A STUDENT has received a First for his dissertation on EUROVISION – after his supervisor laughed at the idea. Taylor Carolan – who has just finished his third year at Manchester Metropolitan University – decided to focus his final essay on the singing event as he’s a big fan. The 21-year-old grew up watching it and his parents used to hold parties to celebrate it.
Eurovision-obsessed student gets first for dissertation on the song contest after teachers laughed
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"When I first posed the idea to my personal tutor he actually laughed."
The History student, from Ashbourne, Derbs said: “I think being a Eurovision fan is probably one of my biggest personality traits.
“When I first posed the idea to my personal tutor he actually laughed.
“He laughed in the meeting and said that Eurovision is only known for c**p music but I definitely proved him wrong because I got a first.
“Eurovision is disregarded a lot of the time as camp rubbish with terrible music.
“My dissertation proves there is more to it – it’s not just entertainment at the end of the day.”
Taylor wrote the whole dissertation in just five days, after spending months bringing together 180 pages of colour coded notes and quotes.
He hadn’t started writing even when he watched the competition in May this year and handed it in without any help from his professors.
The topic explored cultural diplomacy, geopolitical tensions, how countries used the competition to give an idea of themselves and the way it shows different cultural changes.
Although he first thought he was embarking on an impossible task, researching the event, he was soon convinced that it was a niche and up and coming area of research.
As a gay man, Taylor also showed how it had celebrated diversity – giving a platform for LGBT and black singers, bringing minorities to the forefront.
Growing up with his parents hosting Eurovision parties for their friends, he quickly got the bug for the wacky contest.
His family were unsurprised that he chose his unusual topic.
He said: “I fell in love with it as a child and I’ve been a fan ever since.
“It captures me. There is something camp about it.
“I could honestly talk to anyone about it for hours.”
Taylor is now thrilled to have come out with top grades after an experience dominated by Covid – with his second year of university entirely online.
Now working in a cafe in Manchester, he is working out his next steps after leaving on a high.
He continued: “I’ve written so many essays on all kinds of things and basically realised you can write a history essay on anything.
“So I thought it is not going to hurt to write 12,000 words on something you really do love.
“It just proves to show if you’ve got a love and a passion for something, just go and write it and it will all go well.”
Iwan Stone
Iwan is a reporter who trained at News Associates after leaving the University of York, where he won national awards for student journalism. He reads the Sun, the Mirror and the Times and is happiest reading society-breaking exclusives alongside stories about quirky, community led campaigns
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