Go Tiffany

Ben 01:01

like all hands on deck.

Mike 01:03

yeah, yeah, like everybody coordinated their calendars and we thank them for that.

Ben 01:09

just like a relatively low amount of turbulence, as long as we're using airplane metaphors.

Mike 01:14

Let's drop down the oxygen masks. Wait, no, I don't know where I'm going with this. Yes,

Ben 01:19

Univotion for San

Mike 01:20

we will save that for a little bit. Belgium releases Mustii's "Before the Party's Over" But yeah, the week started off. With Belgium's Musti dropping his track before the party's over. So this was one of the artists that was revealed very early on and we've been waiting quite a while for this track. What are your first impressions of this one?

Ben 01:59

I've listened to this one a few times now, it feels like it wants to be a longer version than a three minute song to me. Like this feels like a cut down version of something that has a little bit more movement I like the first minute of it, and I like the last minute of it, and the middle just sort of tries to figure out how to resolve those pieces.

Mike 02:18

I get that. Yeah, like it's like trying to be a transition between the two and it's just kind of repeating one part and not quite kicking off into the second part.

Ben 02:28

Yeah, this needs a little bit more time in the middle to do something that transitions these two pieces. it also sounds a lot like, Rise Like a Phoenix to me in the ending.

Mike 02:38

Oh, interesting. Okay. Yeah, because I was kind of getting a Duncan Lawrence vibe a little bit like they have similar voices. Um, I think Misty has a lot more personality. I think there's kind of like a, uh, a Jake Shearsness about him that I'm kind of responding to. Yeah. I like this more than I was expecting to, if I'm being honest, because, listening to other tracks from Musti, it's like, meh, this isn't really quite my style, but, uh, yeah, this was, like, I feel like it's still in his style, but a little bit more approachable.

Ben 03:13

From watching the video, I am interested to see what they do with this visually.

Mike 03:17

Yes, I feel like there's a big risk happening with this one, just because of, like, how anthemic it is, and, if it doesn't land in the arena, or the audience is just not warmed up properly, I think this has the potential of, really flopping, or being a huge success. Like, I don't think there's a lot of middle ground here.

Ben 03:41

Yeah, I would fully agree with that, as I think this is either gonna click or it's not going to click, and I'm very interested to see which way it goes.

Mike 03:48

I really think Running Order is going to play a huge, huge factor in the success of this one. Belgium is in the second half of the second semifinal, so that is where it needs to be

Ben 03:59

Yeah, like, that's what I was gonna say, that's where it needs to be, is like it needs to be in the second half.

Mike 04:03

I'm curious about this one, especially if he, uh, is making any appearances at fan events or doing any live performances of this song before going to Eurovision. I feel like this needs to be road tested to really work.

Ben 04:17

this is one of the ones where we have not seen a live performance of it yet, where I'm like, I need, I need that little variable in my calculus to figure out how I think this is gonna play.

Mike 04:27

kind of excited that we finally have an entry where it's just like, oh, this could go so many different ways and you just kind of need to see how it plays out. Spain's Megara wins Una Voce per San Marino with "11:11" I guess we're going into Univoce then.

Ben 04:36

Yep, yeah, this, the main event just because it was on TV for so many hours.

Mike 04:42

I think the thing that's really funny about it is this year's Univoce per San Marino field was smaller than the previous two fields. they kept it down to 17 entries, and I think this may have been the longest edition of the three editions that have, happened so far.

Ben 04:56

I mean, like, I saw on our calendar that we had it as scheduled from being from 3 to 6pm, America time, and like, oh, that's cute. It's cute that we think that they're gonna contain themselves in that box.

Mike 05:08

They should have. I

Ben 05:11

should have. There were times where we were just, like, really getting through the actual entries at a clip, and then it would be interval time, and time would stand still, as Ricardo Conchigante was brought out for, like, The third time? my Google search history was just like Ricardo Cociante, San Marino. Ricardo Cociante, San Marino owes money. Riccardo Congiante, San Marino, Prisoner. Riccardo, blink twice if you're being held against your will. we will send the team, we will get you out of there.

Mike 05:39

He looked like he was having a good time, but, Did you watch any of the semifinals, throughout the week?

Ben 05:45

No, I value my time.

Mike 05:46

Okay, yeah, that was kind of my attitude about it as well, particularly because, like, it was, 125 acts. Only one from each broadcast made it through to the final, and then there were three or four that would make it to the second chance round. and that combined with the, six or seven San Marino acts that were in their own semifinal on Friday, so they had, like, another thirty there. Yeah,

Ben 06:12

Immunity Idol automatically got a spot in the Grand Final. Heh heh

Mike 06:16

so, uh, yeah, then you had all of the, like, the big artists, which, okay, we need to talk about what the definition of big artist is.

Ben 06:24

my theory now is These are the acts that said they were willing to help pay for more of the actual expenses of going to Malmo and staging the thing than anybody else did.

Mike 06:33

I buy that theory, yeah. Some of the names were recognizable, like we had Loredana Berte, who was at San Remo, like,

Ben 06:41

With the same song.

Mike 06:42

Exact same song, uh, exact same outfit, same hairstyle, like, everything.

Ben 06:46

It's just like, she is on a multi national final process journey to terrorize Björn Borg and I for one, Stan. We love our chaotic queen.

Mike 06:56

Did they have an acrimonious divorce? You seem very invested in this, uh, in this

Ben 07:00

this is purely what I have picked up from the internet, is she has at some point said something along the lines of no, she just wants to go terrorize Björn Borg. Heck yeah. I support women's rights and women's wrongs.

Mike 07:11

There were a couple of the big acts where, like, their performances were just a mess. And it was just like, how are they being defined as, big artists?

Ben 07:21

like, please explain. Also, when we got the video postcards from Sinit and Valentina Mineta, just like, both on vacation. Or, like, in Sinit's case, touring the States and doing a couple shows over here. Just like, oh, we're not gonna get fun intervals this year.

Mike 07:37

I didn't know who was going to be responsible for hosting. is Suneet going to be doing it again? And, like, could not find anything. There was no, like, real press release on, San Marino's website or anything like that. Which he wasn't, introduced after, like, the first ten minutes, like, oh, I guess Sunit's not gonna be here, okay.

Ben 07:54

It's like, they need to lock her down for the next edition. I need outfits.

Mike 07:58

I did find the hosts kind of charming if, uh, completely frazzled by the end. like, about, 90 minutes before the show ended they were getting very giggly and very loopy.

Ben 08:10

Yeah, no, they were having fun, I know that Una Voce is trying to be its own thing, but there's like a real San Remo Jr. aspect happening that I enjoy.

Mike 08:18

Not to be confused with, uh, Sanremo Giovanni, uh, but, like, junior juniors.

Ben 08:23

Yeah, the littlest San Remo.

Mike 08:27

From the 17 acts. The top three were La Rua, Loredana Berte, and the winner, Megara. I am so pleased with this outcome.

Ben 08:53

I know that Una Voce is not rigged, but I was just like, oh, this is just like the Laura Donaberti approval process. And like, it got down to her and Megara, and then they announced Megara, but like, the Megara performance had big San Marino energy, by which I mean it was chaotic.

Mike 09:08

didn't think it was too

Ben 09:10

And organized chaos, like the sort of, the sort of like, a lot of things are happening at once that San Remo, not San Remo, San Marino has shown the last few years that they enjoy doing.

Mike 09:20

I get that, but I mean, I feel like it is consistent, because, uh, Megara, they were at Benidorm last year. And they actually had one of my favorite songs at Benidorm last

Ben 09:29

agreed, agreed.

Mike 09:30

yeah. And, uh, I was so pleased to see that they were trying for Univoce. Okay, they were actually one of the second chance. Participants in the semi final process. They did not get through in their original heat and made it to the Friday round. it was great to see that they went through the full DMV process and got their Real ID driver's license, so congrats everybody!

Ben 09:51

Congrats, everybody.

Mike 09:52

their performance, it was fully realized. I have to I think that they must have submitted this for Benidorm and had everything kind of mapped out and then didn't get through that process. It was just like, well, let's just move shop over to San Marino and paid off.

Ben 10:05

Oh, this is ready to go to Malmo, which I think probably factored into its selection.

Mike 10:09

Mm hmm. That, and also they were the last to perform in the lineup and probably woke everybody up.

Ben 10:15

Five hours in, just like, oh, hey! This is highly energetic, like, we've woken up the crowd.

Mike 10:19

There was such a cute moment when they were doing the announcement of the results where it came down to Loredana and Magara and they were standing next to each other and kind of gestured towards each other being like, Oh, cool, it looks like we're all in the same band with like Loredana's bright blue hair and the lead singer of Magara's bright pink hair. It's like, Oh, yeah, you should tour together.

Ben 10:40

Mhm. So apparently, during last year's Univoce per San Marino, Nebulosa was part of the process and didn't make it. And that now means that, somebody who lost at Benidorm last year is representing San Marino this year, and somebody who lost at Univoce per San Marino last year is representing Spain this year.

Mike 10:57

I approve of that

Ben 10:58

Yeah, like, that's just some fun shifts passing in the night.

Mike 11:01

Win win for everybody. I'm so excited to see how this entry grows and like really I'm so glad that made it to Eurovision because I think they're going to do well or at least have a great time there. "Rim Tim Dagi Dim" by Baby Lasagna dominates Dora

Ben 11:13

Alright, and then closing out the weekend, in terms of selections, we had Dora, which kicked off on Thursday of this week, and wrapped up Sunday.

Mike 11:20

That was a really fun show.

Ben 11:22

At every stage of the way, a lot of fun, and Croatia just has like, a lot of, a lot to choose from.

Mike 11:28

I love what they've been doing the last few years and it really feels like they've been flying under the radar. I don't think that's going to be the case after this year's Dora.

Ben 11:37

If I have one thing I would change, it's that I would have loved the semifinals to be actual semis and cut things down by half they were really, really good about getting through everything, but you could have had 12 in this final and I would not have missed the four that got cut.

Mike 11:52

Yes, and I think the scoreboard would agree with that. There were some very low scores from the jury, and the televote did not help.

Ben 12:01

Now, well, I mean, the televote didn't help because it turns out it was kind of a bloodbath.

Mike 12:05

my god, like, uh, yeah, so, um, g going over the results, the top three, from Croatia were, Baby Lasagna, Vinko, and Let Three. They led the jury, not surprised by two of those three, like, Vinko's song didn't really register with me, but I I guess it struck a chord with, the people of Croatia.

Ben 12:25

They did a nice little, montage of previous times Croatia has had a national selection. And like, admittedly, let3we blasted the previous couple things that Croatia had been selecting out of my brain. And I was like, oh right, they did send me a Dimchik, uh, two years ago, with that, with, with that song. And it was fine. the leth3 side of Croatia, it turns out, is a little bit more my taste. There is a slot in Croatia's selection for something like a Vinko, even though I don't, like, it was fine. It wasn't my thing.

Mike 12:56

As the televote was coming in, it was kind of low scores at the bottom of the scoreboard, which you kind of expect, like, the jury and the televote seem to be on the same wavelength. And then, after they got about halfway past the scoreboard, then we started seeing some double digit results, and it's like, wow, these are really low numbers. I'm sure once it gets to let three, it's going to just kind of skyrocket. It didn't happen with Let3. they were in the 20s, everybody was in the 20s, except for BabyLasagna, who got 247 points in the televote.

Ben 13:31

Yes, and like, it was at the point, though, on the scoreboard, you're like, well, he only needs nine points.

Mike 13:35

When his final score was revealed, I actually let out a WHOA, because, like,

Ben 13:40

Yes.

Mike 13:41

an overwhelming win.

Ben 13:44

I am so delighted by that, I had Mentally gotten myself in a knot going okay, like, I like this a lot and I feel like it's gonna resonate with the televote But what if the jury doesn't like this?

Mike 14:13

Rim Tim Tagi Dim, like, it is a very silly song. There's more to it than that, like, I've really been wrestling with this one a lot in the past week, but, uh, but like, in, like, the sort of media studies annoying way that I kind of get caught up in songs, like, I'm, I'm favorable towards it, Ben, I know you love this.

Ben 14:34

at the beginning of this Eurovision season. I was very team. Everybody needs to send their weird little dude What if that happened and then like as that has been happening? I've been like, oh Oh, we need some structural support, because this stage is getting very full. Maybe we have enough weird little guys and we can start filling in, like, the other sort of structural Eurovision components, and then I watched Rim Tim Toggy Dam and was like, well, no, we need this one more.

Mike 14:57

I think the thing that boggles my mind the most about this is he wasn't supposed to be in the lineups.

Ben 15:02

He wasn't supposed to be here!

Mike 15:04

He was the first alternate, Zsa Zsa, who was supposed to be in the field, dropped out, so I'm hoping he is sending her flowers as we speak, so

Ben 15:13

Yeah, no, like, I'm just imagining Zsa Zsa happened to, listen to that song and was like, yeah, no, he needs to go.

Mike 15:19

Yeah, I think this has kind of shaken things up. Like, I mean, this was the favorite going in. My husband, keeps very close track of the odds, even though I'm like, don't listen to the bookkeepers. But, um, like, they do tend to be right about the national final side of things. But, um, yeah, it's like, wow, I'm surprised, especially with Let Three in the mix, that this one would have such overwhelming support.

Ben 15:41

I like the idea of what's happening with the visuals of Baba Roga at the Dora performance, but it feels like there's some there's like one piece of that I'm supposed to be getting out of it that I'm just not.

Mike 15:52

It does feel like a, at least a spiritual sequel to what they did last year.

Ben 15:58

Yes.

Mike 15:59

I think of Baba Yaga, and that's like a chicken feet thing, so like, I'm kind of understanding the bird motif, but I'm not understanding the rest of the Katamari Damacy aesthetic that it has.

Ben 16:10

what is the story we are telling besides Let3 has been captured by giant chickens?

Mike 16:15

Yeah, and that they are very into the clothing optional scene. Uh, so

Ben 16:21

Yes, it was a very Let3 style of chicken, although there was a moment earlier this weekend where I knew I needed to stop watching Eurovision stuff and go outside because someone had taken the clip of John Travolta being forced to do the chicken dance on Italian television. And had put the Baba Roga music over it. And I understood everything about that picture, and it was time to, to turn off the internet. With Baby Lasagna, I was on board from the song and the original video, and then the staging happened, and I'm like, Yes! This is what I want for this song. It's hitting both the folk music side of things, mashed up with something that is going on in, in music today.

The thing I like about the song is that it feels both deeply personal, But also deeply universal. the visuals, the lace stuff on the drum set, the outfit, and the everything, and the sleeves.

Mike 17:11

I didn't even notice the like the doilies on the drum cymbals until the winner's performance. It's just like, okay, that is a really nice touch.

Ben 17:20

there are little areas that I think it needs to be finessed for Malmo. They've got really good bass here.

Mike 17:26

Yeah, if anything, I want the dancing cat screensaver. playing on a TV in my eyeshot at all times.

Ben 17:34

Thank goodness of the cat entries we've had this season, the best one is going. I know that last week I said that I was all in on Lithuania. I would not mind going to Zagreb.

Mike 17:43

I mean, I think that is the thing that I am most excited about this winning and now being in the conversation is I think the Balkans should be doing better at Eurovision, and I think this is finally going to give that area of Europe the attention that it deserves.

Ben 18:00

Yes.

Mike 18:01

Also, I would like to go to Zagreb.

Ben 18:03

Yeah. Balkans, please. Melfest Heat 4

Mike 18:05

Sweden had a slight advantage in that it was the only thing on before everything else got started, and I fell into the trap of watching Melfest live rather than my normal skim on Sunday morning.

Ben 18:18

I was out running errands on Saturday morning and realized I was not gonna make it home in time for the start of Melfest this week. It was like, you can't trick me, Sweden. Like, even if you're the only thing on at 2pm, I don't need to watch you live until the final, and even then.

Mike 18:30

I really don't think you missed much.

Ben 18:32

Yeah, like, I went back and watched stuff later, and it was, it was fine.

Mike 18:36

One of the things that I'm finding really fascinating is how much Sweden really hates Swedish. Like, it's been over 25 years since they've sent a Swedish language song to Eurovision, and I don't think that's going to be changing any time soon. there are no Swedish songs in the Belfast final yet. There are only two that are in the wildcard. Voting process, for this year's, edition, and one of them is there because they were in a heat where half the songs were in Swedish, so just because of math, there was going to be a Swedish song. I just find that kind of strange?

Ben 19:11

Even people who Have previously done Melfest with Swedish songs like Danny Saucedo are singing in English this year Well, especially given, the last few years of Eurovision, where, it feels like songs that are in their own language are having, a real moment, there's one in next week's heat, and I'm not confident about it.

Mike 19:28

for this week's heat, Danny Saucedo and Dotter made it direct to final, which is not a surprise, they were the two big names.

Ben 19:36

Those are big names, and, like, both of those songs were very competent, sort of, like, like, a step above the rest.

Mike 19:42

The two wildcards were, Albin Tingwall and, Scarlet. That Scarlet performance really, uh

Ben 19:53

a musical that I have no desire to see.

Mike 19:55

Yeah, I mean, it really reminded me of something from Nightmare Before Christmas. And it's weird because it's just like, we already have a lot of this at Eurovision this year. I don't know if Spirit Halloween has somehow become a sponsor of the contest or what is going on, but

Ben 20:11

long as we're having Melfest Grievances Corner this week, I don't understand the age breakdown system. Why is there a three to nine year old group?

Mike 20:21

they have devices because like when they introduced the system four or five years ago, however long it was like, I, I had that same question. It's like, Oh no, everybody has like a cell phone, an iPad, whatever, you know, like even the toddler set. It's

Ben 20:34

Is there enough of a defined taste level? Like, how are they evaluating that the person sending in the vote is actually a three to nine year old? If you look at how the scoring worked out, they went for, uh, 30 KMH, which was brightly colored and felt like a children's song, so

Mike 20:48

Yeah, and was in Swedish. So, yeah, like, uh, I don't know, that could be an interesting data analysis, which, I mean, I think that is, honestly, I think that is part of it, where it's just like, oh, okay, now Melfest is collecting all of this data about, taste profiles for different audiences and, um, yeah, really looking forward to our AI future.

Ben 21:09

the quality of this year's entries. Heh heh heh.

Mike 21:13

One of them was going to get an automatic ticket to the Eurovision Grand Final, congrats, so. And it could be one of the people next week. we've got Marcus and Martinus, who were the runners up in last year's contest. We've got, Medina, who was third place in 2022. And Elektra, who was a contestant on Drag Race Sweden. Also, whoever finishes third and fourth next week will be added to the wildcard vote.

Ben 21:38

It's like happening end of show,

Mike 21:40

Yeah, so, bonus voting, 2x from, the 10 that are in that grouping will also make it to the Melfest final the following week. it's probably going to be a slightly bigger show, on Saturday, which, fine. Uh, no.

Ben 21:55

which, which, not necessarily a good thing, I am looking over the, the current second chance things like, I've weirdly gotten to a place where I'm like, I need, I need Gunilla to have to perform again. That's the one I remember the song.

Mike 22:08

I mean, I guess maybe Scarlet and Circus X, just because, like, at least it's a memorable look going on.

Ben 22:18

Froken Snusk also had a very strong visual presence. That was like the Ski Mask people I

Mike 22:23

Yes, that, okay, yeah.

Ben 22:25

But also like the age group system isn't being used for that vote. Just

Mike 22:29

Oh, it's not. Is it just, it's just straight Televote.

Ben 22:32

yeah. It's just straight tele votes. what does the age group system bring to the voting that separating it by like regions of Sweden doesn't, Sweden, I don't understand. Songvakeppnin Semi 2 I was much more interested in Iceland this week because they're on the second of two heats over at Song the Captain. this felt like a really strong semi-final for them.

Mike 22:50

I feel like everything was very competent and if you wanted to create a checklist of this is how you do a Scandi pop song. I know that not Scandinavian. Work with me here. But this is checking all of the boxes, like particularly Hara Bjork's performance. It's like, oh, this is doing everything that it should be doing to be a Scandi pop performance at Eurovision.

Ben 23:15

Harold Bjork has done this before. She knows what, the performance needs to look like and it delivered on all levels.

Mike 23:19

Exactly.

Ben 23:20

The Bashar Murad song, there have been various articles coming out over the course of the week of how he got to Songvakeppnin, how this has been developing over like a year and a half.

Mike 23:30

Oh wow.

Ben 23:30

Yeah, like this is him going, okay, I'm interested in doing Eurovision. I emailed my friends in Hatari and was like, hey, can you guys confirm that I don't need to be from Iceland, I just need to sing in Icelandic. he came over to do some shows and ended up collaborating with Einar from Hatari, who is also a producer. Uh, and had like, uh, a demo of something he'd produced called Wild West, he played that and Bashar started writing lyrics. They wrote the song, they brought in Mathias, uh, formerly of Hatari, to do the Icelandic lyrics. And then Bashar asked Andrian, who is one of the dancers for Hatrid Múnsigra. to do the staging and choreography.

A nice little family reunion, and like, I had not loved the studio version of that song, but I really like the performance of this.

Mike 24:15

Yeah. I thought this performance was good, but it also felt like, okay, I just have to get through this Iceland figure that I can perform in English next time. Please let me get through this

Ben 24:26

that vibe to it of like, this is the qualifying step. I like how much culture jamming and mashing up of different tropes it's doing. It's very fun on that level.

Mike 24:36

I am very excited to see what the English version performance is going to be. 'cause I think it's going to be a little bit more lived in, maybe is the way to describe it.

Ben 24:45

This was strong, but I feel like the English version is going to be a little bit more confident.

Mike 24:50

I think this performance, uh, was a good run through for the choreography, which I think the, I, I think the choreography is working very well for this track.

Ben 24:58

The staging and choreo is, is super cool, and again, just doing a lot of really fun culture mashup. The wildcard from everything was announced, and it was one of the other songs from the second semi final, Siga Oksk's song that has, like, a different name, but I keep wanting to call Go Tiffany.

Mike 25:14

Yeah, well, I mean, that is what the chorus is.

Ben 25:19

like, we're cheering on Tiffany, I don't know what she's going for, but Go Tiffany. I thought that was a good choice for the wildcard, although this one is so different from Siga's song from last year, production wise, that I'm like, I don't know what her voice is as an artist, other than just wants to go to Eurovision. Which is not a bad thing if you want to go to Eurovision and you're competing for Eurovision, but just like, she, she has a voice that's being plugged into songs.

Mike 25:43

I get that, yeah, like, she was first to perform, in the semi final, and, my note for that is thesis statement for the semi, where it is just kind of saying, okay, these are the things you need to do in a Eurovision song to be successful at Eurovision, not win Eurovision, but to be successful and have a song where people are gonna be like, oh, this is a bop, like that, that, that, that, that, that.

Really, all of the other entries except Bashar's, like, kind of, were variations on this same sort of style of song.

Ben 26:15

Yeah, like, it's all very competently done. It doesn't necessarily feel like a winner. at Eurovision, but it feels like a very strong performance.

Mike 26:22

It should be a good final. I like everything that advanced. they had a really good crop to choose from. Like, I don't think there was any one entry where, if it was picked as the wild card, it would have been like, oh, how dare you? Like, I think each one has pros and cons.

Ben 26:37

There were a couple songs where the live performers were like, I don't know about this. As songs, just like all very good choices.

Mike 26:44

Good job, Iceland. Looking forward to what happens on Saturday. Festival da Cancao 60 Begins Portugal was also happening during Univoce por San Marino, and I didn't actually find out which one finished first. I have a feeling it was a photo finish between the two.

Ben 27:00

Yeah, like, honestly, I would believe either one finishing first, because that was just a lot of San Marino.

Mike 27:06

Portugal's Festival da Cancao kicked off, there were ten songs that performed, five got through on, combined jury and televote, those were the ones from, Nena, Perpetua, Rita Roca, João Borges, and Iolanda. After those were announced, there was another televote for a wildcard, and that went to Noble's Memory. Were you able to watch any of Portugal, or did you just catch up?

Ben 27:31

I only caught up after the fact, Portugal has some really cool stuff this year, and like, I really like how different all of the stagings feel. These feel like the correct choices.

Mike 27:42

I agree. I think all the ones that I was like, yeah, yeah, I get it and like close the window early were the ones that did not make it. So yeah, I'm on the same wavelength as Portugal. But, uh, yeah, like there are a couple that got through that was like, oh, I really like this. It will not do well at Eurovision. I'm particularly thinking of Bem Longo de Que, which was like the kind of disco funk

Ben 28:05

Yeah, yeah, like that one, like, this is interesting. I don't think Eurovision would like this, but this is interesting.

Mike 28:12

yeah. and, Rita Rocha had, the harp, which is like, ooh, we need more harps on stage. That was fun to, like, watch her play, and, like, just beautiful voice, too.

Ben 28:21

Portugal is as always kind of doing their own thing, and I really like that.

Mike 28:26

I have a feeling it's going to be Yolanda that takes this. My, my understanding is she was the favorite going into, uh, Saturday's show. Favorite to win overall. Like, huge YouTube numbers already, and it's, like, less than 24 hours since the show. That performance just kind of felt like it was on a different plane than the other ones, like it was just so, like, I have a note in here that's just Albanian, like it feels like something that would also perform well at Festival da Cancao.

Ben 28:53

Alright. And then we have the second semifinal on Saturday. So more songs entering the fray.

Coming up 28:58

Serbia's Pesma za Euroviziju and internal selections

Mike 28:58

Might actually be able to watch that one this time, I think it's going to depend on how long Serbia goes, because that one is also coming up this week.

Ben 29:07

So Serbia has semifinals. Those are gonna be Tuesday and Thursday with the final. On Saturday, there're gonna be 14 songs, each semi-final, which means that there's gonna be 16 in the final. I have been. Sort of gleefully watching as everything has done the required lip syncing of your song on Serbian daytime television portion of things.

Mike 29:28

Oh, I have not seen this.

Ben 29:30

Oh, yeah, no, no, no, uh, just watching Constracted just kind of doing her song and looking slightly over it.

Mike 29:36

Okay. Oh, I, I will need to track this

Ben 29:39

Yeah, no, no, no, no, like, I have been seeing clips, We are starting to get like the first waves of all of the internal selections going, hello, my song will be out on, on xDate. February 29th, we have two songs, Cyprus is debuting Liar. Which I think has, like, some little snippet hanging out. Uh, and then Joost Klein from the Netherlands is debuting Europapa on February 29th. Which I am, I am interested to see what that is.

Mike 30:05

The video announcing the drop date, he's wearing this blue jacket that seems to be inspired by Carias A little concerned about that. Just be like, how matchy matchy are we going to be here?

Ben 30:19

Like, I get that that worked last year, but you can't just do the same thing from last year. That's not how this works.

Mike 30:23

We'll see how that goes. And then on Friday, we will get Ali Alexander's Dizzy. And, Austria's Colleen will debut, We Will Rave, we're gonna have a lot more songs to talk about next week. We're getting to the last stages of this.

Ben 30:40

Everyone's paperwork is due.

Mike 30:41

That's going to do it for this episode of the Eurowhat. Thanks for listening. The Eurowhat podcast is hosted by Mike McComb, that's me, and Ben Smith.

Ben 30:51

That's me. If you'd like to help support the show and access a ton of bonus content, head over to patreon. com slash eurowhat.

Mike 30:57

Our full coverage of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest can be found on our website at Eurowhat. com. You can also follow us on social media at Eurowhat.

Ben 31:07

Next time on the Eurowhat, we march into internal selection season. And it was time to turn off the internet.