With an aesthetic dependent on novelty and spectacle, and a structure that’s both disjointed and drawn-out, Eurovision – for some – cannot fail to fail. In its “failed seriousness” (the phrase writer Susan Sontag used to describe “camp”), the song contest has all the exaggerated expressiveness that audiences associate with kitsch. So, how could it possibly be cool?
I’m interested in viewing the show through the lens of cool theory (which identifies different kinds of cool and breaks those down into core qualities). “Coolness” itself is a slippery and controversial term that can mean almost opposing things.
For some, “cool” is simply what is fashionable. It can also be a rebellion against what is fashionable. Or an anti-social attitude in which nothing and no one else matters beyond your own stylish persona.
