Eurovision Song Contest
Performing in Düsseldorf 14 May 2011
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Photo: ESC |
The concept of a geographical, political or cultural Europe that creates a differing patchwork according to topic can be utterly baffling. There are the European Union and the Euro zone. And then there is the Eurovision Song Contest, now coming to Düsseldorf in the far west of Germany.
In terms of stretching borders, this institution has always proven itself to be experimental, if not visionary. The inclusion of such countries as Russia, Ukraine, Israel or Turkey has proven year after year how strongly culture can unite. The only sources of controversy that surface are when an impression arises that some attempts at influencing the results are suspected or at distaste of their musical experimentation.
The latter has often reflected an alternative to the music found in most pop and rock charts and has attracted hundreds of millions of viewers. Started as the European Grand Prix in 1956, the competition was created to help unite European countries. The latest chapter in this success story brings the Eurovision Song Contest to Düsseldorf in 2011, following Lena Meyer-Landrut winning the competition for Germany in Oslo in 2010.
Back to the European patchwork. The European Union for instance, which frequently invites new members to join, has expanded in size well beyond its original six founding countries yet experiences resistance to some prospects such as Turkey. On the other hand, there exist long standing trade agreements with some countries firmly on European soil that are not in the Union and a variety of treaties such as the borderless free trade zone or the monetary union which do not include some of the countries that are.
Numerous bodies and institutions form the core of the EU, which has also been known in its sixty year history as the European Coal and Steel community and the EEC. They include the European Council; European Parliament; Council of the European Union; European Commission; Court of Justice of the European Union and so on.
Many topics of the EU also challenge long held beliefs. On what topics can national patriotism be expressed? Where do sovereign national boundaries end? Where should legislation be passed? Many citizens from within Europe do not easily comprehend what is and what is not European, let alone those from further abroad.
Many foreigners, European or not, will most certainly take the opportunity to discover how perfect a host Düsseldorf can be and experience the local resident's friendliness situated here right in the heart of the Union.