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 during the contest off-season, using Eurovision as a lens to analyze what’s happening in pop culture and the world.

The EuroWhat? Podcast on social media

Episodes

  • Episode 28: The Aftermarket

    October 24th, 2018  |  Season 2  |  33 mins 2 secs
    australia, bulgaria, malta, ukraine

    Eurovision provides an aftermarket for winners of singing competitions. Why don't we have that in America? Andy Dehnart from Reality Blurred joins us to discuss.

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    Episode 27: Orchestras, Synthesizers, and Lulu

    October 10th, 2018  |  Season 2  |  32 mins 59 secs
    ireland, israel, italy, netherlands, norway, spain, ukraine, united kingdom

    Orchestras used to be a requirement at Eurovision. In this episode, we take a look at the evolution of live music at the competition.

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    Episode 26: Tel Aviv and Other Headlines

    September 26th, 2018  |  Season 2  |  36 mins 41 secs
    bulgaria, finland, germany, iceland, israel, netherlands, san marino, sweden

    Tel Aviv will be hosting Eurovision in 2019! I mean, we pretty much knew that, but now it's official!

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    Episode 25: Planning Your Eurovision Vacation

    September 12th, 2018  |  Season 2  |  36 mins 27 secs
    denmark, estonia, france, israel, spain, sweden

    We know the Eurovision Song Contest will be in Israel in May 2019, so now is the perfect time to start planning your vacation!

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    Episode 24: Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest

    August 29th, 2018  |  Season 2  |  51 mins 30 secs
    israel

    Israel has had a fascinating history at Eurovision. We've invited Noam Roth from EuroFreak to talk about his country's participation.

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    Episode 23: That’s How You AI a Song

    August 15th, 2018  |  Season 1  |  36 mins 6 secs
    ireland, israel, netherlands, norway

    We gave a computer more than 300 Eurovision Song Contest entries from the last decade and this is what it gave us.

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    Episode 22: World Cup Song Contest

    July 18th, 2018  |  Season 1  |  26 mins 5 secs
    azerbaijan, germany, iceland, malta, russia

    Is there anything more EuroWhat? than the World Cup? How about World Cup songs performed by Eurovision Song Contest alumni? Yeah, that oughta do it...

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    Episode 21: Putting the US in E_rovi_ion

    July 4th, 2018  |  Season 1  |  40 mins 9 secs
    israel, north macedonia

    Happy 4th of July! In honor of America's birthday, special guest Maura Johnston joins us to discuss the prospect of the US competing at Eurovision. Could we? Should we? If we somehow got an invite, who should represent whatever our sound is?

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    Episode 20: Bite The Apple

    June 20th, 2018  |  Season 1  |  44 mins 12 secs
    finland, georgia, ireland, italy, san marino

    What if the Eurovision Song Contest were a secret plot to take over the world by forcing people to exercise daily to the winning song? On this week's episode, Ben, Mike, and special guest Josh Hehner explore this dystopia(?) in the 1980 film The Apple.

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    Episode 19: Eurovision Drag Race

    June 6th, 2018  |  Season 1  |  41 mins 39 secs
    armenia, austria, denmark, israel, lithuania, norway, san marino, slovenia, sweden, ukraine

    Happy pride! The Eurovision off season can be a drag, so let's talk about drag at Eurovision!

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    Episode 18: Indistinct Pterodactyl Squawking

    May 23rd, 2018  |  Season 1  |  49 mins 45 secs
    australia, austria, estonia, finland, israel, north macedonia, slovenia, spain, sweden, united kingdom

    The gang is back together to discuss the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final. Our special guest Dave Steeves shares his experience as an audience member in Lisbon and we all weigh in on the dubious honor of the Barbara Dex award.

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    Episode 17: Grand Final Preview

    May 12th, 2018  |  Season 1  |  40 mins 38 secs
    bulgaria, cyprus, finland, hungary, ireland, israel, italy, moldova, netherlands, sweden

    The Grand Final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest takes place Saturday, May 12, which means this is our last chance for wild speculation. We break down what happened at the semi-finals before sharing our hopes and dreams for which countries we want t...