Table of Contents

List of Figures Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction: Europe's Greatest Television Show Part I: The Cold War, 1945-1989 1. The Western European Arrangement 2. The Show of Nations 3. A Contest for Communism Part II: European Unification, 1990-2016 4. A Concert of Europe 5. The Values of Eurovision Conclusion: Bridges, Diamonds and Fires Bibliography Index

Promotional Information

An exploration of postwar Europe through the prism of the Eurovision Song Contest and its history.

About the Author

Dean Vuletic is a historian of contemporary Europe. As a Lise Meitner Fellow in the Department of East European History at the University of Vienna, he leads the project “Intervision: Popular Music and Politics in Eastern Europe”. As a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow, he previously led the project “Eurovision: A History of Europe through Popular Music”. He holds a doctorate in history from Columbia University, USA. He regularly comments on the Eurovision Song Contest in the international media.

Reviews

Moves between the Eurovision stage to the political stage … Never has it been placed in its international context as in this truly inventive new book.
*EuropeNow*

Vuletic goes beneath the bubblegum to reveal surprising machinations.
*Foreign Affairs*

As a scholarly study in international cooperation and competition, this book is exemplary.
*Times Higher Education*

Dean Vuletic’s book is an important intervention ... Comprehensive in its coverage, it will become a go-to book for any scholar who is interested in the song contest and its history.
*H-Soz-Kult*

It is the recognition of such value in song—no less in Eurovision song—that makes Dean Vuletic’s rich history of the Eurovision Song Contest very important reading indeed.
*German Studies Review*

Vuletic ascribes the Eurovision Song Contest an important role in the history of post-war Europe ... Comprehensive in its coverage, it will become a go-to book for any scholar who is interested in the song contest and its history.
*H-Net*

The book presents a well-researched and exhaustive historical account of organisational and political matters in relation to the Eurovision Song contest, as well as an in-depth analysis of its cultural significance in a European perspective ... The book as a whole constitutes a significant and valuable contribution to the understanding the interplay of popular music, media and cultural policy in post-World War II Europe.
*Popular Music*

[A] survey of the ESC, and a well-researched one. Vuletic makes extensive use of archival materials of the Council of Europe, International Telecommunications Union, EBU and OIRT … [An] important and essential book.
*Music Reference Services Quarterly*

A fascinating insight into the history of Eurovision. It is accessibly written, draws on a wealth of archival material, and adds much to our understanding of European culture in the postwar period.
*Robert James, Senior Lecturer in History, University of Portsmouth, UK*

This is a terrific addition to the literature on music and international relations. Analyzing the history of what has become the biggest forum of collective voting in Europe, Dean Vuletic shows the janus-headed nature of the Eurovision Song Contest – a competition both apolitical and political at the same time. A must-read addition for students of musicology, international relations and history, and, really, anyone trying to understand the confusing attraction of Europe’s largest music show.
*Jessica Gienow-Hecht, Chair of the Department of History, John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany*

Overturning familiar assumptions about this "apolitical" celebration of pan-European values, Vuletic brings us a much-needed serious and thorough historical account of the Eurovision Song Contest from its founding in the mid-1950s to the present-day paradox of this "international event with national limitations". A crucial read for anyone interested in the song contest's deeper history and significance.
*Ivan Raykoff, Associate Professor of Music, The New School, USA*