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 263 Episodes.
-
Episode 46: Eurovision 2019 Semi-Final 1 Part 3: Extremely Online
April 9th, 2019 | Season 2 | 48 mins 31 secs
estonia, georgia, greece, iceland, portugal, san marino
With running order in hand, we finish covering Eurovision Semi Final 1, talking about Georgia, Iceland, Estonia, Portugal, Greece, and San Marino.
-
Episode 45: Eurovision 2019 Semi-Final 1 Part 2: “Oof”
April 2nd, 2019 | Season 2 | 38 mins 17 secs
australia, belgium, poland, serbia, slovenia
We finish the first half of the first Eurovision semi-final discussing Poland, Serbia, and Slovenia. Then Australia and Belgium kick off our second half coverage.
-
Episode 44: Let’s Discuss Eurovision 2019 Semi Final 1 Part 1
March 26th, 2019 | Season 2 | 51 mins 17 secs
belarus, cyprus, czech republic, finland, hungary, montenegro
We welcome Eurovision newbie Chris King to our first discussion about the first semi-final. This week's countries include Belarus, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, and Montenegro.
-
Episode 43: The Ones That Got Away (2019)
March 19th, 2019 | Season 2 | 32 mins 13 secs
azerbaijan, croatia, czech republic, denmark, estonia, france, israel, romania
Another Eurovision Selection Season is behind us, but we are still holding out hope for a strong write-in campaign for six entries that didn't make the cut.
-
Episode 42: Madness!
March 12th, 2019 | Season 2 | 42 mins 35 secs
armenia, austria, azerbaijan, belarus, cyprus, greece, ireland, israel, malta, netherlands, north macedonia, poland, russia, san marino, sweden, switzerland
The madness of Eurovision Selection Season has ended. With 16 songs to discuss, we change up the format to get into competition mode.
-
Melodifestivalen 2019 Preview
March 8th, 2019 | Season 2 | 34 mins 29 secs
sweden
Sweden's Melodifestivalen — AKA Melfest — will wrap its 59th edition on Saturday. We go through the 12 entries competing to represent Sweden at Eurovision in Tel Aviv.
-
Episode 41: Loose Ends
March 5th, 2019 | Season 2 | 32 mins 27 secs
belgium, finland, georgia, iceland, moldova, norway, portugal, serbia, ukraine
The loose ends of Eurovision national final season started wrapping up this past weekend, with seven songs selected, one country confirming withdrawal, and tickets... well...
-
Episode 40: YIKES
February 26th, 2019 | Season 2 | 41 mins 22 secs
belgium, denmark, finland, france, georgia, germany, hungary, iceland, lithuania, moldova, north macedonia, norway, portugal, serbia, sweden, ukraine
Eurovision ticket prices? Yikes. Lithuania Marathon finale shenanigans? Yikes. Ukraine's Vidbir Inquisition? YIKES. It's been a week, y'all.
-
Episode 39: Eurovision is a Whole Mood
February 19th, 2019 | Season 2 | 39 mins 22 secs
australia, croatia, estonia, greece, hungary, iceland, israel, latvia, lithuania, poland, portugal, romania, slovenia, sweden, ukraine
All the things happened this past weekend in Eurovision-land and the trend that's emerging: Eurovision is in a mood.
-
Episode 38: Euro Vortex
February 12th, 2019 | Season 2 | 38 mins 53 secs
australia, iceland, italy, lithuania, montenegro, romania, russia, sweden, united kingdom
Eurovision 2019 Selection Season is in full swing! We dive into the Euro Vortex with the United Kingdom, Montenegro, Italy, and Hatari among many others.
-
Episode 37: Australia Decides Gets AUSome
February 5th, 2019 | Season 2 | 59 mins 8 secs
australia, austria, finland, iceland, italy, lithuania, montenegro, north macedonia, romania, sweden, ukraine, united kingdom
We discuss Australia Decides with Mike and Dale from the Aussievision Podcast! Which entries are we most excited about in this year's field?
-
Episode 36: Logistics!
January 29th, 2019 | Season 2 | 28 mins 37 secs
czechia, denmark, estonia, france, malta, north macedonia, norway, sweden
We have Eurovision semi-final logistics! Hosting logistics! France and Czechia selection logistics! It's the most wonderful time of year!