Abstract
For many, Eurovision parties are an evolution of the childhood practice of watching the song contest with one’s family, but now that “family” is defined by other affective bonds than biological kinship. For Australian fans, the shift from simply an observing nation to a participating nation in the contest has ruptured this tradition because the national audience is split between those who watch the live broadcasts at 5 a.m. and those who watch the delayed broadcasts in the evening. This chapter explores how fans have negotiated this change, including the increasing importance of social media in developing and maintaining a shared national experience of the event while also feeling a sense of connection to other viewers globally.
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Notes
- 1.
This describes the process for the grand final only. The semi-finals are held live on Tuesday and Thursday of the finals week, thus screening live on Wednesday and Friday mornings in Australia, but the delayed broadcasts are screened on Friday and Saturday nights. This scheduling was altered in 2018 to better generate contemporaneous support for Jessica Mauboy, but many fans expressed displeasure with this change via social media.
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Carniel, J. (2018). Part of the Party: Celebrating Eurovision Together. In: Understanding the Eurovision Song Contest in Multicultural Australia. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02315-7_4
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