As a key element of the activities for the Eurovision Research Network (ERN) coinciding with the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest, Macromedia University for Media and Communication (MHMK) and Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (HMTMH) are hosting a symposium on Thursday 12 May at Fachhochschule Düsseldorf, University of Applied Sciences in Düsseldorf, Germany.

This is an open call for presentations and papers for this symposium focusing on the Eurovision Song Contest as a Television Event.

Researchers working in any discipline are invited present their work on the Eurovision Song Contest, with special emphasis on aspects of the event that relate to television studies. Some of the questions we’re interested in addressing include, but are not limited to:

  • how has the Eurovision Song Contest developed as a television event since the 1950s?
  • what television legacies does the Eurovision Song Contest feed from and/or into across Europe and beyond?
  • how have other televised song contests been influenced by the Eurovision Song Contest and what impact do other televised music and talent shows have on it?
  • what are the dimensions of the relationship between national broadcasters and the recorded music industry in an era when digital downloads have became a major format for music distribution?
  • how significant is the use of televoting in growing the Eurovision Song Contest audience, particularly in relation to other television shows that use televoting?
  • what does the future hold for the Eurovision Song Contest as television and the internet continue to move closer to each other as media?
  • how do Eurovision Song Contest fans add value to the television event, particularly when pan-European telecommunication has been decentralized through the Internet?

    • The symposium will also include a special panel invited guests from the German broadcasting industry to discuss various topical aspects of the Eurovision Song Contest. This part of the event will be in German; the rest of the symposium will be in English.

    To participate in this symposium, please send a brief abstract (100-200 words) and a two-sentence bio note to Toni Sant and Irving Wolther by Monday 25 April 2011. You should also outline your technical needs for the presentation, if any.

    Selected paper/presentations will be notified by 1 May 2011. A full schedule for the symposium will be published along with details of other ERN events in Düsseldorf on the Eurovision Research Network website one week before the event. http://www.eurovisionresearch.net

    As with all other ERN activities, there will be no entry charge or registration fee for this symposium.

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