As part of the SEED4EU+ ESCAPE project, a two-day workshop focused on Eurovision 2026 will take place at Hollar

2026 marked the 70th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), one of the world’s largest media events, reaching 132 million people through its live television broadcasts across 35 markets. The anniversary edition also brought to the fore long-standing controversies surrounding the political and geopolitical dimensions of the Contest. Several participating countries boycotted the 2026 edition in protest against Israel’s continued participation and allegations of manipulated televoting, while a number of Eastern and Southern European countries made a strong comeback on the Eurovision stage. These developments point to shifting cleavages and power balances within Europe, while raising broader questions about who and what gets to represent Europe on one of its most visible cultural stages. 

Following up on this year’s contest, a workshop titled Eurovision Song Contest in a Turbulent World: Prefiguring Trends, Mirroring Divides will take place as part of the SEED4EU+ ESCAPE project on Monday, September 7, and Tuesday, September 8, in Room H012 of the Hollar Building (only the first day of the workshop is open to the public). The workshop will explore Eurovision as a cultural, media and institutional arena in which broader transformations of Europe and the world are reflected, performed and negotiated. It also asks what the Contest can tell us about changing configurations of Europeanness and belonging; how musical and media practices mediate social and geopolitical divisions; how fandoms, journalists, broadcasters and the EBU negotiate the boundaries of the Contest; and whether Eurovision can not only mirror contemporary transformations but also prefigure emerging cultural, political and institutional trends.

Programme: Monday, September 7

• 1:00 PM–1:30 PM – Registration & welcome coffee
• 1:30 PM – Opening remarks (Valeria Korablyova, Charles University)
• 2:00 PM–3:30 PM – Panel discussion “Rethinking European Identity: Musical Tropes and Contested Belonging” (Christiane Wiesenfeldt, Heidelberg University & Valeria Korablyova, Charles University)
• 3:30–4:30 p.m. – Panel discussion “Covering the Contest: Fandom, Journalism, and the Eurovision Media Machine” (Lisa Bolz, Sorbonne University & Jonathan Hendrickx, University of Copenhagen)
• 4:30–5:00 p.m. — Coffee break
• 5:00–6:30 p.m. – Panel discussion “Who Navigates the Contest? EBU, National Broadcasters, and Other Stakeholders Negotiating the Future” (Marcin Bogucki, University of Warsaw; Mads M. Tommerup Andersen, University of Copenhagen; Sébastien Appiotti, Sorbonne University; and Arthur Betton, Panthéon-Assas University)
• 7:00 PM – Dinner (Café Louvre, Národní 22, 110 00 Prague 1 - by invitation)

Programme: Tuesday, September 8

• 8:00 AM – Morning coffee
• 8:30–11:00 a.m. – Brainstorming session on future project applications
• 11:30 a.m. – Lunch (Café Platýz, Národní 37 - by invitation)

Questions and requests can be directed to: valeriya.korablyova@fsv.cuni.cz.