Designing Eurovision by Skinner, Amy; Baker, Catherine;

Short description:

This book is the first book-length study of the visual and design elements of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). It will be of interest to researchers and scholars of theatre and performance, scenography, the Eurovision Song Contest, popular performance, and media and cultural studies, among others.

Long description:

Designing Eurovision is the first book-length study of the visual and design elements of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC).

As a unique visual phenomenon and commonly associated with spectacle performances, the scenography of Eurovision is in reality far more nuanced and layered, balancing acts of national identity-building with host country branding, visual tourism and cross-cultural aesthetics. The event demonstrates how ideological spaces are built across Europe and the wider world, highlighting the function of performance scenography in socio-political nation-building. Although the importance of the visual elements of Eurovision are widely acknowledged, this is the first volume to put ESC design front and centre, discussing the critical and practical aspects of creating performance scenography for this international stage. In addition, the volume highlights the significance of Eurovision in the development of performance technologies, frequently functioning as a test-bed for technological innovations in stage design for broadcast arena events. It also explores the visual design-led elements of the contest (set, costume, lighting and projection) and addresses the broader spatial dynamics of the ESC, exploring the socio-political elements of Eurovision performance space. The fluid relationship between the ESC as live performance and as Europe’s largest televised cultural event opens up additional discussions in the book related to the role of liveness in scenographic practice.

This volume brings a unique focus on the materiality of the Eurovision stage, addressing multipronged topics including the history of ESC technologies, ESC scenography and national identity, ESC aesthetics and design, and the ESC host city as stage. It also incorporates interviews with practitioners who have worked on design elements for the ESC, giving practical perspectives on design at the contest. It will be of interest to researchers and scholars of theatre and performance, scenography, the Eurovision Song Contest, popular performance, and media and cultural studies, among others.

Table of Contents:

Introduction: The Eurovision Song Contest through scenography and performance design

1. Eurovision as Combinatoire: the complex construction of the lighting and video in the Eurovision Song Contest

2. The scenography of backstage labour at Eurovision

3. ‘Let’s create our own world on that stage’: a conversation with Andrew Cartmell

4. Accommodating multitudes: stage design and live production challenges at the Eurovision Song Contest during the 1980s and 1990s

5. ‘It’s a song contest, but it’s also in many ways a technical competition’: A chronology of Eurovision and a conversation with Ola Melzig

6. ‘Welcoming Ukraine, Europe, and the world to Liverpool with open arms’: a conversation with Julio Himede

7. A semblance of interaction: exploring logistical and theoretical issues within Eurovision’s interactive digital performances

8. Designing a space for reflection: the case of Konstrakta

9. ‘An ever-changing feast of ideas’: A conversation with Jake Linzey

10. Costuming Eurovision: Trends, bodies, and technological futures

11. ‘That’s how you’re representing yourself to the world’: A conversation with Alin Le’Kal

12. Creating a world(ing) United By Music: interventions of cultural diplomacy between Ukraine and the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 

13. Staging the nation: the politics of Eurovision host stages

14. The city as a stage: urban scenography and Liverpool’s city-based programming at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest

15. ‘Scenography gives the starting point for your imagination’: a conversation with TRI.Direction

Index