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Eurovision 2015: Inside the politics of the Vienna song contest
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It may sell itself on feathers, wind machines and cheesy songs, but behind the sequins of the Eurovision Song Contest is a complex, carefully managed political game.
With more than 40 countries competing, the host city of Vienna, Austria, is presently overflowing with politicians, diplomatic missions and television executives.
In addition to the usual Eurovision parties at clubs and venues around the city, there is a dense calendar of diplomatic engagements and embassy receptions.
In political circles they call it "soft diplomacy", the gentler, more palatable approach to selling a country's message internationally, separate from the traditional and sometimes unwieldy conversations which take place between governments and businesses.
Guy Sebastian of Australia performs on stage during rehearsals ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 on May 20, 2015 in Vienna, Austria.Credit: Getty Images
"With Eurovision, the value of having Australia here is that it really underlines the strength of our relationship with Europe," David Lewis, the charge d'affaires of the Australian embassy in Vienna told Fairfax Media. "It is a busy week in diplomatic terms."
Mr Lewis said Australia had recently signed a framework agreement with the European Union, "which goes into a lot of detail about the shared values we have". "We share close cultural, historical, political and economic ties."
Mr Lewis also noted that if the EU was taken as a single bloc, it would be Australia's second biggest trading partner outside China.
Though the Eurovision Song Contest has rules which forbid competing countries from using its platform to make political statements, the history of the competition is actually rich with political controversy.
In 2008, a documentary claimed that the 1968 contest was rigged by the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, who had offered money to participating broadcasters. Spain won – but only by a single vote.
In 1975, Greece withdrew from the contest objecting to Turkey's debut participation in the wake of the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The following year Turkey withdrew because Greece's song, Panaya Mu, Panaya Mu, was about the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
And in 2000, the Israeli entry – PingPong, singing Be Happy – unfurled Israeli and Syrian flags on the stage during their performance as a gesture of advocating peace between the two countries.
There are countless other examples of the contest becoming enmeshed with national and ethnic disagreements, though in recent years, political statements have been overtaken by softer social messages, with songs like last year's winner Rise Like a Phoenix, and this year's Beauty Never Lies.
The contest is also used by younger European nations as a means of establishing their European identity.
"In some ways that reflects the history of Eurovision, where it came from, trying to develop a common sense of cultural purpose in Europe after the war," Lewis said.
"There are some countries who tie their cultural identity, their sense of being in Europe, to Eurovision. Estonia in 2001 really saw itself coming of age, and coming into Europe, by winning. Serbia experienced a similar thing in 2007, the Ukraine in 2004."
The week leading up to the final is also dense with meetings on the television side of the business, with executives from all of Europe's key broadcasters in town. They include the Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television, Denmark's DR, Germany's NDR, the French broadcaster France Télévisions, Italy's RAI, the British broadcaster BBC and Australia's SBS Television.
"For a network like SBS where 85 per cent of its schedule is acquired content from overseas, it's important for us to have the relationships in place to do deals to acquire content, but also to have some insight into what's in development, what's coming through," SBS's managing director Michael Ebeid said.
Mr Ebeid described the week as "enormously" busy. "We're all juggling appointments," he said. "A lot of the European broadcasters are talking about many of the things they're experiencing, budget cuts, audiences going to different platforms. We're all talking about ways of collaborating."
Mr Ebeid said the value of Australia's exposure during the Eurovision Song Contest as a competitor is something that "money couldn't buy".
"To have a country like Australia and an artist like Guy Sebastian beamed into 200 million homes across Europe and to have Australia talked about for what will effectively be a five minute window is something you could never buy in a tourism campaign," he said.
"It brings Australia to the forefront of a lot of Europeans' minds, that we want to be and are part of their universe."
Mr Ebeid is also in Vienna in the event that Australia wins this year's contest. In the lead-up to the event it seemed unlikely, but there is enormous buzz surrounding Sebastian and his song, Tonight Again.
Under the rules of Eurovision, the winning country hosts the next year's competition. If Australia wins, SBS would have to quickly secure an arrangement with a European broadcaster to co-host next year's contest in a European city.
"If we are lucky enough to win, we need to announce the country within four or five days," Mr Ebeid said. "There are several discussions that have already taken place and several discussions that are yet to take place.
"We will obviously weight up the options and work out what is the best fit for us as a nation," Mr Ebeid added. "If we host it next year it will have a very Australian flavour."
The 60th annual Eurovision Song Contest will air live on SBS on Friday, May 22, at 5am (second semi-final) and Sunday, May 24, at 5am (final). Australian audiences can vote during the live broadcast.
SBS will also air it in prime time on Friday, May 22, at 7.30pm (first semi-final), Saturday, May 23, at 7.30pm (second semi-final) and Sunday, May 24, at 7.30pm (final).