THURSDAY, MAY 16TH
8:45 / Registration and welcome.
9:00 / Opening speech by Fiona MCCANN, head of the CECILLE research laboratory – Université de Lille.
9:15 / PANEL 1: Geopolitics in Action
Chair: Philippe VERVAECKE – Université de Lille
Christoph LONDON – RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
“The History Book on the Shelf is Always Repeating Itself – The Reception of Historic Events in Eurovision Song
Contest Entries (1956-2023).”
Irem ELBIR – Europa Universität Flensburg, Germany.
“Let this Longing Come to an End: Remembering ‘Good Old Days’ of Turkey through the Eurovision Song Contest.”
Coffee break
11:00 / PANEL 2:
Celebrating Diversity and Inclusivity: part 1
Chair: Laurent CHATEL – Université de Lille
Ahmet ATAY – College of Wooster, U.S.A & London School of Economics, U.K
“Queering ESC: Queer European Icons.”
Stefanos KELEKIDIS – Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain.
“UMK & Benidorm Fest: New Masculinities and Femininities on
National Television.”
Lunch break
1:30 / Keynote speaker
Catherine BAKER, University of Hull, U.K
“Who Can Tell Their Euro-Visions? : The Eurovision Song Contest and the Boundaries of ‘Europe’ ”
2:30 / PANEL 3: Professionalism and Amateurism
Chair: Diego ALONSO-ARÉVALO – Université de Lille
Irving WOLTHER – Eurovision expert for Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Germany
“ ‘Soldi’ vs. ‘Have some Fun.’: Professionalism vs. Professionalised Amateurs in the Eurovision Song
Contest.”
Jérémy CORNEC – Université de Bretagne Occidentale, France.
“ ‘Play Jaja Ding Dong’: Satire, Parody, and Comedy in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020).”
Coffee break
4:15 / PANEL 4:
Celebrating Diversity and Inclusivity: part 2
Chair: Cédric COURTOIS – Université de Lille
Kajsa TÖRMÄ, Paulette VAN DER VOET, Solveig BOLLIG and Martina TARRAZZANO – Umeå University, Sweden.
“Teaching the Eurovision Song Contest from a Linguistic Perspective.”
Jane HEALY – Bornemouth University, UK. “Inclusivity, Identity, and Accessibility at the Eurovision Song Contest: Reflections
and Observations from the Field.”
FRIDAY, MAY 17TH
9:10 / PANEL 5:
The Significance of Design and Visual Elements
Chair: Olivier ESTEVES – Université de Lille
Viktoria SUKOVATA – Karkhiv National Karazin University, Ukraine.
“Ukranian Artist Andrei Danilko – Verka Serduchka at the Eurovision: Identity and Visuality.”
José Luis PANEA – Facultad de Bellas Artes de Cuenca, Spain.
“Accommodating Multitudes: Set Design Challenges in the Recent Eurovision Song Contest.”
Barbara BARREIRO LEON– University of Aberdeen, U.K.
“Fun with Flags: Performativity, Parading, and Identification in the Eurovision Song Contest.”
Coffee break
11:15 / PANEL 6:
Strategies Behind the Scenes
Chair: Maria HELLERSTEDT– Université de Lille
Jenna DOYLE – Middlesex University, U.K and Sam MURRAY – University of Liverpool, U.K.
“The Commercial Opportunity of Writing a Song for Eurovision.”
Fransisco Javier PALACIOS-HIDALGO & Cristina A. HUERTAS-ABRIL – Universidad de Córdoba, Spain.
“Do Languages Matter? A Study of the Linguistic Diversity of ESC Songs.”
Lunch break
1:30 / Keynote speaker
Dean VULETIC, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
“The Eurovision Song Contest andEuropean Integration”
2:30 / PANEL 7:
Representing National Identities
Chair: Emilie BERTHILLOT – Université de Lille
Solène SCHERER – Université de Lorraine, France.
“ ‘Building Bridges’: Austrian Discursive Strategies around Identity, Nation, City and Music at the 2015 ESC.”
Greg COTTON – University of the Highlands and Islands.
“How Many Times Can We Win and Lose: Can the Celtic Tiger Still Roar at Eurovision?”
Arman MARTIROSYAN – Université de Strasbourg and Sorbonne Université, France.
“Towards Eurovision, Towards Europe, From the Motherland: Projecting Armenia and Armenianness on the World Stage.”
Concluding remarks