features the opinion’s of our editor Ben Robertson in his Robertson’s Reflection section. This week he is looking at the freshly announced Eurovision Greatest Hits Concert to be held in London with a critical eye, is it really what Europe needs and wants?
“21 countries are running the show on TV, significantly less than the 39 taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Vienna hosts soon after. The casualties from the list almost all fall into one pot, small nations from Eastern Europe with histories as modern independent states. Russia takes part but none of its bordering lands are, and even closer to home Netherlands and Germany are still to sign up to viewing the show. Germany in particular has been vocal about the archaic nature of the BBC’s offering, with Eurovision expert Jan Feddersen describing it as ‘.’
The British take on the Song Contest has often been at odds with the rest of Europe and here it seems to be no exception. A British nostalgic view of Eurovision remains, and although I am glad to see the list of acts dominated by more modern musicians it is a hard sell of a concept to many nations who don’t particularly want to recall their suppressions from years gone by. Why would these nations want to take part when what is forced down their throats is a Eurovision culture completely irrelevant to them? Between them Graham Norton and Petra Mede are hardly the hosts made for those with a sour or conservative humour, we know we’ll get the very tongue-and-cheek version of Eurovision with them at the helm.”
You can read the Eurovision views of Ben Robertson and the rest of the newsletter each week from now until Vienna. Become one of our near 400 subscribers by clicking through this link and get the newsletter directly sent to your inbox. To view this week’s edition again just click here.