Critiquing the national brand
Critiquing
the National Brand
The
Eurovision Song Contest brings the European countries together on a single
stage where all their styles are represented. Some Eurovision songs might not be musically appealing,
but it has been a joy and a pleasure to watch many of the wild Eurovision
performances, fighting it out to be the most unique, the most memorable and,
sometimes, the weirdest. This contest has
come to be used as a platform for the countries to modify or alter their national
identity through their performances and songs. A platform where all the countries
try to wow the audience, each in a different way. Eurovision presents an
opportunity for all the participating countries to present a unified national
identity to a global audience and serves as a tool for national branding. According
to Paul Jordan, “National branding essentially communicates a nation’s policies
and culture to an international audience – the public face of international
diplomacy.” (Jordan, 2014, p. 284). It is an effort to manage a country’s
image, it could be to improve tourism, increase trade with other nations,
investments, or even foreign relations. Therefore, it is through national
branding that a country manifests itself across diverse spheres of society from
international, political as well as popular culture.
Comparing blog post
one and blog post two there is misalignment between Russia’s national identity
and its Eurovision performances. As discussed in blog one, Russia’s national
identity is built upon its Russian culture, religion, language, and history. Religion has always been an important
foundation for Russians, and The Russian Orthodoxy serves as Russia’s official
religion. Russia’s historical identity can
be related to the gruesome and intimidating Cold War stereotype. Moreover, to
a westerner, ideas about Russian identity can be complex and paradoxical.
Overall Russia is perceived as a Great Power, and its role in the world can
sometimes be perceived as negative. In order to get rid of the negative
perception, Mikhail Margelov, the chairman of the International Affairs
Committee of Russia’s Federation Council said that the nation’s branding
campaign: . . . needs to push “the image of a ‘good’ rather than a ‘strong’
Russia” as part of the “soft-power” approach that is now so popular. And to do
that, it must have a coordinated plan, one that will be “pro-active rather than
defensive.” (Goble, 2009, p. 1). And in order to do this Russia is using Eurovision
as a tool for branding and creating a good image.
When
it comes to Eurovision 2015, Russia’s national identity does not match its
representation on stage. As
discussed in blog two, the performance, A
Million Voices by Polina Gagarina in Eurovision 2015 is a song about world
peace, love, unity, and oneness. It is a power ballad where “emotions are
ecstatic and immediate” – in this case, Polina is portraying her emotions
directed towards the feelings of diversity and unity (Metzer, 2012). The lyrics,
“Praying for peace and healing. I hope we
can start again. We believe…We believe in a dream…” don’t have any
religious connotations (Vasilyev, 2015). The song is about accepting people for
who they are and what they stand for as part of Russia’s attempt at soft
diplomacy. It seems like the song is targeting a universal audience and is in
line with the Eurovision 2015 theme of Building
Bridges (2014). Such lyrics are referencing a worldwide cultural feeling of
unity, peace, and belonging. Through national branding, Russia has put up a
wonderful experience but it is far removed from reality. Russia is projecting a
nation on stage that believes in peace, love, and healing, but, 2015 was the
year when Russia joined the war in Syria and had ongoing conflicts with
Ukraine. Such hypocrisy generated considerable interest and controversy both in
the country itself and within the wider context of the European media. There is
a clash between what is happening in their country and what they are displaying
on stage. The disconnect between the country’s
national identity and its performance is evident. Moreover, the song is sung
in English and not in Russian, which is their official language. They are
ditching their countries common language and becoming a part of a community
outside Europe. By singing in English, Russia is going away from its national
identity so that the performance resonates with a wider population. The song
does not shed light on many aspects of Russian history. And thus, their national
branding has been aligned to cater to the tastes of the western audience. In this
case, national branding has been done out of the need to deal in an effective
way with Western media as well as to repair the damaged legacies of hard power.
The second song “You Are The Only One” performed by
Sergey Lazarev in Eurovision 2016 is a dance-pop song that appeals to a diverse
crowd. With over 3 million followers on Instagram, Sergey is a major pop star
in Russia as well as other countries. The energetic music and performance by
Sergey was popular amongst the audience and for many Sergey was the sure winner
of the contest. He won the public televote but got a disappointed jury result
which placed Russia in third place. The lyrics “Won’t ever give up cause you’re.. still
somewhere out there…you’re the only one-my only one…” suggests that it is a
love song (Gallagher, 2016). Throughout the performance the elements that mark
Russian national identity such as religion, culture, language, and history are
missing. There is a misalignment between Russia’s national identity and its
representation on stage. Just like the previous performance, this song was also
sung in English, which makes this performance further away from their national
identity. The only official representation of the Russian identity was seen at
the beginning of the song when Sergey replicates the movements of the eagle
wings which are projected on the screen behind him (EuroVisionary, 2016). The
black double-headed eagle is the official national symbol of the Russian state
(CIA, 2018). Official and personal coats of arms, stamps, coins, military flags, and banners have all used this symbol. Use of such symbols serves as a reminder
of the nation’s past, referencing its origins and values. This symbol is seen
as an allegory sometimes for unity, and sometimes for absolute monarchy
(“Russia & the double-headed eagle”, 2013). Just by showing a glimpse of
this symbol, Russia is showing who they are as a nation. Using over the top
graphic imagery, projections, Perspex steps that are built into
computer-generated backdrops shows us that Russia has poured a lot of money
into branding the country’s creative and advanced use of technology. In this
case, technology and entertainment can be seen as products to be clarified and
marketed. By staging such an energetic and technologically superior performance
combined with snapshots of the double-headed eagle's wings allowed Russia to
market themselves to a wider audience on their own terms. Not many will know
about the significance of the wings, but for those who do, it will serve them
as a reminder of what their nation stands for. By subtly incorporating such a
symbol could possibly represent a salient and important part of the rituals
connected to nation-building.
In conclusion,
Russia’s national identity does not align with its performance. It is hard to
figure out the message Russia is trying to communicate on stage. It makes one
wonder, what image is Russia trying to project to the rest of the world? One
might think that through national branding Russia is trying to improve its
reputation. In the first performance, national branding has been done to
rebuild a new and modern image for Russia. Through national branding, they might
believe that they can fix their negative image and repair the damaged legacies
of hard power. And from the second performance, national branding is centered
around technology and entertainment. It is about providing the best show for
the world to witness. From both the performances it is important to see that
Russia is a modern nation that is rebuilding
itself around some perceived notions, some identity regarded as unique, even if
it’s a mixture of truth and lies that have been omitted or exaggerated.
Eurovision can be seen as an international comeback opportunity for Russia to
present a better, stronger, more glamorous as well as to re-position their
countries image globally. It is clear that Russia is trying to modify
the way they are being seen by the world. The Eurovision Song Contest thus
provides the ideal platform for investigating the processes of nation-building
and international image building.
References
CIA. (2018, February 01). The World
Factbook: Russia. Retrieved March 17, 2019, from
Eurovision 2015 theme artwork is
here! (2014, November 25). Retrieved March 20, 2019, from
EuroVisionary. (2016, May 13).
Sergey Lazarev - You Are The Only One (Russia) Final
Eurovision 2016. Retrieved March 17,
2019, from
Gallagher, R. (2016, March 05).
"You Are The Only One" lyrics - Sergey Lazarev (Russia
2016). Retrieved March 17, 2019, from https://wiwibloggs.com/2016/03/05/you-
are-the-only-one-lyrics-sergey-lazarev-russia-2016/130361/
Goble, P. (2009). Kremlin assumes
control for promoting Russia’s image abroad. Retrieved
March 17, 2019, from http://politicom.moldova.org/news/kremlin-assumes-control-
for-promoting-russiasimage-abroad-201549-eng.html
Jordan, P. (2014). Nation branding: A Tool for nationalism? Journal of Baltic Studies, 45(3),
283-303.
Polina Gagarina. (2015). A Million Voices (Russia). Eurovision Song
Contest 2015 Vienna.
Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2gbKglCL5s
Vasilyev, M. (2015, March 15).
Russia: Polina Gagarina reveals "A Million Voices". Retrieved
March 17, 2019, from https://wiwibloggs.com/2015/03/15/russia-polina-gagarina-
reveals-million-voices/
Victoria and Albert Museum, Digital
Media. (2011, January 13). Russia & the double-headed
eagle. Retrieved March 17, 2019, from
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/r/
russia-double-headed-eagle/
Word Count: 1597 words
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