Another Song for Europe: Music, Taste, and Values in the Eurovision Song Contest

Review

'This thoroughly researched book provides a much-needed focus on the music presented in the Eurovision Song Contest. In his accessibly written, yet precise, in-depth analyses, the author displays keen insights into a wide range of matters of musical style and cultural significance. Mapping out the multitude of ways in which Eurovision music can articulate themes of unity, diversity, and conflict, this book provides a fascinating account conveying a rich understanding of the power of popular music and popular musicking.'

Alf Björnberg, Professor in Musicology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

‘The title may be Another Song for Europe, and publications on the Eurovision Song Contest may have increased rapidly over recent years, but there is nobody writing on this subject today with more originality and insight than Ivan Raykoff. This book is an absorbing and informative read, and its thoughtful analyses are underpinned by meticulous study and research.’

Derek Scott, Professor of Critical Musicology, University of Leeds.

Until now, the flourishing field of Eurovision Song Contest studies has lacked in-depth consideration of Eurovision music itself, doubtless because that music is often dismissed as formulaic, lightweight, and disposable. Ivan Raykoff’s beautifully researched, deeply readable book fills this gap, exploring Eurovision music – focusing on competing songs and including other musics such as the Eurovision anthem - from his disciplinary position as a musicologist, and bringing numerous other relevant methodological and theoretical perspectives to bear. Using the concept of musicking to understand music not as an object or abstraction but an activity, Another Song for Europe considers the way Eurovision music is created, performed, enjoyed, mocked, imitated, and mobilised by a spectrum of interested groups and individuals. In so doing, Raykoff advances knowledge around many of the complex concerns around the song contest: difference and sameness, belonging and exclusion, affect, gender identities and performances, globalisation, and commercialisation. While Another Song for Europe will be of great interest to scholars and students, aspiring Eurovision artists and television producers should also take note, given the book’s thorough engagement with the question that continues to drive the contest six and half decades after its founding: How do you write a perfect Eurovision song?

Karen Fricker, Associate Professor of Dramatic Arts, Brock University, Ontario, Canada