Downsizing the government, upping defence spending and … getting Canada into Eurovision?
Alongside many major line items, yesterday’s federal budget teased that the government is working with CBC/Radio-Canada to explore Canada’s participation in the annual Eurovision Song Contest, where international singers battle it out by performing original songs, competing under a country’s flag.
Two government sources say Prime Minister Mark Carney is personally involved in the push.
The competition mostly showcases European talent and is put on by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), but any public broadcasters that are EBU members can participate, which includes some outside of Europe. Canada is only an affiliate member, although Australia, another affiliate, has taken part since 2015.
When reached for comment by CBC News last month about the possibility of Canada participating, Eurovision said the contest is limited to EBU members.
While the news out of the budget may be exciting fans of the competition, Canadian participation might not be easy — especially since some have tried to get the country involved before.
Introducing Eurovision Canada
In 2022, Toronto-based production company Insight Productions — which made the Canadian spinoffs of The Amazing Race and Big Brother — tried to start a Eurovision Canada, where Canadian artists would compete, with the winner then sent to Europe for the ultimate contest.
At the time, organizers said the competition would premiere in 2023, featuring artists and bands from all 13 provinces and territories, and that the host would be announced within weeks.
The federal government’s new budget features an unexpected move: Canada will explore participating in the popular Eurovision song contest. What does this mean and why is this important to the government? Journalist and Eurovision expert Karen Fricker explains.
But ultimately, the venture didn’t make it off the ground. The team realized after the announcement that sending Canadians to the global contest would be a complex effort, co-chief content officer Lindsay Cox, told The Canadian Press earlier this year. But the company is still trying to make Eurovision Canada happen, she said.
There also wasn’t buy-in from CBC/Radio-Canada, which would have to be involved given Eurovision is ultimately hosted by public broadcasters. CBC spokesperson Chuck Thompson previously told CBC News the broadcaster considered it and met with the company at the time, but ultimately decided it would be “prohibitively expensive.”
Asked what CBC is currently doing to explore Canada potentially competing in Eurovision, Thompson told CBC News there was “no information to share about Eurovision at this time.”
But Canada wouldn’t necessarily have to run a pricey, televised contest at home to pick a singer to send to Eurovision — the competition’s rules allow countries to choose how they select their artists.
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Still, Dean Vuletic, a historian specializing in the history of Eurovision, says being in the competition and doing it well is expensive — there’s a participation fee, plus the costs associated with sending people to the show, let alone what it takes to host it.
Culture and Canadian buy-in could be tricky
Canadians have competed in Eurovision in the past under other flags — namely Céline Dion, who won the competition for Switzerland in 1988, as well as Natasha St-Pier, who repped France in 2001 and Montreal’s La Zarra, again for France, in 2023. But the competition isn’t hugely popular in Canada, which could be a hurdle in its participation, says Karen Fricker, a Brock University professor and Eurovision expert.
“People who are interested in culture know about it. Queer communities know about it,” Fricker said. “Is it well enough known to really get momentum, is my biggest question.”
For example, in Australia, the song contest was broadcast for decades and had become ingrained in the country’s culture before it started competing, Fricker said.
Plus, while Eurovision has tried to globalize its brand in recent years, the contest is still ultimately a European affair, said Vuletic, the historian. He says it’s possible that the competition organizers might not want too many non-European countries to join for fear of globalizing the cultural event too much.
That said, in an interview with Global News, Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the idea about Canada competing came from “the people who participate,” suggesting Europe might not have many hang-ups about Canada joining.
There has also been internal disagreement about who should be able to take part in the competition — namely over Israel’s participation, given its war in Gaza. Organizers had scheduled a vote for this month on whether Israel should be allowed to compete next year, though it has since been postponed.
“So right now, expanding Eurovision really isn’t the major focus of the European Broadcasting Union — it’s trying to save the contest as it is,” Vuletic said.
Despite the hurdles, Fricker says the federal government’s backing makes this the most real conversation Canada has ever had about joining the contest — something fans can be excited about.
“It’s still speculative, but it’s firmer than it has been in the past.”
