Sometimes what is expected is not
always what occurs. In my first blog post, I attempted to Dutch national
identity and in my second blog post, I tried to analyze recent Dutch Eurovision
entries and what they say about Dutch views towards diversity. In this blog post,
I will examine the alignment or misalignment of the Netherlands’ main national
identity (discussed in my first blog post) with how they represent themselves
at Eurovision (discussed in my second blog post) and reflect on how the
Netherlands views not only Eurovision, but nation branding.
I
should first start by clarifying and revisiting a few topics. Professor Anna
Triandafyllidou characterizes national identity by its “capacity of defining
who is a member of the community but also who is a foreigner” (Triandafyllidou
593). In blog post one, I gave an example of how the United States promotes it
ideals of justice and liberty as part of its national identity. Professors Göran Bolin and Per Ståhlberg define national branding as “the
phenomenon by which governments engage in self-conscious activities aimed at
producing a certain image of the nation state” (Bolin and Ståhlberg 82). National branding,
which will either be present or absent at Eurovision, is more of purposeful
image constructed for a specific reason or message. In blog post one, I ended
by describing Dutch national identity as expressing liberal ideals, tolerance, secular
politics, and distancing from Germans. In blog post two, I concluded that the
Netherlands, through its Eurovision entries from 2010-2014, implied that it
appreciates diversity, but does not make a point to showcase it. This suggests
that either diversity was not a very important part of Dutch national branding
at Eurovision or that there was not much nation branding at all.
Between
Dutch national identity and Dutch representation at Eurovision, there is some
overlap, particularly concerning diversity and attitude towards Germans. In
blog post one, I referenced that 84.4% of the Netherlands is either Dutch or
from elsewhere in the European Union (“The World Factbook: Netherlands”). When
compared to the Eurovision performances from 2010-2014, this statistic matches
fairly well. Out of all the performances, only one had a main performer who was
not fully Dutch. Joana Franka (2012), mentioned in an interview that she is
half Turkish (Adams 2012). Anyone onstage who was not Dutch or from another
part of the EU was a back-up singer. This ratio of Dutch/from the EU to
non-Dutch/not from the EU seems to be within reason of the given statistics. In
instances like in Anouk’s “Birds” (2013), where all the back-up singers were
people of color, the ethnicity of the people on stage might be intentional, but
that was the only performance from 2010-2014 in which something like that occurred,
so it is most likely not connected to any specific message from nation branding.
Another similarity between the national identity and representation at
Eurovision is the distancing of Germany. In blog post one, it was established that
many Dutch people have a strong dislike for Germans. This can be clearly seen
in the voting at Eurovision. In both 2013 and 2016, the Netherlands gave German
a total of zero points in the finals (Hulluna 2013) (Akkoc 2016). This also occurred
in both 2014 and 2015 (“Full Split Results” 2014-2015). While it is not quite a
part of national branding because it is not overtly showcased like the
performances, it is clear from the voting that Dutch dislike for Germans
extends into the realm of Eurovision.
While
there is some alignment between Dutch national identity and representation at
Eurovision, there is also some misalignment, particularly concerning music
style and liberal ideals/tolerance/secular politics. Of the five performances
analyzed in blog post one, two of them were pop (2010) (2011), two were country
(2012) (2014), and one was rock (2013). A recent study showed that in the
Netherlands, 42% of people like pop music the most, followed by 20% for rock, 9%
for both classical and dance/house, 7% for both world and hip hop/soul, and 6%
for jazz (Research… 2015). If the Dutch entries from 2010 to 2014 had
corresponded more to the tastes of Dutch people, there would have been less
country and more pop. This difference is most likely because several of the
Dutch entries, at least all from 2013 to present, have been chosen internally (Sixty
Years… 2015). This means that the Dutch broadcaster could have picked artists
because their genre did well at Eurovision in previous years and not because it
represents the Dutch preferences as a whole. Another disconnect involves
liberal ideals, tolerance, and secular politics. Since Eurovision is supposed
to be as non-political as possible, Dutch entries cannot include direct reference
to liberal and secular politics, and tolerance, while possible to express
subtly, also has political connotations and would be harder to express. None of
the entries from 2010 to 2014 focused on themes of tolerance either, instead
focusing more on the themes of love and hope versus despair mentioned in blog
post two. This could mean that ideals like liberal beliefs and tolerance are
just not a part of Dutch national branding.
To
recapitulate, Dutch national identity and Dutch representation at Eurovision
align concerning diversity and a dislike of Germans, but misalign concerning
musical styles and more political stances like liberal beliefs and tolerance.
Based
off the alignments and misalignments between Dutch national identity and the
Dutch representation at Eurovision, the Netherlands views the Eurovision Song Contest
more as a competition to win rather than a platform for self-promotion. All the
alignments, or lack thereof, do not really say anything definitive about the
Netherlands or work towards national branding. The distaste for Germany is not
blatantly showcased, the alignment with diversity statistics could be
coincidental, and the more political stances would be hard to express on stage.
What seems like a lack of national branding could be considered more national
branding to represent the Netherlands as a nation that is comfortable and
confident with their national identity so that they do not feel the need to
promote it. The misalignment of music styles might contribute to making the
Netherlands appear more competitive if they were chosen by the Dutch
broadcaster based off previously successful genres, but that is not known for
certain. It has recently been discussed that internal selection, like that seen
in the Netherlands, might be more successful at choosing a winning entry than holding
a sort of national final, like Melodifestivalen in Sweden, where artists are slowly
picked off by the public until only their chosen entry for the Eurovision Song
Contest remains (Robertson 2015). This
information does make it seem more likely that the Dutch broadcaster in charge
of internal selections is choosing artists who might have higher chances of
winning. An important question to ask after “how are the artists chosen to
represent the country” is “who is being chosen and how well known are they”. If
the artists who are chosen are not well known and not very experienced, they
are less likely to win, which then that implies that the country who chose them
does not place a very high priority on winning. On the other hand, if a country
picks a very well-known and liked artist, that implies that the country takes
Eurovision more seriously and has a stronger desire to win. In an article by
the Eurovision website, it is briefly mentioned that the Dutch artists for 2017,
OG3NE, won The Voice of Holland in
2014 (Eurovision.tv 2017). The Common Linnets (2014) were also a more popular
and experienced group chosen by the Dutch broadcaster (Robertson 2015) (Sixty
Years… 2015). This implies that the Netherlands does try to win and selects
artists in a competitive manner, adding competitiveness to the Dutch national
brand. The subtle use of nation branding, if that is indeed what it is,
suggests that the Netherlands views nation branding as most useful when used
quietly.
Overall,
it seems that the alignment and misalignment of Dutch national identity and
Dutch representation at Eurovision demonstrates that the Netherlands views the
Eurovision Song Contest as a competition to win and a way to promote themselves
as a calm, confident, and collected country with a bit of a competitive spirit.
This in turn implies that the Netherlands views nation branding as a good tool
when used subtly.
Works Cited
Adams,
Lee William. “Q&A: Joan Franka on the Indian Headdress and Her Turkish
Roots,” Wiwibloggs, 14 March 2012. http://wiwibloggs.com/2012/03/14/qa-joan-franka-on-the-indian-headdress-and-her-turkish-roots/15300/. Accessed 04 Feb. 2017.
Akkoc, Raziye.
"Eurovision 2016 Results Explained: Who Voted for Whom in the New
System?" The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 15 May 2016. Web. 16 Mar.
2017.
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2016/05/15/eurovision-2016-results-explained-who-voted-for-whom-in-the-new/>.
Anouk. “Birds,” music and
lyrics by Anouk Teeuwe, Tore Johansson, and Martin Gjerstad. The Netherlands, Eurovision Song Contest, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5iazXvMw5o. Accessed 27 Jan. 2017.
Bolin, Göran and
Per Ståhlberg "Between
Community and Commodity: Nationalism and Nation Branding". Communicating
the nation: national topographies of global media landscapes. Göteborg: Nordicom, Göteborgs
universitet. 2010. pp. 82.
Eurovision.tv.
"OG3NE to Represent the Netherlands with 'Lights and Shadows'."Eurovision.tv. Eurovision Song Contest, 07 Mar. 2017. Web. 16
Mar. 2017.
<http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=girl_group_og3ne_to_represent_the_netherlands_in_kyiv>.
Franka,
Joan. “You and Me,” music and lyrics by Joan Franka and Jessica Hoogenboom. The
Netherlands, Eurovision Song Contest, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCc0Iiu3DiU. Accessed 27 Jan. 2017.
"Full Split
Results." Eurovision Song Contest, 2014-2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
<http://www.eurovision.tv/page/results?event=1893&voter=NL>.
Hulluna.
"The Netherlands: Jury Votes Revealed." The Eurovision
Times. N.p., 31 May 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
<https://eurovisiontimes.wordpress.com/2013/05/31/the-netherlands-jury-votes-revealed/>.
"Research:
Pop Music, Most Popular among the Dutch." BNP Paribas
Netherlands. BNP Paribas, 29 June 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
<http://www.bnpparibas.nl/en/2015/06/29/research-pop-music-most-popular-among-the-dutch/>.
Robertson, Ben.
"Does A National Final Help To Find The Best Eurovision Song?" ESC Insight -
Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast. ESC Insight, 15 May 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
<http://escinsight.com/2015/05/15/does-a-national-final-help-to-find-the-best-eurovision-song/>.
Sieneke. “Ik Ben
Verliefd (Sha-la-lie),” music and lyrics by Pierre Kartner. The Netherlands, Eurovision Song Contest, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdA2SsM3BLI . Accessed 27 Jan. 2017.
"Sixty Years
of the Dutch at Eurovision: All You Need to Know." DutchNews.nl. DutchNews, 15 May 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
<http://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2015/05/sixty-years-of-the-dutch-at-eurovision-all-you-need-to-know/>.
The Common Linnets. “Calm After
The Storm,” music and lyrics by Ilse DeLange, JB Meijers, Rob Crosby, Matthew
Crosby, and Jake Etheridge. The Netherlands, Eurovision
Song Contest, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ggBPAm5XLA. Accessed 27 Jan. 2017.
"The World
Factbook: Netherlands." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, 12 Jan. 2017. Web. 19 Jan.
2017.
Triandafyllidou,
Anna. “National Identity and the ‘Other’”. Ethnic
and Racial Studies, vol. 21, no. 4, Routledge, July 1998, pp. 593.
3JS. “Never Alone,” music and
lyrics by Jaap Kwakman, Jan Dulles, and Jaap de Witte. The Netherlands, Eurovision Song Contest, 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ6T43D82KY. Accessed 27 Jan. 2017.
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