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Eurovision Decoded: Victoria Mason speaks about the cultural relevance of the Eurovision Song Contest
Monday, 18 May, 2026Eurovision is the premier event when it comes to song competitions and has been going strong for 70 years. The 70th edition took place over the weekend, and prior to the event we caught up with Victoria Mason, Lecturer in Commercial Music at Bath Spa University, to find out what makes Eurovision so special, and why it is still so culturally relevant.
Victoria, also known as Little Boots, has over 20 years of experience in the music industry, from auditioning for Pop Idol to producing two top twenty hits and a top five album in the UK charts, to more recently being a part of ABBA Voyage. Victoria is one of BSU’s newest lecturers, joining in October 2025 to share her expertise and knowledge to the next generation of artists.
Speaking on Eurovision as a spectacle, and the UK’s relationship with the contest, Victoria said:
“There's nothing like it, is there. We have huge sports competitions, but there's very few things where all of these countries come together to compete on a global stage, or at least on a European stage. It launched ABBA’s career, it's launched lots of artists’ careers, those early performances of Waterloo, they were very smart and they presented a very clear visual identity.”
“It has an interesting place in the UK, I think, as something that's never quite taken seriously, and it's always a little bit ironic and camp and silly.”
When asked on what the UK needed to do in order to win again, Victoria said:
“When you do look at the songs that win, they are always great pop songs underneath, whatever they're dressed up as, there is usually a really good song hiding in there. Maybe if the UK took it a little bit more seriously as a country they would win, but then what would be the fun in that? That's kind of spoiling the point of Eurovision.”
Eurovision is a celebration of different cultures and bringing people together through music, and Victoria explains the essence of the competition:
“It's about embracing otherness, about embracing, what you're not, what your country is not. You might not be used to some of the rhythms or some of the language spoken, or some of the musical harmonies and things that come up in other countries’ songs.”
“They might not be usual to you and what you listen to, and it's about exposing yourself to lots of different types of pop music and trying to be open minded about that and have fun with it. So, I think it's a really good musical education as well as anything else, but it's just a lot of fun and a great chance to dress up.”
Victoria is the latest Academic to feature as part of our social media series titled ‘Decoded’. You can watch the video here and keep up to date with everything BSU on our social media channels.