Politics is everywhere, including music
New research on the past nine editions of the Eurovision Song Contest has revealed interesting voting patterns that reflect cultural and geographical proximity, with some notable surprises.
The tightest bonds are among Mediterranean countries.
Cyprus and Greece have had the strongest bilateral relationship, exchanging a whopping 267 points since 2016. Italy and Albania also showed steadfast mutual support, with 187 points, followed by the Malta-Italy relationship at 172 points.
Balkans in ‘turmoil’, southern Europe in ‘love’, Caucasus ‘resilient’
The report also breaks down the most common themes in Eurovision lyrics by region since 1956, revealing a diverse emotional map of Europe.
Emotional turmoil – longing, nostalgia, heartbreak – runs deep in the Balkans, featuring in nearly 18% of their entries, while the strongest topic among Caucasian and central European countries was resilience (17% and 9.4% respectively).
Western Europe leans into resilience too (7.8%) but also places notable emphasis on connection (9.0%), while in southern Europe it’s all about love and connection (10%).
Topics across the years: 2020s Eurovisions evermore ‘hopeless’
The report also shows how prominent the topics were in the lyrics across the decades.
“Love” remains the hottest theme, but has been steadily declining since the Nineties.
The last 25 years saw the growth of “identity”, “emotional turmoil” and “resilience”, while hope collapsed to almost zero after the 2010s.
“As emotional turmoil takes centre stage, unity, love, connection, and hope reach their lowest point—yet resilience and empowerment begin to emerge”, says the Synthesis analysis.
Is Sweden the most popular country in Eurovision?
A further look at voting indicates that Baltic states have a spot for their Nordic neighbours, handing them 590 points, nearly double what they give each other (306).
Sweden, in particular, tends to receive consistent support across Europe, as well as from its Scandinavian pals. Ukraine too has been consistently supported, particularly by Baltic states.
ADVERTISEMENTOn the other hand, Germany has been giving its votes widely among Nordic countries and major Western European nations, but receives relatively modest support from others.
In terms of all-time winners, Sweden and Ireland lead with 7 editions each, followed by the UK, France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (5 each).
