Ben Smith has been watching the Eurovision Song Contest since 2008, blogging/podcasting about it since 2011, and a part of its digital press center since 2021. He has deep thoughts about the ways improvements in streaming media in the last decade have made the contest more of a truly global event, and can also do a tight five on Norway’s selection process. He lives in Somerville, MA and can be found more generally at goodatinter.net.
Ben Smith has hosted 221 Episodes.
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Episode 223: Encarta
March 19th, 2024 | Season 7 | 51 mins 5 secs
finland, ireland, luxembourg, slovenia, sweden, ukraine
We kick off Eurovision 2024 Review Season with our special guest Sam Gavin! We discuss the entries from Slovenia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Ukraine, and Finland as well as reminisce about My Neighbor Totoro, pre-internet software, and cringe content from back in the day.
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Episode 222: Scrunchy Face Sounds
March 12th, 2024 | Season 7 | 21 mins 38 secs
armenia, australia, azerbaijan, georgia, greece, israel, portugal, sweden
We're at the end of Eurovision Selection Season and get caught up with internal selections from Australia and Greece plus the conclusion of Sweden's Melodifestivalen and Portugal's Festival da Canção. ... what do you mean there are still some unknown tracks?!
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Episode 221: Maximal
March 5th, 2024 | Season 7 | 42 mins 14 secs
austria, cyprus, iceland, netherlands, portugal, serbia, sweden, switzerland, united kingdom
Several internal selections join the Eurovision 2024 field this week and exactly zero of them are holding back. Serbia's national final goes harder than necessary while Iceland... also made a selection this week. We're in the homestretch!
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Episode 220: Go Tiffany
February 27th, 2024 | Season 7 | 31 mins 18 secs
belgium, croatia, iceland, portugal, san marino, sweden
In a relatively quiet week in Eurovision land we check out Belgium's selection from Mustii, recap Una Voce per San Marino, and say meow to Baby Lasagna. We also check in with Sweden's Melodifestivalen, Iceland's Songvakeppnin, and the first semi for Portugal's Festival da Canção.
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Episode 219: Conversion
February 20th, 2024 | Season 7 | 42 mins 39 secs
belgium, croatia, denmark, estonia, germany, iceland, lithuania, moldova, poland, san marino, sweden
5 Eurovision national finals took place this past weekend with mixed results. Well, results that were mixed weirdly due to jury/televote score conversions. We discuss Germany, Estonia, Moldova, Lithuania, and Denmark, plus Poland's internal selection.
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Episode 217: Technical Difficulties
February 6th, 2024 | Season 7 | 44 mins 24 secs
finland, germany, italy, latvia, lithuania, malta, norway, spain, sweden, ukraine
It was a Saturday so Super it stretched into Sunday... not by choice, but Ukraine loves drama. Norway, Spain, and Malta also made their Eurovision picks, Latvia and Sweden kicked off their processes, and Lithuania is almost done with their heats. Oh, and The Draw added some structure to the 2024 Contest.
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Episode 216: Squiggle Line Mouth Face
January 30th, 2024 | Season 7 | 39 mins 31 secs
iceland, ireland, lithuania, luxembourg, malta, norway, romania, spain, sweden, ukraine
Eurovision season clicks into second gear this week with Ireland and Luxembourg making selections, Norway setting its final field, Lithuania's holding its third heat, and Malta, Spain, and Ukraine getting ready to decide. How will The Draw shake up things in Malmö?
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Episode 215: That's SLO Raiven
January 23rd, 2024 | Season 7 | 28 mins 27 secs
austria, denmark, estonia, germany, ireland, lithuania, luxembourg, malta, norway, portugal, romania, serbia, slovenia, sweden
Eurovision calmed down a bit this week with qualifying heats from Lithuania and Norway plus the semi-final for Estonia's Eesti Laul. Slovenia turned up the drama with Raiven's "Veronika" and Austria announced their artist for Malmö. Be warned: this is the last bit of calm until March...
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Episode 213: Trickle
January 9th, 2024 | Season 7 | 30 mins 43 secs
albania, croatia, finland, ireland, lithuania, moldova, norway, serbia, sweden, ukraine
Eurovision 2024 barely took a break for the holidays! We get caught up on Albania's Festivali i Këngës, the results of the ESC 250 Countdown, and look forward to Moldova, Norway, and Lithuania this coming weekend.
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Episode 212: 37ish
December 19th, 2023 | Season 7 | 36 mins 26 secs
albania, australia, croatia, czechia, finland, germany, israel, italy, luxembourg, netherlands, romania, slovenia, spain, sweden, ukraine, united kingdom
We finally have a (tentative) roster for next year's Eurovision Song Contest! Czechia has selected their entry, artists have been announced for the Netherlands, Slovenia, and the UK, and national final season details are coming into focus. What a way to wrap 2023!
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Episode 211: Allons-y!
December 5th, 2023 | Season 7 | 29 mins 23 secs
azerbaijan, estonia, finland, france, greece, italy, malta, slovenia, spain, sweden, ukraine
FRANCE has jumped the gun and released their song for Eurovision 2024. Greece has announced their artist, a handful of countries have named their contestants for their national finals, and tickets were already on sale... it's barely December? Join us as we peruse Eurovision Song Contest headlines.
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Episode 210: Wilderness
November 21st, 2023 | Season 7 | 39 mins 36 secs
ireland, sweden, united kingdom
We welcome back Alex McMillan to discuss the state of Ireland's Eurovision Song Contest selections and reflect on their historical successes and recent failures. Is Eurosong on the Late Late Show the best selection method? Is Ireland stuck in the nostalgia for their dominance in the 90s? What risks can the delegation take to make a splash in Malmö?