Azerbaijan, Eurovision Song Contest and Nation Branding. An Essay

Essay from the year 2015 in the subject Cultural Studies - European Studies, grade: 84, University of Melbourne, language: English, abstract: Azerbaijan's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest has been an important example of the exercise of nation branding, and this paper highlights the methods and means by which Azerbaijan brands itself and uses this for social and economic benefit. The Republic of Azerbaijan is a relatively unknown country in the Caucasus region straddling Eastern Europe and Western Asia, being most notable for its conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its significant oil export industry. As a state of former-USSR, Azerbaijan is viewed with a certain level of scepticism by the West, and unlike nations such as Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, it does not have significant ties to other European countries to bring it 'in line' with Western ideals. Thus, Azerbaijan utilises the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in order to project a particular image of itself to the West, constructing an identity for itself through its participation.