Sorry this is a bit short notice BUT I am a guest on a radio programme later today and talking about ESC. Do you think that ESC unites Europe OR does it actually separate East/west even more?
This is a topic we are discussing..
I think it does unite Europe, there's no other event where every European country watches the same program at the same time and each get their own moment to shine with everyone else watching. You get the odd occasion when the divide is widened with the booing of Russia last year for example, but 99% of the time it definitely unites Europe.
While I can't say first hand the situation between East and West prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union/Yugoslavia, I'm guessing that Eurovision has been a way for the East to establish itself in "modern Europe" with Estonia's win in 2001 being a key event.
On a more human level we need to look no further than the Israeli press conference on Saturday where Israel's Nadav united with a Lebanese journalist for a photo - a massive statement of unity (even though we aren't necessarily in geographical Europe here).
Yeah agreed that it's a uniting force rather than a divide. One of the things I really like about Eurovision is that it reminds western Europe that the eastern (and generally less influential) countries exist and are culturally significant. It's a way for the countries that don't get much of a chance to shine on the international stage to well, do that. And if it reminds people in the west that the countries in the east are part of the European family too then that's all the better.
eurovision. the reason for making questions like 'whats a slovakia' less and less common~
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Racist.
Eurovision is the greatest force for good that is actually quite terrible.
Thanks for all the comments! We had a great discussion about this.. Generally everyone thought that ESC really unites more than EU can dream of and like said above it gives smaller countries a chance to shine (especially Baltic and Balkan countries)
Also, basically the ESC community and fans, except Sword of Justice, all agree that the more participants the better.
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