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Growing Gimmicks and Narratives –  Cutting Down The Tall Poppies Written by on May 13, 2017 | 4 Comments

Can the drive to produce a great story to bring the Eurovision season to a rousing finish lead to a serious case of Tall Poppy Syndrome? Sharleen Wright thinks so.

Gimmicks Grab Viewers

As covered by multiple podcasts and articles on ESC Insight, key ‘moments’ or ‘gimmicks’ for viewers make for easier acts for the public to recall come voting time.  Despite the tendency of fan media to deride such elements, or label them ‘novelty’, there have been numerous demonstrations that such activities do work.  We all can remember clearly ‘The Russian Grannies’, and act Verka Serdushka.  And even after the passage of time, these acts are held dear to the Contest in positive terms.

This sensation was investigated as part of the television and advertising study of Norris and Colman (1993) whose findings also suggest that programs or shorts that feature “attention-grabbing, challenging, immersing and impactful” imagery will be far more recalled and positively ranked, than those lacking suspense or perceived as less involving.

Bombarded with 26 songs at a Eurovision national final, a challenging ninety minutes of straight musical spectacle, viewers will be most drawn and look favourably upon those that have something that is key to remember.  Imagery that is over-familiar and over-used, in consequence, is perceived as negative.

Mans Zelmerlows’ entry ‘Heroes’ from the 2015 Contest is one such example.  The artists general level of interaction with the camera work and the as well as the creativity of the production.  But the figure of ‘stickman’ was one of the keys to the entries ultimate success.  Rather than relying just on song, the staging was unique to all others entered, and so when it came time to the audience to vote and watch the recap, it is not surprising that the ‘stickman’ would be immediately recalled and was subsequently ranked positively above others, even if they subjectively felt there were better songs on the night.

Narratives And Media Coverage Lead To Results

It is the very nature of Eurovision fans to not want to accept the obvious; and of course, closer results make for far more exciting television.  Looking back at previous examples within the contest, we had Dima Bilan in 2008 – the biggest star of Russia at the time, competing for the second time off the back of a 2nd place result in 2006.  His recognition across the Eastern territories made him an obvious choice of a potential winner of Eurovision.   Despite the obvious, those within the Contest rehearsals refused to acknowledge the likelihood that the public would vote for the big name above all else; instead they turned to Ani Lorak as their favourite – also a big name in Ukraine.

Investigating two further more modern and controversial examples, we come to Conchita (2014) and Jamala (2016).  Examining media leading up to the contest, neither of these names were mentioned as favourites to win the Contest, but they were gathering steam and considerable headlines in the mainstream press for some months ahead of the show across multiple outlets (tv, radio, newspapers, magazines, online) in all voting territories.  In the case of Conchita, we had the story of the ‘drag queen’, and for Jamala, coverage discussed the historical nature of her tune ‘1944’ referring to her Grandmothers relocation as a Crimean Tatar under the Russian regime – a case which modern history is repeating and thus could be seen as a political statement.  

As a result of public coverage and familiarity to the story of the artist and entry, an affinity is built which ultimately translates votes.

Cutting Down The Tall Poppies

Over the past fortnight locked away in the ‘Eurovision bubble’ I have witnessed clear indicators of tall-poppy syndrome, and the results of which are now heavily felt across the fan media discourse.

On Wikipedia, Tall Poppy is defined as the “culture where people of high status are resented, attacked, cut down or criticised because they have been classified as better than their peers. This is similar to begrudgery, the resentment or envy of the success of a peer”.  It is a prevalent concept in my own home nation of Australia, where those riding high or famous are ‘cut down’ by peers to bring them back to a normal level, usually through the perception that they are getting tired, or are operating on a level of high ego that is not warranted or welcomed.

In recent times, we saw momentum thrown behind the likes of Alexander Rybak immediately after his semi final performance in the 2009 Norwegian selections – Melodi Grand Prix, and Emmelie deForest from her 2012 entry ‘Only Teardrops’ from the Danish Melodi Grand Prix.  Both of these acts were favourites through the whole selection period, but when finally reaching the Eurovision stage were picked upon by the fan media heavily for their rehearsals as being tired, lacklustre and not living up to hype.  

The media inside the ‘bubble’ tend to forget that the biggest majority of voters are general public whom only see these entries once or twice, and not aware of the artist or worn down with countless rehearsals.  There is nothing to pick at because there is nothing to compare it to; whether it be a remix, cut-down of lyrics, or a slight change of staging. It’s how you feel on that first listen or view that makes the difference, and in most of these examples, that instant nature of affinity to the artist, song or performance is what shines through to get them the winning result we all initially expect.

The Rise and Fall of the 2017 Favourites

Now on the day of the contest, we have seen the narratives of 2017 played out in full force.

Italy, which has remained the favourite from the unveiling of Francesco Gabbanis’ entry at Sanremo, and has remained the very short favourite in betting odds similar to that of Alexander Rybak and Loreen which both then went on to record result wins in the contest.  

Despite some criticism of its inaccessibility in foreign language and unusual lyrical depth (covering Westerners’ tendencies to adopt Eastern philosophies and other fads), ‘Occidentali’s Karma’ has  crossed over enough into the fan community to easily top the OGAE poll and in the public sphere racked up more than 113 million filmclip views on YouTube, and spawned dozens of parody songs and clips across Europe.

Gabbani himself addressed the concerns of journalists that the point of the song could be lost on the average listener.  He claims that the song works on two levels: for one – those who understand the lyrical concept, and for others – those whom the lyrical content is actually dedicated to.  This statement could hurt its chances with a jury vote, unless they are prompted to gain familiarity with the lyrics and translation without taking offence.  

Further criticism of the song centres on the use of the ‘Gorilla’ (or as the lyrics tell, an ape), and the dance routine of Gabbani – one which could be amusingly labelled as ‘Dad dancing’.  Both are considered novelties in the Eurovision community.  However, as this article already discusses, such activities should actually aid Italy’s ability to remain memorable in a competitive environment.  The ease of the choreography and calls to action (the phrases in chorus of ‘Allez’, ‘Nameste’) allow the audience to become active participants in the performance.

Located inside of the arena, we can even now see the public primed for the entry, joining in on the dance routine without prompting.  The vast majority of attendees are actually local, not the hardcore fans, and demonstrates that the entry has gone beyond the average recognition and is not simply mirroring the performance on the night.

Additionally, ‘Occidentali’s Karma’ has gathered considerable media interest in the voting territories prior to the contest.  It features regularly in tabloid TV and news media as the one to watch (such as a full page spread in Spain claiming it is “The Year of the Monkey”, as well as the clip being broadcast on prime time news coverage in Australia as part of interviews with the local entry Isaiah), making it the most anticipated entry for the general public this year.  

So despite all fan media reports now to contrary and betting odds going out on the basis of their critiisms, Italy is still very much primed for a good result and a highly likely winner.

So, who is the favourite to take the title now?  Portugal – the perennial losers of Eurovision, with their best ever result still being 6th over their more than 50 years of participation.  Salvador Sobrals’ ‘Amar Pelos Dois’ is a wonderful piece of nostalgia that has built up a slow burn of support over the last few weeks, and is performed in a very intimate way that will clearly rack up a lot of votes for those viewers seeking a more personal connection on the night (in a similar way that 2015 entry The Common Linnets achieved for a 2nd place).  

However, Portugal up until now have not chosen to play their cards in narrative – either in discussing Sobrals’ significant medical issues (which could have come off poorly as a sympathy vote), nor did the countrys delegation choose to play up its return or passion to win the contest after all these years.  The narrative constructed now is one that is very much driven by the fan media in the hope of breaking Portugal’s curse and to finally win, perhaps too late to reach the general public in the same way that Italy has attracted attention and recognition.  One could also argue this is in reaction to the hefty Italian lead coming into the contest, desperation to find excuse and a create a sense of competition; therefore a fine example of Tall Poppy Syndrome.

Remaining on the outer at 3rd is Bulgaria.  Yet again, we find possible narratives to play here, albeit late in the game.  The very talented 17-year old Kristian Kostov is half-Russian; a country now absent from the Contest.  Given Russia has a hefty diaspora looking to where to place votes, he seems poised to take up that position.  Bulgaria as a country also has a similarly (although shorter) chequered past of Contest results, and for that reason sat out of Eurovision for a number of years until it reached a 2nd place at the Junior Eurovision.  With the passion reignited, they entered Eurovision again last year and achieved a 4th place with Poli Genova.  Therefore, off the back of this, the delegation are hungry for more and a win.

Any of the above 3 named favourites will result in a positive for the publicity of Eurovision.   We now just eagerly await those results: may the best song on the night win.

 

Reference:

Norris, C.E. and Colman, A.M. (1993), ‘CONTEXT EFFECTS ON MEMORY FOR TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENTS’, in SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND PERSONALITY, 21(4), pg.279-296

https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/npb/people/amc/articles-pdfs/teleadve.pdf

About The Author: Sharleen Wright

Sharleen Wright is the co-founder of ESC Insight and a freelance journalist and researcher. She has previously worked for numerous community radio stations in Sydney Australia, and contributed to the wider world of comedy holding production and promotions roles at both the Edinburgh Fringe and Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Her written words have appeared online, as well as The List magazine, and numerous fanzines on the topics of television and specifically, Eurovision . She is currently based in Australia and undertaking research on food and event tourism. You can follow Sharleen on Twitter (@sharly77) and Facebook (facebook.com/sharleenwright).

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4 responses to “Growing Gimmicks and Narratives –  Cutting Down The Tall Poppies”

  1. Martin says:

    I read this before the Final and it came across as a “Italy are going to win, they were always going to win, how dare anyone say different’ piece. Something to wave in front of doubter’s faces if Francesco won with a massive number of points, miles ahead of second, having the acclaim of juries and televoters…

    Portugal and Bulgaria appeared to be included only as a nod that they were also favourites – it might have been nice to have included Salvador’s video too, rather than Isaiah? In the end, the other two entries connected with the voters a lot more…

    To be fair to you, Sharleen, you were not the only one this year – a lot of Eurovision pundits were saying things like “we know who is going to win, who’s coming second this year” and if you might have suggested that other fans or the public see their vision differently, they were shot down as someone who was needlessly criticising what was destined to happen. To you, alternative viewpoints were seen as the ‘tall poppy syndrome’, to me it was putting forward another view that maybe other acts might do as well, that maybe the Italian act wasn’t the absolutely perfect one that some saw it to be, that it possibly might be seen in a different way by the general public and voters, which in the end it was.

    I admit that I am guilty of having a fixed view in previous years – Loreen and Emmelie De Forest drew the same response from me in that I couldn’t see anyone else beating them from the day they won their NF. As those songs became my favourite, my viewpoints became a bit entrenched too – I suppose that I was lucky enough for them to win and my views to be crystalised!

  2. To be honest, its moreover the nature of tall poppy syndrome as a whole at Eurovision. We saw it with Loreen, Mans, Emmelie, Dima, etc all before they won for the reasons I listed. The difference? They won.

    Its the very nature of fans to look for fault in favourites always – which we have all been guilty of now and in the past.

    I acknowledged Portugal and Bulgaria because they were the upcoming favourites. If they too came to the contest as long running favourites, just as Italy did, I’m sure they would have been subjected to much the same scrutiny. Instead, their narratives were far newer and fresher, and it was a question of whether they were too new to cut across to public, or indeed, to land one of them the win (which for Portugal it did).

    The good news stories out of this – Portugal did what was considered the impossible after more than 50 years – win Eurovision, and then Bulgaria and Moldova rounding out the top 3 as highest ever placements.
    A job well done to all of them, and it shows that ANY country can win the contest if they have the best song on the night.

    As for Italy, the fallout of their lesser result will likely lead to some soul searching for the delegation. For Francesco Gabbani, life and career will carry on.

  3. I’m also not too sure why Isaiahs video is up there… It should be the news coverage from Australia…

  4. Franck says:

    I never understood all the fancy about Gabbani’s song, though I did like it too, but not as much so that I would have liked him to win, to be honest. I had other favourites such as the UK and France.

    That said, after watching the performances of all finalists (so before the votes had begun), I was pretty sure it would be between Portugal and Bulgaria: for me, using the monkey-man on stage was a big mistake, as the viewers certainly saw it, like I did, as a gimmick, and nothing more. And except Lordi and their devil costumes (which are really part of the image of the band itself, which is not the case of the gorilla regarding Gabbani), no artist has really won using gimmicks (only Serduchka almost succeeded, but finally failed, fortunately I should say, as it would have definitely ruined the contest’s already “odd” reputation). They won using light and video effects or dancing, but no gimmicks as far as I remember, taking into account only the years since 2000.

    I would also notice that both Serbia and Portugal, both non English singing winners, won with a very simple staging, with simple songs and melodies that just touched the hearts of the voters. (France’s song was ruined by the English lyrics and her bad pronunciation)

    By the way, as you said yourself, I would not be amazed to see Kostov back within a few years when he has grown up a little more to grab the trophee for Bulgaria. It would be great. I discovered him last Summer, searching for non English song videos on Youtube, and I had already noticed this artist, so I was happy to see him this year on the Eurovision’s stage.

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