UNITE-UNITE-EUROPE - THE POLITICAL AND CULTURAL STRUCTURES OF EUROPE AS REFLECTED IN THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

This study focuses on the voting matrix of the yearly song festival, t he Eurovision Song Contest. It analyzes the cohesive bonds among the p articipating nations and studies the positional equivalencies in taste . The cohesive bonds analysis reveals a three-Bloc political structure . The cohesion of each Bloc is based on different sentiments and inter ests. The Western Bloc can be viewed as a coalition based on historica l and political interests. The Northern Bloc draws its solidarity from common cultural and primordial lingual codes (i.e. German). The diffu se Mediterranean Bloc probably achieves its unstable alliance from com mon cultural experiences. In contrast, the structural equivalence anal ysis - which focuses on taste as revealed by similar patterns of votin g - portrays a more diffuse structure, interpreted as 'islands of tast e'; these are dispersed in line with cultural and lingual cleavages. T he implications of these findings are discussed.