This is an updated version of Chris West’s 2017 study of the Eurovision Song Contest and how it fits in with the history of modern Europe.  It takes us up to (but doesn’t mention) the 2020 Competition that never was.  I love Eurovision, some of my earliest memories are of being allowed to stay up late to watch it.  A UK entrant marked the first time I went into a record shop alone and purchased a single (my older sister was stood at the door) and that was Lulu’s “Boom Bang A Bang”.  I reviewed the 2016 semi-finals here where I called the eventual winner Ukraine “not particularly listenable”, showing once again it’s the annual festival of the impossible-to-predict and I’ve read a couple of Eurovision themed books before – “The Official History” by John Kennedy O’ Connor and “The Complete Companion” co-written by amongst others Paul Gambaccini and Tim Rice.  This book is where we stash our Eurovision score cards each year, now going back to 1999. 

If it looks like I might be a bit of an obsessive, let me tell you there are many millions more so than me, people who actually travel to the now massive stadiums each year, knowing all the songs before the shows and can recall instantly who came third in 1984 (well, actually I do know that, because just writing it made me want to look it up- the answer is Spain, but maybe some of you already knew that!)

Chris West, however, is offering here a very different slant.  There is the obsessive fan lurking under there but really he’s in it here for the history.  He sees it as a very political institution which reflects Europe’s historical patterns.  (We’re not talking voting for your neighbours here, which he does not think is as prevalent as its detractors claim).  He takes a wider view than the other books I have mentioned, in fact, the UK gets fairly scant attention because here it is not taken seriously enough and does not tap into what’s going on, as a number of the best winners and Chris’ personal favourites have tended to do.

Each year is given a few pages and pretty equal amount of attention is given to the competition itself and events and trends in Europe during those twelve months, with some of the concerns, triumphs and failures being reflected by the entrants or represented by the results.  To take an example, the UK seems to have got it right on only a couple of occasions which led to victory each time, Sandie Shaw, who, (the artist rather than the song) conveyed Swinging London of 1967 and Katrina & The Wave’s anthemic “Love Shine A Light” which caught the mood of Europe and so won impressively. 

To be honest, the songs West tends to focus on are the ones that passed me by.  It seems I’m watching for the spectacle rather than the politics but his view was fascinating backed up by the history (which, admittedly, when we are dealing with the workings of the EU at times I felt a little dry).

In a conclusion the author explains why Europe should perhaps be more like the Eurovision Song Contest which I found myself agreeing with.  This is an interesting read which brought the contest right up to date.  I think I’ll still continue to stuff my score sheets in the more trivial “Companion” but I welcomed this look at the more serious side which attempts to stick true to the reasons why the contest came into being in 1956.

The paperback edition of Eurovision! I read was published in 2020 by Melville House.