About the show

The Eurowhat? Podcast launched in 2018 and features two Americans (Ben Smith and Mike McComb) attempting to make sense of the Eurovision Song Contest. The show tracks national selections and artist announcements, breaks down each year’s songs with a diverse array of guests, and dives into the 65+ years of contest history using Eurovision as a lens to analyze what’s happening in pop culture and the world.

The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews on social media

Episodes

  • Episode 203: Iconic

    August 15th, 2023  |  Season 6  |  36 mins 24 secs
    france, iceland, montenegro, serbia, spain, sweden, turkey, ukraine, united kingdom

    We say farewell to our host nations by discussing one area where Ukraine and the United Kingdom overlap: iconic runner-up entries. But what does "iconic" mean for Eurovision entries?

  • Episode 202: Drought

    August 1st, 2023  |  Season 6  |  19 mins 34 secs
    luxembourg, norway, sweden, ukraine, united kingdom

    With one month to go until Eurovision New Year and next year's host city and dates announced, it's been a fairly quiet month for the Contest. We check in with some of the national selection processes that are already casting for the upcoming season.

  • Episode 201: Sisu

    July 18th, 2023  |  Season 6  |  48 mins 29 secs
    finland, sweden, ukraine, united kingdom

    Finland went all out in supporting their Eurovision entry "Cha Cha Cha" in ways that continue to reverberate weeks after the contest. We spoke with University of Helsinki researcher Zoë Jay and UMK associate producer/"Cha Cha Cha" dancer Matti Myllyaho about Finland's Eurovision 2023 experience.

  • Episode 200: PopCon 2023

    July 4th, 2023  |  Season 6  |  1 hr 13 mins
    albania, armenia, australia, belarus, denmark, france, germany, iceland, israel, italy, lithuania, netherlands, russia, san marino, spain, ukraine, united kingdom

    In celebration of 200(!) episodes, we're sharing the presentation we gave at this year's Pop Conference entitled: “Let’s Discoteque Right At My Home”: Eurovision, the Pandemic, and Learning to “Open Up” Again

  • Episode 199: News Cruise

    June 20th, 2023  |  Season 6  |  18 mins 27 secs
    andorra, cyprus, israel, romania, sweden, united kingdom

    Sweden's host city selection process for Eurovision 2024 has been bopping along while everyone is out of office for summer vacation. We get caught up with our mailbag and some of the headlines from the last month.

  • Episode 198: Lyrical Vocabulary

    June 6th, 2023  |  Season 6  |  32 mins 57 secs
    germany, ukraine, united kingdom

    How does a songwriter interface with the Eurovision experience? "Blood and Glitter" co-writer Anthony J. Brown joins us to discuss his involvement with Lord of the Lost and Germany's 2023 Eurovision entry.

  • Episode 197: Debut

    May 23rd, 2023  |  Season 6  |  31 mins 35 secs
    denmark, finland, iceland, romania, sweden, ukraine, united kingdom

    Ben has returned from his Eurovision debut in Liverpool, both as an audience member and as part of the in-person press team. He shares stories from his jam-packed trip.

  • Episode 196: Stockholm Syndrome

    May 16th, 2023  |  Season 6  |  28 mins 26 secs
    albania, australia, finland, germany, israel, italy, norway, spain, sweden, ukraine, united kingdom

    While Ben recovers from Liverpool's Party of the Century, special guest Trip Payne stops by to chat about the 2023 Eurovision Grand Final and the battle between Sweden and Finland.

  • Episode 195: Eurovision 2023 Grand Final Preview

    May 12th, 2023  |  Season 6  |  28 mins 44 secs
    albania, armenia, australia, austria, belgium, croatia, cyprus, czechia, estonia, finland, france, germany, israel, italy, lithuania, moldova, norway, poland, protugal, serbia, slovenia, spain, sweden, switzerland, ukraine, united kingdom

    Will Finland "Cha Cha Cha" to victory? Will Sweden's Loreen get a "Tattoo" to celebrate a win? Could Ukraine's "Heart of Steel" beat the competition? We recap the Eurovision 2023 Semi-Finals and make our picks for what we think will happen at the Grand Final in Liverpool.

  • Episode 194: Internet People

    May 8th, 2023  |  Season 6  |  34 mins 39 secs
    albania, armenia, australia, austria, azerbaijan, belgium, croatia, cyprus, czechia, denmark, estonia, finland, georgia, greece, iceland, ireland, israel, latvia, lithuania, malta, moldova, netherlands, norway, poland, portugal, romania, san marino, serbia, slovenia, sweden, switzerland, ukraine, united kingdom

    Ben and Mike met up in person to make their picks on what they think will qualify from the Eurovision 2023 semi-finals. Then we saw rehearsals. Experience both the before and after as we make our best guesses for Tuesday and Thursday.

  • Episode 193: Controlled Grandiosity

    May 2nd, 2023  |  Season 6  |  37 mins 28 secs
    france, germany, italy, spain, ukraine, united kingdom

    Maura Johnston joins us as we wrestle with the Eurovision 2023 set of auto-qualifiers. Will Ukraine pull the double? Will the UK and Spain continue their glowups? Will we be going back to Italy? Will Germany get out of the basement? Is France gonna France?

  • Episode 192: ... Her?

    April 25th, 2023  |  Season 6  |  42 mins 6 secs
    albania, australia, austria, lithuania, san marino, ukraine, united kingdom

    Editor and Serhat for Saturday stan Navah Wolfe joins us to discuss the last five entries of the Eurovision 2023 second semi-final. How memorable are San Marino, Austria, Albania, Lithuania, and Australia in this year's field?