The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews - Episodes Tagged with “Azerbaijan”

Episode 281: Responsive

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0500

The European Broadcasting Union has postponed its plan to hold a membership vote to decide if Israel’s broadcaster KAN will be allowed to compete in next year’s Eurovision. While it remains unclear if the vote will still happen, it doesn’t fully resolve how the EBU got to this point in the first place. We’ll take a closer look at other times the EBU’s non-political stance has been tested and see what lessons can be applied going forward.

Responsive Summary

Yugoslavia (3:20)
Administrative Changes to the Contest (13:40)
Armenia and Azerbaijan (16:42)
Georgia (26:58)
Final Thoughts (32:14)

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Episode 268: Eurovision 2025 Semi-Final Preview

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Mon, 12 May 2025 00:00:00 -0500

Eurovision Week for 2025 is upon us as well as the 37 artists gathered in Basel. We get caught up on the news leading up to this week before discussing the rehearsals and our predictions for who will advance to Saturday's Grand Final.

Eurovision 2025 Semi-Final Preview Summary

Lumo stuns in Basel debut (0:48)
Eurovision Artist Support Measures (2:38)
Ongoing Issues: Flag Policy 2025 and Israel's Participation (6:01)
Semi-Final Format Changes (10:48)
Where to watch Eurovision 2025 (16:13)
Eurovision Semi-Final 1 Predictions (POTENTIAL SPOILERS) (18:27)
Eurovision Semi-Final 2 Predictions (POTENTIAL SPOILERS) (32:24)

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Basel 2025

Keep up with Eurovision selection season on our Basel 2025 page! We have a calendar with links to livestreams, details about entries as their selected, plus our Spotify playlists with every song we can find that is trying to get the Eurovision stage.

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Episode 262: Huzzah

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0500

Bradley Dalton-Oates from the Eurovision Song Context podcast joins us to discuss the entries from Norway, Estonia, Azerbaijan, Iceland, and the Netherlands.

Huzzah Summary

Eurovision Song Context (1:11)
Norway - Kyle Alessandro - "Lighter" (5:51)
Estonia - Tommy Cash - "Espresso Macchiato" (13:38)
Azerbaijan - Mamagama - "Run With U" (27:53)
Iceland - VÆB - "RÓÁ" (36:01)
The Netherlands - Claude - "C'est La Vie" (44:16)
Final Thoughts (50:32)

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Basel 2025

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Special Guest: Bradley Dalton-Oates.

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Episode 257: Disco Sauna

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0600

Azerbaijan and Iceland have their Eurovision songs selected, Germany picked their finalists, Sweden and Portugal held heats, and San Marino is doing... something.

Disco Sauna Summary

Azerbaijan's Mamagama wants to "Run With U" (1:27)
VÆB win Iceland's Songvakeppnin with "RÓÁ" (5:33)
Italy: Lucio Corsi will go to Basel with "Volevo essere un duro" (11:08)
Estonia: Tommy Cash and Joost "United by Music" (12:56)
Måns wins heat 4 of Melfest (18:29)
Portugal begins the Festival da Canção (26:20)
Germany chooses 9 Finalists (28:21)
San Marino Song Contest Semi Marathon (31:54)

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Basel 2025

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Episode 255: ('Singing')

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0600

It's the biggest weekend of Eurovision 2025 so far with Ireland, Ukraine, Finland, Latvia, and Malta making picks while several other countries' processes continued. Do-re-mi-fa-serving exhausted, but we shall persevere!

('Singing') Summary

Mid-week drops: Azerbaijan's Mamagama and Czechia's "Kiss Kiss Goodbye" (2:25)
Ireland accepts invitation to Emmy's "Laika Party" (6:15)
Erika Vikman wins Finland's UMK with "Ich Komme" (15:43)
Ziferblat's "Bird of Pray" will represent Ukraine (21:44)
Latvia's Supernova names "Bur man laimi" by Tautumeitas (25:47)
Malta will be serving "KANT" by Miriana Conte (27:58)
Denmark's DMGP and Armenia's Depi Evratesil announce contestants (34:42)
Qualifying starts in Iceland, continues in Sweden and Lithuania (36:36)
Coming up: Italy's Sanremo, Poland, Germany, Estonia, and the biggest weekend of 2025 (47:17)

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Basel 2025

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Episode 254: Super

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0600

Eurovision started to get structure this week thanks to the semi-final allocation draw, the first wave of ticket sales, and selections from Greece, Slovenia, Belgium, and Spain. Sweden kicked off Melfest, Lithuania got competitive, and Latvia picked finalists. This was the easy Super Saturday...

Super Summary

Eurovision Semi-Final Allocation and Ticket Sales (1:18)
Artist Announcements: Austria's JJ and France's Louane (8:45)
Klavdia's "Asteromata" wins Greece's national final (11:16)
Slovenia: Klemen wins EMA with "How Much Time Do We Have Left?" (15:50)
Red Sebastian and "Strobe Lights" win Belgium's Eurosong (21:57)
"Esa Diva": Melody wins Spain's Benidorm Fest (25:04)
Sweden's Melfest 2025 Begins (30:04)
Latvia's Supernova Semi-Final (35:44)
Lithuania's Eurovizija.LT Heat 4 (40:45)
San Marino Names ALLLL the Semi-Finalists (43:57)
Coming up: Super Saturday 2 (46:03)

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Basel 2025

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Recreating ALL Eurovision Winners (2000-2025) | The Ultimate Eurovision Challenge by Klemen Slakonja - YouTube

Episode 245: Avalanche

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0600

It's been a couple months since we last checked in on Eurovision news… hoo boy there's a lot to get caught up on. We have elections, new heads of delegations, and info about way too many national selections.

Avalanche Summary

💊 Exotic Switzerland: Funding Referendum, Novartis Sponsorship (1:41)
🇳🇱 Is Everyone (Netherlands?) Still Mad at the EBU? (6:31)
🔴 Coming up on the podcast: Iceland Airwaves and Rockin' the Kremlin (12:16)
🎓 New Heads of Delegations for 2025 (14:42)
📆 National Selection Updates (Vague) (21:50)
🏆 National Final Updates (Specific) (25:47)
⏳ Who are we waiting on? (34:36)

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Episode 242: Eurovisionaries

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Dr. Zoë Jay returns to discuss Eurovisionaries, an academic research project investigating the ways Eurovision fans think about and practice forms of cultural diplomacy.

Eurovisionaries Summary

What was the inspiration for the Eurovisionaries project? (3:16)
How to define "political" (5:56)
Eurovision's shift from "political" (2023) to "Political" (2024) (10:41)
Initial findings from speaking with the Eurofandom (15:31)
Politics, cultural relations, and social media (20:45)
What is the goal of the Eurovisionaries project? (23:24)
Engagement from non-participating countries (32:00)
How to get involved with research (39:10)

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Special Guest: Zoë Jay.

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Episode 234: A Lotta Look

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan from the celebrity fashion blog Go Fug Yourself join us to discuss fashion, stagewear, and all the lewks from Eurovision 2024. What designs worked, which were less successful, and will 2025 be an all-denim affair?

A Lotta Look Summary

Welcome, Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan! (1:16)
The Turquoise Carpet (6:38)
Favorite Looks from Eurovision 2024 (9:39)
Less Successful Eurovision 2024 Looks (16:52)
Outfit Rehearsals (25:27)
Is Eurovision Fashion Second-Tier? (30:55)

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Malmö 2024

Stay up to date on everything happening in the leadup to the Eurovision Song Contest on our page dedicated to Malmö 2024. You can keep tabs on the countries, artists, and songs, set your laundry folding schedule with our EuroWhat's On calendar, and futz with your Spotify algorithm with our Selection Season playlist!

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Episode 230: Designated Perceived Nudity Corner

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Mon, 06 May 2024 00:00:00 -0500

It's Eurovision Week! After we get caught up on Contest news, we make our predictions on which acts will advance to Saturday's Grand Final. Will there be heartbreak in Malmö?

Designated Perceived Nudity Corner Summary

Eurovision News: Peacock, Producer's Choice, Flags (1:19)
Eurovision Semi-Final 1 Predictions (13:01)
Eurovision Semi-Final 2 Predictions (25:52)

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Malmö 2024

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Episode 225: Optimistic

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Meredith Clark from Light Treason News joins us to chat about our last set of songs for Eurovision Semi Final 1: Serbia, Iceland, Australia, Portugal, and Azerbaijan. Topics include: Memes popular in Bangladesh, Whose Line is It Anyway, didgeridoos, three-minute world building, and arms appreciation.

Optimistic Summary

Welcome back, Meredith Clark! (0:53)
🇷🇸 Serbia - Teya Dora - "Ramonda" 🥀 (4:35)
🇮🇸 Iceland - Hera Bjork - "Scared of Heights" 🎢 (10:31)
🇦🇺 Australia - Electric Fields - "One Milkali (One Blood)" ☕️ (17:11)
🇵🇹 Portugal - iolanda - "Grito" 😧 (23:43)
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan - Fahree feat. Ilkin Dovlatov - "Özünlə Apar" 🤝 (29:54)
Final Thoughts (36:51)

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Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email or reach out on Bluesky @eurowhat.bsky.social.

Malmö 2024

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Episode 222: Scrunchy Face Sounds

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0500

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?!

Scrunchy Face Sounds Summary

Electric Fields to represent Australia with "One Milkali (One Blood)" (0:51)
Greece rolls the dice with Marina Satti's "Zari" (4:13)
Marcus and Martinus win Melodifestivalen with "Unforgettable" (7:58)
"Grito" by iolanda wins Festival da Canção (13:35)
Coming up: Israel, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Review Season (17:41)

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Malmö 2024

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Episode 211: Allons-y!

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0600

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.

Allons-y! Summary

🇫🇷 France surprise announces Slimane and "Mon Amour" (0:53)
🇬🇷 Greece will send Marina Satti to Malmo (6:15)
💚 United by Music Forever (8:45)
🎫 Tickets Wave 1 Happened (10:00)
🗳️ ESC Top 250 Voting Opens (13:33)
📲 Bluesky and Patreon (16:17)
🌍 Contestant Lists: Malta, Estonia, Spain, Sweden, Azerbaijan, Ukraine (18:10)
📝 Alumni Notes: Tumblr Trends (26:42

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Episode 208: Calendaring

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0500

As we continue to wait for the full guest list for Eurovision 2024,: Cyprus announces their artist, a bunch of selection processes release start dates (FRIDAY?!), end dates, and a few name changes (EEK!), plus we start filling out this winter's TV calendar.

Calendaring Summary

Cyprus internally selects Silia Kapsis for Malmo (1:22)
35 Countries Confirmed So Far (3:24)
Malmo Budgets and Planning (5:16)
Eurowhat AV Club (6:50)
National Selections 2023: Malta, Estonia, Albania (7:30)
National Selections 2024: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Iceland, San Marino (10:51)
Changing Methods: Slovenia, Lithuania, Denmark (15:15)

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Episode 194: Internet People

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Mon, 08 May 2023 00:00:00 -0500

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.

Internet People Summary

Making predictions: pre-rehearsals (2:00)
Semi-Final 1 Predictions (4:57)
Semi-Final 2 Predictions (10:57)
SPOILER WARNING: Making Adjustments (20:34)
Semi-Final 1 Prediction Adjustments (20:49)
Semi-Final 2 Prediction Adjustments (28:14)

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Keep tabs on everything happening with Eurovision 2023 on our website at eurowhat.com/2023

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Episode 188: Capsaicin

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0500

We welcome back Ned Raggett to discuss five more entries from Eurovision Semi-Final 1. How has the running order affected our thoughts on Serbia, Portugal, Azerbaijan, Czechia, and Finland?

Capsaicin Summary

Serbia - Luke Black - "Samo mi se spava" (1:47)
Portugal - Mimicat - "Ai Coração" (9:57)
Azerbaijan - TuranTuralX - "Tell Me More" (16:11)
Czechia - Vesna - "My Sister's Crown" (24:41)
Finland - Käärijä - "Cha Cha Cha" (30:26)
Final Thoughts (48:14)

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Special Guest: Ned Raggett.

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Luke Black Music
A Popjustice reader is representing Serbia at Eurovision.
Mimicat (@mimicat_music) | Instagram
Eurovision 2023 - Time Singing The Title | TOP 37 - YouTube
turanturalx (@turalturanx) | Instagram
Vesna
Käärijä (@paidatonriehuja) | Instagram
Käärijätorttu | Makeat leivonnaiset | Yhteishyvä
Two Conversations and a Game Show : An evening of Megaphonic podcasts, live! — Megaphonic.
Ned Raggett | Shfl — Ned Raggett has been a freelance writer since the mid-1990s, contributing to a variety of publications. Past work has appeared at All Music, Pitchfork, the Guardian, Rolling Stone, Stylus, the 405, OC Weekly, Seattle Weekly, Fake Jazz, Spin and MTV. He currently regularly contributes to Daily Bandcamp, the Quietus and KQED Arts among other sites.
Ned Raggett (@nedraggett@spaceballs.masto.host) - Mastodon Party
By-The-Bywater: A Tolkien Podcast — Megaphonic.

Episode 186: Spring Back

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0500

The Eurovision 2023 deadline is here, so we have a slew of entries from countries waiting to reveal their songs at the last minute. We also get to chat with David Allwood from the UK to tell us what the vibe is in this year's host country.

Spring Back Summary

Eurovision Tickets Went Fast (1:12)
Switzerland reveals Remo Forrer's "Watergun" (3:28)
Austria finally tells us "Who the Hell is Edgar?" (5:48)
Israel's Noa Kirel unleashes her "Unicorn" (9:33)
"I Wrote a Song" says the United Kingdom's Mae Muller (13:03)
Loreen wins Sweden's Melfest with "Tattoo" (17:25)
Mimicat's "Ai Coração" wins Festival da Canção (25:07)
Victor Vernicos shares "What They Say" for Greece (30:16)
TurelTuranX will "Tell Me More" for Azerbaijan (33:26)
Mr Gay England David Allwood Discusses the UK Eurovision Vibe (38:05)

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Find your podcast app to subscribe here.

Keep tabs on everything happening with selection season for Eurovision 2023 including a calendar and playlists on our website at eurowhat.com/2023

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email, reach out on Twitter @eurowhat, or give us a toot on Mastodon.

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Special Guest: David Allwood.

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Episode 185: Raw Boost Energy

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0600

Six more songs enter the Eurovision thunderdome courtesy of the Netherlands, Cyprus, Germany, Moldova, Serbia, and Iceland. We also find out what the finals in Sweden and Portugal will look like. Oh, and tickets are on sale... or at least they were...

Raw Boost Energy Summary

Eurovision Tickets When/Then (1:18)
Mia Nikolai and Dion Cooper will be "Burning Daylight" for the Netherlands (3:42)
Cyprus tasks Andrew Lambrou to "Break a Broken Heart" (6:28)
Lord Of the Lost will shed "Blood & Glitter" for Germany (9:11)
Pasha Parfeni will represent Moldova again with "Soarele si Luna" (15:37)
Luke Black wins in Serbia's Pesma za Evroviziju with "Samo mi se spava" (19:17)
Diljá uses her "Power" to win Iceland's Songvakeppnin (24:10)
Sweden's Melfest and Portugal's Festival da Canção complete their semi-finals (28:25)
Awaiting internals: Greece, Switzerland, Austria, Israel, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, United Kingdom (30:07)

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Find your podcast app to subscribe here.

Keep tabs on everything happening with selection season for Eurovision 2023 including a calendar and playlists on our website at eurowhat.com/2023

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email, reach out on Twitter @eurowhat, or give us a toot on Mastodon.

Over on Patreon, we have a slew of bonus episodes featuring the American Song Contest, the Eurovision AV Club, and deep dives on Eurovision-adjacent topics. Thank you for your support!

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Episode 160: Just ASCing Questions

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 31 May 2022 00:00:00 -0500

We check in with the Eurovision jury shenanigans and then offer a sample of what we've been doing over on Patreon. Andy Dehnart from Reality Blurred joins us to look back on NBC’s American Song Contest experiment.

Just ASCing Questions Summary

News: Jury Doody (1:42)
Just ACing Questions: Is it you? Is it me? (Originally published May 9, 2022) (8:10)
Could the American Song Contest have worked? (12:31)
How could the American Song Contest have generated buzz? (19:09)
Could the voting and jury have made more sense? (23:17)
What would season 2 need to look like for this to succeed? (27:28)
Is the ASC less than the sum of its parts? (38:45)
Do we have predictions on who's going to win? (44:18)

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. You can find a service to subscribe to the show here.

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Special Guest: Andy Dehnart.

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Episode 158: Slava Ukraini

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 17 May 2022 00:00:00 -0500

Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra claimed the Eurovision 2022 trophy thanks to a record-breaking televote. Dave Steeves joins us to do a mini-dive into this year's Grand Final.

Slava Ukraini Summary

Numbers! (2:03)
Jury Doody (11:12)
Cosa Sta Facendo Måneskin: Wish.com Edition (16:33)
Welcome to the off-season! (21:34)

Eurovision 2022 Review Series

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. When you subscribe, please rate and review us. We welcome your feedback and the ratings will help other Eurovision fans find us.

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Special Guest: Dave Steeves.

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Episode 157: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ — Eurovision 2022 Grand Final Preview

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Fri, 13 May 2022 06:00:00 -0500

We started Eurovision Week with 35 semi-finalists. 20 have moved on to join the Big 5 in Saturday's Grand Final. We take stock of our predictions from last episode and make our picks for who will win Eurovision 2022.

¯_(ツ)/¯ Eurovision 2022 Grand Final Preview Summary

Eurovision Semi-Final 1 (2:27)
Eurovision Semi-Final 2 (12:34)
Eurovision Grand Final Preview (24:37)
Who will win Eurovision 2022? (31:42)

Eurovision 2022 Review Series

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. When you subscribe, please rate and review us. We welcome your feedback and the ratings will help other Eurovision fans find us.

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Episode 156: Bubblicious - Eurovision 2022 Semi-Final Preview

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Sun, 08 May 2022 00:00:00 -0500

We make our picks for who we think will advance from this week's Eurovision Semi-Finals. These predictions were made before rehearsals, but surely they're still accurate?

Bubblicious Summary

Eurovision Week 2022 (1:42)
Our Semi-Final 1 Picks (6:55)
Our Semi-Final 2 Picks (19:56)

Eurovision 2022 Review Series

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. When you subscribe, please rate and review us. We welcome your feedback and the ratings will help other Eurovision fans find us.

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email or find us on Twitter @eurowhat.

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Episode 152: Subversive

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 00:00:00 -0500

Justin Ladia joins us to start our coverage of the second semi-final for Eurovision 2022, with Finland, Israel, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Malta on the docket this week.

Subversive Summary

Finland - The Rasmus - "Jezebel" (2:23)
Israel - Michael Ben David - "I.M" (8:30)
Serbia - Konstrakta - "In Corpore Sano" (16:17)
Azerbaijan - Nadir Rüstəmli - "Fade to Black" (25:22)
Georgia - Circus Mircus - "Lock Me In" (33:03)
Malta - Emma Muscat - "I Am What I Am" (44:16)

Eurovision 2022 Review Series

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. When you subscribe, please rate and review us. We welcome your feedback and the ratings will help other Eurovision fans find us.

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email or find us on Twitter @eurowhat.

Special Guest: Justin Ladia.

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Episode 148: One More Google

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 00:00:00 -0500

In the last week of Eurovision Selection Season, we have a manageable number of internal selections to process and ease into the sunset with chill vibes from three national finals.

One More Google Summary

Tuesday: Switzerland (2:02)
Wednesday: Georgia and Cyprus (4:52)
Thursday: Belgium, United Kingdom, and Greece (10:44)
Friday: Austria (22:57)
Saturday: Sweden's Melfest, Iceland's Songvakeppnin, and Portugal's Festival da Cancao (27:18)
Coming up this week: Israel, Malta, Azerbaijan, Armenia (40:41)

Spotify Playlists

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. When you subscribe, please rate and review us. We welcome your feedback and the ratings will help other Eurovision fans find us.

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email or find us on Twitter @eurowhat.

Support The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews

Episode 145: Quante voci? In questa economia?

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0600

In the biggest Saturday for Eurovision 2022 selection season, 6 songs were chosen for Turin. We travel to Norway, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, San Marino, and Malta and examine a variety of TV formats along the way.

Quante voci? In questa economia? Summary

News: Kelly Clarkson, Snoop Dogg to Host American Song Contest; Ukraine Update (1:25)
Azerbaijan announces Nadir Rüstəmli (4:32)
Norway Gives That Subwoolfer a Ticket to Turin (6:19)
Slovenia hits the "Disko" with LPS (13:07)
Croatia Gives in to Mia Dimšić's "Guilty Pleasure" (15:35)
Poland crosses the "River" with Ochman (18:25)
Malta Thinks Emma Muscat is "Out of Sight" (21:48)
Achille Lauro's "Stripper" is Una Voce per San Marino (27:24)
Cosa Sta Facendo Maneskin: Vibe Rate Edition (32:53)
This week: Australia Decides, Finland's UMK, Iceland's Songvakeppnin, Melfest Heat 4 (34:08)

Spotify Playlists

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. When you subscribe, please rate and review us. We welcome your feedback and the ratings will help other Eurovision fans find us.

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email or find us on Twitter @eurowhat.

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Episode 133: Metaverse

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 00:00:00 -0500

Does breaking the fourth wall work at Eurovision? Ben takes us through a collection of songs that try to go meta.

Metaverse Summary

News (1:16)
Eurovision Again: 2012 (10:23)
When Eurovision Goes Meta (15:16)

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. When you subscribe, please rate and review us. We welcome your feedback and the ratings will help other Eurovision fans find us.

Want to support the show? Join our Patreon! Listener support has helped with getting episode transcriptions and refreshing our website.

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email or find us on Twitter @eurowhat.

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Episode 121: Eurovision 2021 Grand Final Preview

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Fri, 21 May 2021 09:00:00 -0500

33 songs competed on the Eurovision stage Tuesday and Thursday but only 20 advanced to the 2021 Grand Final. Who will win the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam?

Eurovision 2021 Grand Final Preview Summary

Discovering Peacock will be carrying Eurovision
Where Can I Watch the Eurovision Song Contest in the US?
First Semi-Final (3:22)
Second Semi-Final (7:23)
Grand Final Thoughts (13:38)

Episode 120: Eurovision 2021 Semi-Final Preview

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Sun, 16 May 2021 23:00:00 -0500

The Eurovision 2021 Semi-Final Spectacular is here! We make our picks for the 20 songs we think will qualify for the Grand Final in Rotterdam.

Eurovision 2021 Semi-Final Preview Summary

News
- The American Song Contest
- Where Can I Watch the Eurovision Song Contest in the US?
- Rehearsals: Covid Incidents (No Spoilers)
Semi-Final 1 Predictions (6:36)
Semi-Final 2 Predictions (15:25)

Episode 115: Will It Play in Winnipeg?

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 11:00:00 -0500

Graphic designer Justin Ladia joins us from Winnipeg to help us close out the first semi-final of the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. North America has opinions!

Will It Play in Winnipeg? Summary

Welcome back, Justin Ladia!
- Twitter | Instagram | Website

Semi-Final 1 Part 3:
- Israel - Eden Alene - "Set Me Free" (2:28)
  - Trijntje Oosterhuis (Netherlands 2015) "Walk Along"
- Romania - Roxen - "Amnesia" (10:03)
  - Movies on Freeform
- Azerbaijan - Efendi - "Mata Hari" (16:39)
  - "Cleopatra" "Live" "Performance"
- Ukraine - Go_A - "SHUM" (22:50)
  - Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Winnipeg
- Malta - Destiny - "Je Me Casse" (30:41)
  - Every Stefon Ever

Episode 112: A Whole Thing

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 11:00:00 -0500

All Eurovision 2021 songs are in! (Except Belarus... that's a whole thing...) We discuss the latest entries and think about promo season.

A Whole Thing Summary

Selection season is over! (1:48)
- Azerbaijan salutes(?) "Mata Hari"
- Georgia's Tornike sings to "You"
- Is Malta #DestinedForGreatness with "Je Me Casse"?

Controversies (it's a whole thing...): North Macedonia, Russia, Belarus (11:40)

What does Eurovision promo season look like for 2021? (16:22)

Announcement: We've launched a Patreon! (22:59)

Episode 81: WHY ARE WE YELLING?

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 11:00:00 -0500

We finish up our initial evaluations of the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest entries with the last nine songs to drop in March.

WHY ARE WE YELLING? Summary

Coronavirus vs. Eurovision (1:44)
Does Austria's song make us feel "Alive"? (6:22)
Ireland's "Story of My Life" splits opinions (10:21)
Are we "Running" to or from Cyprus? Or the mall? (15:13)
Should Bulgaria's "Tears Getting Sober" be the favorite? (19:09)
What do "YOU" think of North Macedonia's entry? (22:54)
Guess which of us is "FREAKY!" over San Marino's entry (27:03)
Does Malta get "All of My Love"? Some? Any? (35:36)
Does Azerbaijan say gay rights with "Cleopatra"? (40:07)
Russia continues to Russia with "UNO" 44:23

Episode 79: Songageddon 2020

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 17:00:00 -0600

Somehow we managed to be verbal after mainlining hours upon hours of Eurovision content this past weekend. It's Songageddon 2020!

Songageddon 2020 Summary

Thursday (1:35)
- United Kingdom drops James Newman's "My Last Breath" (with special guest Helen Groothuis)
- Germany has a "Violent Thing" with Ben Dolic
- Azerbaijan announces Samira Efendi
Friday (13:09)
- Belarus chooses VAL's "Da Vidna / Да вiдна" instead of "La-Ley-La"
Saturday (16:48)
- Estonia's televoters show Uku Suviste "What Love Is"
- Moldova goes to "Prison" with Natalia Gordienko
- Damir Kedžo wins Croatia's Dora 2020 with "Divlji vjetre"
- Iceland's Daði Freyr wins Songvakeppnin with "Think About Things"
- Melfest Andra Chansen
Sunday (46:36)
- Greece debuts Stefania's "Superg!rl"
- Roxen's "Alcohol You" will represent Romania
- Hurricane blows away Serbia's Beovizija with "Hasta la Vista"
Monday (55:46)
- Russia announces Little Big
- Georgia debuts "Take Me As I Am"
Coming up this week: everything else! (58:42)

Episode 70: The Ones That Got Away 2010s Edition

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 31 Dec 2019 00:00:00 -0600

408 songs competed on the Eurovision stage this decade. 148 did not qualify for the Grand Final. From those, we picked 20 that still hold up.

Episode Summary

2019 picks (4:03)
2018 picks (7:39)
2017 picks (11:40)
2016 picks (16:40)
2015 picks (22:07)
2014 picks (28:03)
2013 picks (33:48)
2012 picks (41:56)
2011 picks (46:05)
2010 picks (49:23)

Episode 69: Ben’s Grand Eurofying Theory

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 24 Dec 2019 18:00:00 -0600

Ben flies solo this week after getting too caffeinated while prepping for the last Eurowhat of the year. He develops a theory about Eurovision in the last decade and makes an audio essay about it. It involves snacks.

Episode Summary

How to define a decade (1:48)
Pop, with a Folk flourish (4:15)
Power ballads! (6:10)
The Azerbaijan Pop machine (9:00)
Italy returns (11:18)
Fuego, Replay, and repetition (14:48)
Folk, with a Pop flourish (17:26)
Interesting choices, struggling titans (19:06)
Balance shifts again (22:18)

Episode 49: Eurovision 2019 Semi-Final 2 Part 3: Johnny Bravo

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 18:00:00 -0500

We finish our coverage of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals talking about Russia, Albania, Norway, Netherlands, North Macedonia, and Azerbaijan.

Eurovision 2019 Semi-Final 2 Part 3: Johnny Bravo Summary

Russia - Sergey Lazarev - SCREAM (2:10)
Albania - Jonida Maliqi - Ktheju Tokës (8:31)
Norway - KEiiNO - Spirit in the Sky (13:01)
Netherlands - Duncan Laurence - Arcade (18:17)
North Macedonia - Tamara Todevska - Proud (24:01)
Azerbaijan - Chingiz - Truth (28:22)
Final Thoughts (36:00)

Episode 43: The Ones That Got Away (2019)

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 17:00:00 -0500

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.

We welcome back Noam Roth to the Eurowhat! He gives us an update on what's going on in Tel Aviv as the city gets ready to host the Contest. Then we hand out our honorable mentions for this year's selection season entries that have a place in our hearts even if they don't have a place on the Eurovision stage.

The Ones That Got Away (2019) Summary

Our bracket winner is... (1:17)
How are things in Tel Aviv? (2:00)
The Ones That Got Away (8:26)
Noam's Eurovision Prediction (29:21)

Episode 42: Madness!

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 18:00:00 -0500

The madness of Eurovision Selection Season has come to an end. With 16 songs to discuss, we change up the format to get into competition mode.

Madness! Summary

We Stan Hatari: Öskudagur edition (2:01)
Eurovision Madness Bracket! (4:11)
Round of 16 (6:59)
Round of 8 (20:18)
Final Four (30:22)
The Grand Final (35:06)
VOTE in our Twitter poll

Episode 22: World Cup Song Contest

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 05:00:00 -0500

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...

This week, Ben and Mike take a listen to a handful of songs from 2018 that were created for the sole purpose of ~~cashing in~~ celebrating the quadrennial ~~soccer~~ futbol extravaganza that is the FIFA World Cup. Did you know that there is an official World Cup anthem as well as an official song? AND an official Coca-Cola song?

The music doesn't stop there. Countries that weren't even in the tournament added tracks to the playlist, with Eurovision alumni from Malta and Azerbaijan leading the charge. Host country Russia brought back their famous Grannies as well as the stellar voice of Polina Gagarina. Iceland's last act to qualify for a Eurovision final—2014's Pollapönk—rocks out to celebrate their homeland qualifying for the tournament for the first time. And a remix from one of 1979's most famous acts also promotes Moscow.

There's controversy, international intrigue, and a whole lotta flopping in this installment of the EuroWhat? podcast!((Oh, and congrats, France. We recorded this well before the Final.))

World Cup Song Contest Summary

Jason Derulo featuring(?) Ira Losco - "Colors" (4:46)
Arash, Pitbull, Blanco, Nyusha - "Goalie Goalie" (9:21)
Russia's Gonna Russia (13:07)
Pollapönk - "Boltann í punginn" (17:21)
Dschinghis Khan - "Moskau Moskau Moskau Moskau" (19:54)

World Cup Playlist

Episode 11: First!

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 05:00:00 -0500

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? Why is Staples playing Eurovision songs from 2016?

First! Summary

Eurovision Viewing Parties (3:50)
Why is Staples playing "Sunlight"? (5:20)
Analyzing the semi-final (9:36)

First Semi-Final Running Order

Azerbaijan - Aisel - X My Heart (9:36)
Iceland - Ari Olafsson - Our Choice (14:48)
Albania - Eugent Bushpepa - Mall (19:52)
Belgium - SENNEK - A Matter of Time (27:16)
Czech Republic - Mikolas Josef - Lie to Me (31:27)
Lithuania - Ieva Zasimauskaitė - When We're Old (37:44)
Israel - Netta - Toy (43:29)
Belarus - Alekseev - Forever (47:44)
Estonia - Elina Netšajeva - La Forza (52:22)
Bulgaria - Equinox - Bones (58:09)

Episode 8: Melfest Fest

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 05:00:00 -0500

Eurovision's 2018 selection season is approaching the end, which means one thing: Sweden's Melfest! Well, two things: lots of internal selections coming through the pipeline. No matter how you count it, we're in the homestretch!

Melfest Fest Summary

Eurovision hodgepodge
Azerbaijan - Aisel - "X MyHeart" (5:44)
Portugal - Cláudia Pascoal - "O Jardim" (10:42)
Belgium - SENNEK - "A Matter of Time" (14:06)
Croatia - Franka - "Crazy" (19:30)
Australia - Jessica Mauboy - "#WeGotLove" (24:21)
Austria - Cesár Sampson - "Nobody But You" (29:25)
Ireland - Ryan O'Shaughnessy - "Together" (34:07)
Norway - Alexander Rybak - "That's How You Write a Song" (39:29)
Sweden - Benjamin Ingrosso - "Dance You Off" (49:46)

Episode 1: Welcome to 2018

The EuroWhat? Podcast — Tue, 09 Jan 2018 08:00:00 -0600

We're podcasting, y'all! Welcome to the EuroWhat?

In our opening episode of The EuroWhat? podcast, our Eurovision News and Entertainment Research Division Specialists introduce themselves to our listening audience before sharing their first impressions of Albania's entry.

Then the crew hopscotches around Europe (and Australia) to chat about the seven artists already announced from internal selections. Who do we like? Who are we concerned about? Will there be jazz?

Intro 0:00
Who are you? What are you doing here? 3:02
Albania First Impressions 11:02
Internally Selected Artists 23:02
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Belgium
- Finland
- Georgia
- Netherlands

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The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews - Episodes Tagged with “Azerbaijan”

Episode 281: Responsive

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Episode 268: Eurovision 2025 Semi-Final Preview

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Episode 262: Huzzah

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Episode 257: Disco Sauna

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Episode 255: ('Singing')

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Episode 254: Super

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Episode 245: Avalanche

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Episode 242: Eurovisionaries

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Episode 234: A Lotta Look

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Malmö 2024

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Episode 230: Designated Perceived Nudity Corner

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Episode 225: Optimistic

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Episode 222: Scrunchy Face Sounds

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Episode 211: Allons-y!

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Episode 208: Calendaring

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Episode 194: Internet People

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Episode 186: Spring Back

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Episode 185: Raw Boost Energy

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Episode 160: Just ASCing Questions

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