24 Apr 2018

The history and politics of Eurovision with Jared Mackley-Crump

From Afternoons, 2:18 pm on 24 April 2018

Conchita Wurst won Eurovision for Austria in 2014.

Following Conchita Wurst's performance, the presenter for Lithuania famously pulled out a disposable razor and said, "it's time to shave."

Lys Assia's Refrain won the first ever Eurovision in 1956.

Fazla was Bosnia & Herzegovina's entry in the country's Eurovision debut in 1993. The group had to get out of the siege of Sarajevo to get to the competition in Scotland and six members of the band's entourage died in the journey.

Verka Serduchka is a fictional drag persona of popular Ukrainian actor/comedian Andrey Mikhaylovich Danilko. Sung in German and English, the Ukranian's song “Lasha Tumbai”, sounds rather close to "Russia Goodbye".

Father Ted's song My Lovely Horse was the subject of a petition in Ireland calling for it to be the country's entry in the 2014 Eurovision.

This year's Eurovision will be in Lisbon.

Songs that ended wars. Songs that sparked political coups. Songs that brought walls down and threw the closet doors open on celebrating gay culture.

Yes, it's Eurovision. It's one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world and we're going for a journey through its murky history along with Jared Mackley-Crump who is a lecturer in event management at Auckland's University of Technology.

Listen to the full interview with Jared Mackley-Crump 42:01

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Related: Follow the adventures of long time fan, first time visitor RNZ reporter Sophie Wilson at Eurovision 2012, held in in Baku, Azerbaijan