Eurovision’s Diversity Illusion: The DEI Reckoning The Song Contest Avoided

The uncomfortable truth about representation in Europe’s biggest music event.

On the 18th of March 2020, the Eurovision Song Contest was cancelled. It’s a day Eurovision fans will remember for years to come. We had 41 countries prepared to take the stage with songs featuring French, Ukrainian, Spain, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Portuguese, Italian, Belarusian, and Amharic! For a certain subset of the fandom, the significance of the 2020 Contest was more than just the 65th celebration year of one of the world’s longest-running shows. The 2020 Contest was going to have a record number of Black performers participating on the stage, with 7 out of 41 acts featuring performers of African descent (Black).

In the months following the 2020 Contest, the world experienced a racial reckoning. Black Lives Matter was proclaimed by world leaders, actors, musicians, CEOs, and brands; with marches and rallies occurring worldwide. The world was beginning to see how anti-black racism and white supremacy had permeated all aspects of our global culture. You didn’t have to be of African (American) descent to experience anti-Black racism, and even within communities of color anti-Black racism is present (Example: South Asian anti-black racism. The global conversation around diversity, discrimination, and marginalization permeated social media, traditional press, art, music… etc.

In Wiwibloggs’ editorial article, “Black lives matter — and so do black artists at Eurovision,” Isanne Yard wrote:

“So what does Eurovision have to do with racism or Black Lives Matter? And why is it important for Eurofans to take a moment, to sit down on #BlackOutTuesday and after to think about what’s going on? Well, the answer is that Eurovision, so long at the forefront of reflecting social change, has a part to play too. It can expose people to new visions — of the world and of themselves — something I’ve learned in my 20 years as a Eurofan…

Among the many tragedies of the cancellation of Eurovision 2020? Not seeing a year of black excellence come to life. Eurovision 2020 had a record number of black artists singing at the biggest music entertainment TV show in the world.”

While on the topic of Black performers at the Eurovision Song Contest, here’s a quick snapshot including recent years:

• 2024
  • 2 Black performers: Australia and Denmark
  • 2 performers of African descent: France and Greece
• 2023
  • 1 Black performer: Ukraine
  • 2 performers of African descent: France and Sweden
• 2022
  • 1 Black performer: Belgium
  • 1 performers of African descent: Portugal (Yes, I am claiming Maro😆)
• 2021
  • 6 Black performers: Czechia, Israel, Malta, The Netherlands, San Marino, and Sweden

In 2019, I attended the Eurovision Song Contest as press, previously, I attended the contest with fan accreditation in 2016 and 2018; it was one of the most homogenous spaces I have ever been in. Both professionally and personally, I had not been in a space that, anecdotally, skewed so white and male. The languages around me were diverse, as were some of the opinions, but visually, the homogeneity was undeniable. I quickly realized in conversation with a few women, who had been covering the Contest far longer than me, that being in the gender minority was business as usual in Eurovision spaces.

As an African-American travelling to Europe, my expectation was NOT to see many Black faces. As a woman with a professional career in communications, my expectations was NOT to see many women. However, it was my expectation that an organization championing diversity as a slogan in 2017 with a global reach that WANTS to expand would have some programs in place to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion at their largest public offering.

In the past, as an American Eurovision fan, I recognized (and accepted) that I was not the target demographic for the Eurovision Song Contest. Whether European fans and Eurovision Song Contest gatekeepers like it or not, things are different. Non-European audiences do have a seat at the table now and are a target audience for the Contest. So there will be different and outside expectations that the European Broadcasting Union will have to grapple with.

With the reelection of Donald Trump in the United States last fall, I knew that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs would be targeted. What I naively didn’t expect to see was corporations quickly abandoning the commitments and promises they made in 2020.

CNN reported in January:

Amid the rising right-wing pressure, US workers in November viewed DEI more negatively than they did the prior year: While 52% said focusing on increasing DEI was mainly a good thing, 21% said it was a bad thing – a 5 percentage point increase from 2023 – a Pew Research Center survey found…

Critics say DEI programs are discriminatory and attempt to solve racial discrimination by disadvantaging other groups, particularly White Americans. But supporters and industry experts insist the decades-old practice has been politicized and is widely misunderstood.

Anecdotally, as a Eurovision fan, I’ve heard all the rebuttals to my calls for more diversity demographically in our performers and in the press room:

• There aren’t that many Black and brown people in Europe.
• Diversity isn’t just about race.
• In Europe, we don’t have racism like you do in America.

In 2021, I wrote about the press room at Eurovision needing more diversity. I provided concrete steps the EBU could employ to make this happen. Here we are at with another Eurovision season, where these initiatives are not in place. On the surface, some might say that critics of DEI practices could likely feel right at home in the Eurovision press and delegation pool. What an odd reality for a contest that has been hailed as “gay Christmas and the gay World Cup”. While the community might be hailed, rightfully so, as a an LGBTQ+ safe space; it isn’t lost on some of us that LGBTQ+ friendly doesn’t mean that a space is racism and sexism free.

📖 See:

1. Measuring Multiple Minority Stress: The LGBT People of Color Microaggressions Scale
2. People of Color Experience Discrimination Within LGBT Spaces
3. A conversation on white supremacy and racism in the queer community
4. Misogyny and homophobia: patriarchy, gender policing, and the male gaze
5. How misogyny makes the LGBTQ community a lonely place for queer women

It’s been five years since Eurovision’s cancellation, and I again pose the question Isanne did: So what does Eurovision have to do with racism? To be fair, the European Broadcasting Union has employed DEI programs, stating, “Since 2020, we have implemented numerous DEI commitments and policies, established a DEI Steering Group, and created a DEI Officer role with the authority and means to deliver.” These programs are designed to benefit EBU staff. Mark Cuban said, “Having a workforce that is diverse and representative of your stakeholders is good for business.”

Here’s the EBU’s leadership team:

The fact of the matter is that DEI programs don’t just benefit Black and brown communities: white women, LGBTQ+ folks, people living with disabilities… etc. all can benefit from these initiatives… But when far-right extremists talk about the programs, the connotation is dog-whistled that Black and brown folks are gaining access to spaces they are unqualified to be in.

As Eurovision fans, we play a small but instrumental role in the Eurovision ecosystem, and I’d argue we drive the narratives online more than the official Eurovision channels. Here at Eurovision Fam, I wanted to create a hub for creators across the fandom and around the world. The only baseline criteria we have is that you have to be and live in a country that does not compete at Eurovision. We’ve built a team that has a majority of women and people of color. Was I only looking for women and people of color? No, but I wanted to be mindful of the overall makeup of our team. Keep in mind, Eurovision creators and fansites function largely on a volunteer basis; we do this WORK (it is work) because we LOVE the Eurovision Song Contest, but this instantly creates a barrier for many folks from marginalized communities.

While it is easy to lay the blame solely on the EBU, a corporation, for reinforcing marginalization within the Eurovision community and the lack of diversity in the press room— it isn’t all their fault. It’s algorithms, it’s the leaders of Eurovision fansites, it’s the consumers of Eurovision content… There are a lot of factors we cannot control.

Why is it algorithms? See: Report: Algorithms Are Worsening Racism, Bias, Discrimination AND Why algorithms can be racist and sexist AND While white social media creators are constantly rewarded, Black creators are often left in the dust

Why is it the consumers of Eurovision content? Eurovision fans have a lot of power. Depending on your country, you can decide who is actually going to perform on the Eurovision stage, AND sometimes you can dictate who wins the contest. Fans also have the power to amplify the work of creators and other fans. Are you only subscribed to Western creators who are men? Are you only visiting fan sites with predominantly white teams? Diversity, equity, and inclusion work is hard and requires all of us to question our personal biases and habits.

Why is it the leaders of fan sites? When you are in charge of something, you’re ultimately responsible for the products, output, and makeup of your team; leadership has to own the consequences, both intended and unintended. While I think the question around diversity is ultimately an unintended consequence, when are we as a fan community going to get serious about it? The conversation started years ago, but what have we collectively done to change it? As an American, third-party, non-involed person 😉— I feel that it is not my place to lead that chat. As someone with a smaller slice of the Eurovision community in terms of subscribers, I know that I cannot have this conversation alone. But as a queer, Black woman who is a mother of a young daughter I feel compelled to raise it.

…As a 92%-er who works in social justice, I am tired, and this is not the work or conversation I want to have associated with my hobby.

Eurovision has long been a source of escapism for its fans both die-hard and casual. But evolution is inevitable and the recent controversies have forced creators, organizers, and participants to engage in tough conversations. For marginalized folks we often don’t get the privilege of rest, we must remain ready to activate and advocate for ourselves and our communities. While we may mourn our Eurovision safe haven to frivolously debate styling, vocals, and staging, we cannot turn a blind eye to marginalization.

I believe it is imperative to hold space for those holding multiple marginalized identities. Closed-minded individuals who have not been marginalized by societal norms need not participate actively in this discussion; they don’t want things to change, nor do they think there is value in evolving in this way. Those looking to practice allyship and/or those who want to learn more about racism, discrimination, and how our global history has affected Black folks, brown folks, and other marginalized communities can find a myriad of resources right here on the internet.

So, can we get serious about fighting sexism and racism in the Eurovision community? Can we get serious about equity and inclusion on and off the stage at Eurovision?

I’m tired, but I’m ready to talk if it will bring about concrete change.

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Recommended Continued Reading

• “But what about…?” The fundamental flaws of using ‘whataboutism’ when talking about race.
• The New Eurovision Reference Group, And Its Geographical Diversity
• Was Eurovision 2020 The Contest Of The Racial Watershed?
• Why the Eurovision community should care about the Black Lives Matter movement
• An Asian American Guide to Dismantling Anti-Blackness
• ‘Shameful’ rise in racism against black people, says EU survey
  • “Almost half of people of African descent in the EU face racism and discrimination in their daily life – a rise since 2016. Racist harassment and ethnic profiling are also common, especially for young people, finds a new survey from the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights” Full survey
• Combatting Anti-Blackness: Resources for the Asian American Community
• The Toxicity of Inflicting Whataboutisms When Discussing Racism