Ukraine's Eurovision win shows us that despite arguments to the contrary, the contest has always been political

By Jess Carniel, Senior Lecturer in Humanities, University of Southern Queensland

The 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest was held in Turin, Italy on Saturday night. The extravaganza didn’t disappoint in delivering our annual dose of ballads, bops and politics.

The answer to the question of whether Eurovision is political is always yes, but with various qualifications. After all, can a contest of nations ever be truly apolitical?

Can culture and politics ever be extracted from each other? Isn’t all art political?

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine provides an inevitable backdrop to understanding this year’s Eurovision competition. This…

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