After the massive party in Marseille to welcome the arrival of the Olympic flame, it's time to turn our gaze north for what's also billed as another "it's a small world after all" feelgood celebration. Malmö, Sweden is host of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, that heart-shaped ode to kitsch where pop contestants do battle with tremolos, glitter and kicks. But just as politics bleeds into sports, it bleeds into music.
Security is tight around the venue in southern Sweden, amid calls by some to bar Israel's contestant. And while the ban on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine two years ago was for the most part consensual, this call is tearing apart aficionados.
It’s not just controversial when the voting is done by country. When do rock anthems become national anthems? Just how important is music for propaganda and resistance? And are today's artists any more or less voices for activism than their predecessors?
Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Juliette Brown.
