The nation on the Eurovision stage

Greetings from Seattle!

Somehow it’s already time for our final blog posts. Still focusing on the same countries, we’ve each chosen one Eurovision performance and have been exploring how to analyze those. 

Sometimes that’s about discussing elements of the song and staging, while at other points, we might be testing out different “lenses” for interpreting these performances to see whether they help us. 

We’ve also been asked to draw a comparison between the performance and the national identity we discussed in our last blog post to see whether they’re aligned, misaligned, or just plain baffling. :-)

And like last time, we’re referencing things in APA as best we can, so you can just ignore them and focus on our ideas. :-)

We do still wonder, though: What are we missing? Do you have background info we can draw on for a revision (with a very short turnaround time)? Constructive feedback is always welcome. Revisions are due on 13 March, Seattle time, so any ideas before then would be really helpful.

Here are the links to our blogs, grouped by the "peer groups" that are giving each other feedback and encouragement. (Some are running a little late, so will be linked once they’re ready.)

Albania 2025 Zjerm | Croatia 2024 Rim tim tagi dim | Czechia 2024 Pedestal | Serbia 2025 Mila | Slovenia 2023 Carpe diem

Cyprus 2022 Ela | Greece 2025 Asteromáta | Iceland 2022 Með hækkandi sól | Malta 2016 Walk on water

Armenia 2024 Jako | Azerbaijan 2023 Tell me more | Georgia 2025 Freedom | Moldova 2022 Trenulețul | Ukraine 2024 Teresa & Maria

Finland 2024 No rules | Latvia 2025 Bur man laimi | Lithuania 2024 Luktelk | Poland 2025 GAJA

Belgium 2021 The wrong place | France 2024 Mon amour | Netherlands 2024 Europapa | Spain 2024 Zorra

National identity in Eurovisionland

In our first written blog posts, we're looking at what makes up the national identity of the Eurovision countries we’ve each chosen.

We're aiming to explain what "national identity" means, then use evidence from our research to identify key aspects of our country’s national identity.

Sometimes national identity is more about what a country is NOT, so we'll discuss whether Othering generates or maintains a national sense of self.

We'll also be using in-text citations as well as references using the APA system. We suggest you skip over them while reading - unless you're excited to learn more!

What are we missing? What good sources can you recommend? Your feedback is appreciated, so please leave your constructive comments at the end of our posts. For this first written paper, we have the option of revising the text based on feedback (by February 18), so your thoughts are especially welcome!

Here are our blog sites:

Albania | Armenia | Azerbaijan | Belgium | Croatia | Cyprus | Czechia | Finland | France | Georgia | Greece | Iceland | Latvia | Lithuania | Malta | Moldova | Netherlands | Poland | Serbia | Slovenia | Spain | Ukraine

WINTER/HIVER 2026 – WELCOME TO / BIENVENUE À “THREE-MINUTE EUROPE”

Welcome to our Winter 2026 edition!

After a little hiatus in 2025, we are back with another 22 intrepid Seattle University students who are exploring the Eurovision Song Contest for the next couple of months. Most of them hadn’t heard of Eurovision before January, most are brand new to higher education, and none of them are majoring in International Studies, so everything is a surprise!

The students are all taking this first-year humanities inquiry seminar as part of the university’s Core Curriculum – a general education program in the Jesuit educational tradition that provides all undergraduates a taste of different fields of inquiry.

Each student is examining a different country participating in the Eurovision Song Contest over the last decade. They’ll be posting their larger assignments as individual country blogs, each of which will be linked from this central site.

A public blog format is the chance for students to have a real audience, rather than just getting feedback from their professor.

We would love it if any of you who are either Eurovision fans or even Eurovision experts would check out the students’ work and offer kind and constructive feedback. Students have the opportunity to revise two written blog posts, so your feedback could really help them expand their knowledge and understanding, as well as honing their skills as communicators.

This year, students have chosen to study the following countries, organized into five peer groups that will provide each other feedback and support. (We'll be adding URLs to their sites as soon as they're available.)

BLUE GROUP: Albania | Croatia | Czechia | Serbia | Slovenia

GREEN GROUP: Cyprus | Greece | Iceland | Malta

PINK GROUP: Armenia | Azerbaijan | Georgia | Moldova | Ukraine

TURQUOISE GROUP: Finland | Latvia | Lithuania | Poland

YELLOW GROUP: Belgium | France | Netherlands | Spain

We look forward to your ideas, suggestions, links, and above all, encouragement. And if you have any thoughts or questions about this project and course as a whole, please drop us a line below in the comments.