Two years following its annexation from Yugoslavia in 1991, the small nation of Slovenia joins the 42 countries that participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. The global event occurs annually as not only a way of displaying the latest technology in the entertainment world, it is also an opportunity for countries to present an original song and act as a representative of their country, and thus, promote nation-branding. Nation branding can be defined as a way for countries to establish an outlook informing of their policies and culture to an international audience. Eurovision is a great example of that, as it allows a multitude of nations to promote nation branding yearly, and in a fashion that appeals to an audience of a wide age range. In my first blog post, I discussed the national identity of Slovenia, especially regarding language given that there are many different ethnic minorities living in Slovenia. In my second blog post, I examined two of Slovenia’s performances from 2017...
When it comes to a national song contest like Eurovision, there is much to be said regarding diversity from the performances and people. Despite having made its Eurovision Song Contest debut in 1993, Slovenia still has made an imprint showcasing the different identities from the country that appear to be relatively positive towards diversity. In examining the past two performances (discounting Slovenia’s selection this year) there is a rather dramatic shift in mood or genre of music and symbolism that Slovenia appears to try and execute. There are feminist or “radical” identities in parts of Slovenia that are represented, as a way for the country to voice their opinions on the ongoing universal debate for gender equality. There is a level of appeal to an international audience as many of Slovenia’s songs are performed in their native language or in English. However, given their short timeline of involvement...