Ben Smith
Co-Host of The EuroWhat? Podcast
Ben has been following the Eurovision Song Contest since 2009 and blogging about it in some form or another since 2012. After watching trash classic film The Apple in his dorm room in 2008, he googled if the Worldvision Song Contest was based on anything, managed to catch the tail end of the accounting in Belgrade 2008 online, and it's only gotten worse since then. He hasn't been to Eurovision live yet (2020 was going to be the year, and then...well...), but he's seen Hatari live twice.
Ben Smith has hosted 135 Episodes.
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Episode 15: Eurovision 2018 Auto Qualifiers
May 2nd, 2018 | Season 1 | 57 mins 52 secs
france, germany, italy, portugal, spain, united kingdom
As the Eurovision semi-finalist rehearsals are underway in Lisbon, the EuroWhat chats about the six auto qualifiers for this year's Grand Final. Will Portugal be a repeat winner? Will a Big Five country take the crown? Why so serious, Europe?
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Episode 14: Eurovision 2018 Semi-Final 2 Hodgepodge
April 25th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 15 mins
georgia, hungary, latvia, malta, montenegro, poland, slovenia, sweden, ukraine
The second half of the second semi-final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest is a European hodgepodge of pop, rock, dance, ethno-jazz, and... whatever it is Montenegro's doing (never change). We break down the last nine semi-finalists in this week's po...
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Episode 13: Eurovision 2018 Australia and Others
April 18th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 10 mins
australia, denmark, moldova, netherlands, norway, romania, russia, san marino, serbia
The first half of the second Eurovision semi-final is extra bubbly this year. Er... that should be bubble-y because there are few sure bets, even among perfect streak holders. We break down the field in this week's episode.
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Episode 12: Bringing the Party
April 11th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 11 mins
armenia, austria, croatia, cyprus, finland, greece, ireland, north macedonia, switzerland
Before the big party in Lisbon next month, we chat about the London Eurovision Party and other pre-festival shindigs. We also finish up talking about the first semi-final, including our hopes and dreams for what we'll see on stage.
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Episode 11: First!
April 4th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 7 mins
albania, azerbaijan, belarus, belgium, bulgaria, czech republic, estonia, iceland, israel, lithuania
This week we begin our analysis of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in earnest. First up: the first half of the first semi-final! Which entries are locks for advancing to the Grand Final? Who might get help from the running order?
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Episode 10: The Ones That Got Away (2018 Edition)
March 28th, 2018 | Season 1 | 28 mins 11 secs
armenia, iceland, latvia, norway, switzerland, ukraine
This week we have a mini episode where we remember some of the Eurovision national final entries that won't be making the trip to Lisbon. We also take a moment to remember Lys Assia, the original ESC chanteuse.
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Episode 9: Dita Von Teese Curtain Monster
March 21st, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 3 mins
bulgaria, georgia, israel, lithuania, north macedonia, russia
This week we chat about the last six entries for Eurovision 2018 with special guest Barbara Sawhill. Are we buying the hype for Israel's "Toy" as this year's favorite? Do we have "Bones" to pick with Bulgaria? What is up with Georgia's curtain lady?
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Episode 8: Melfest Fest
March 13th, 2018 | Season 1 | 1 hr 6 mins
australia, austria, azerbaijan, belgium, croatia, ireland, norway, portugal, sweden, ukraine
Eurovision's 2018 selection season is approaching the end, which means one thing: Sweden's Melodifestivalen! Well, two things: lots of internal selections coming through the pipeline. No matter how you count it, we're in the homestretch!
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Episode 7: Remember the Diaspora?
March 7th, 2018 | Season 1 | 59 mins 26 secs
armenia, cyprus, estonia, finland, iceland, netherlands, poland, romania, san marino
It's another whirlwind trip around Europe as we hopscotch through another set of Eurovision selections. We have outlaws, humans, monsters, and wannabe heroes in the mix, but will it be opera that takes the top prize in Lisbon?
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Episode 6: Stupor Saturday
February 28th, 2018 | Season 1 | 45 mins 42 secs
germany, hungary, latvia, moldova, serbia, slovenia, ukraine
The second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest started filling up this past week as nine countries made their selections. There are elevated pianos, Moldovan wedding hijinks, and baffled rockers—it must be the height of selection season!
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Episode 4: The Who? and the What? Now!
February 14th, 2018 | Season 1 | 54 mins 28 secs
croatia, denmark, israel, italy, malta, montenegro, switzerland, united kingdom
Lindsey Weber from the Who Weekly podcast stops by to chat about how the Olympics are the perfect world event to prep for Eurovision before getting into the songs selected for Malta, Switzerland, the UK, Denmark, and Italy.
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You ‘kay?
February 6th, 2018 | Season 1 | 37 mins 27 secs
cyprus, denmark, ireland, italy, malta, russia, san marino, switzerland, ukraine, united kingdom
This week, Ben and Mike do a deep dive into the United Kingdom's Eurovision selection process and take a look at why the country has struggled for so long at the Contest.