A-lister
Veteran
- Joined
- December 28, 2009
- Posts
- 32,825
Yeah, of course the final will now suddenly be more or less timed with the Eurovision one... what a coincidence... 
My main concern with American Song Contest isn't the obvious silliness of trying to copy a pan-national/continental concept that has a long history and context and a clear cultural, social and even political importance for a whole continent into a US-only context with the self-centrism and ignorance that comes with it, but just when Eurovision finally had some international momentum going on, USA just had to step in and "ruin" the moment.
Some might think, "what's the issue here? let them enjoy their party!", but you're missing the point about resources and big labels politics here and the fact that most European artists can't really compete on the same playing field as American ones and if the AMS winner or entries will get the right "push", their channels are much more powerful and influential, and they could easily end up overshadowing Eurovision and its winner/entries.
Instead of selling the concept to the USA, EBU could have played a positive role in promoting European music, and should have focused on promoting Eurovision better and especially the winners instead of leaving them out to dry once the annual finals are over. With the huge platform that Eurovision is and the amount of audience it reaches, EBU could play a more active part in the months following the contest (special label, radio and streaming deals, promos etc), but short-term greed has again overtaken long-term goals that in the end would have benefitted the Eurovision brand and ultimately even the EBU more.
My main concern with American Song Contest isn't the obvious silliness of trying to copy a pan-national/continental concept that has a long history and context and a clear cultural, social and even political importance for a whole continent into a US-only context with the self-centrism and ignorance that comes with it, but just when Eurovision finally had some international momentum going on, USA just had to step in and "ruin" the moment.
Some might think, "what's the issue here? let them enjoy their party!", but you're missing the point about resources and big labels politics here and the fact that most European artists can't really compete on the same playing field as American ones and if the AMS winner or entries will get the right "push", their channels are much more powerful and influential, and they could easily end up overshadowing Eurovision and its winner/entries.
Instead of selling the concept to the USA, EBU could have played a positive role in promoting European music, and should have focused on promoting Eurovision better and especially the winners instead of leaving them out to dry once the annual finals are over. With the huge platform that Eurovision is and the amount of audience it reaches, EBU could play a more active part in the months following the contest (special label, radio and streaming deals, promos etc), but short-term greed has again overtaken long-term goals that in the end would have benefitted the Eurovision brand and ultimately even the EBU more.
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