219 Conversion === [00:00:00] Ben: this one does feel kind of like a Lorraine response of, like, okay, we've got, like, half a Panini press lying around Hello, and welcome to the Eurowhat, episode 219 dropping on February 20th, 2024. We are a pair of Americans trying to make sense of the Eurovision Song Contest. I'm Ben Smith, and I'm here with my co host, Mike McComb. Hey, Mike! [00:00:26] Mike: Hello. [00:00:27] Ben: In this episode, we'll be talking about Super Saturday 2, The Revenge! [00:00:31] Mike: Oh, yeah, that, that was a lot this weekend, wasn't it? [00:00:35] Ben: it was, it was a lot! A welcome return after being absent last week. [00:00:39] Mike: Yeah, yeah. How was your trip? [00:00:41] Ben: It was delightful, uh, we will be debriefing on it over on Patreon. Please, go tune into that one, I think it's gonna be good, I'm excited about it. It was a real good trip, it was delightful to be in Finland for almost a week. [00:00:54] Mike: I'm so looking forward to the full debrief on it and, your full thoughts on the Windows 95 man of it all. [00:01:00] Isaak is "Always on the Run" for Germany --- [00:01:00] Ben: We got right back to it this weekend, starting on Friday, when Germany had das Deutsche Finale. It's like the third year in a row or so that they've done this process. You know, we have Barbara, we have like eight or nine or ten ish acts, and at the end they pick something. [00:01:16] Mike: And I think it has about the level of enthusiasm that we are demonstrating right now. [00:01:21] Ben: it is, it was a program on television that I watched with my eyes. [00:01:25] Mike: Yeah, uh, kind of a weird, almost prescient way of kicking off this weekend, just with how scoring went down in a number of the national finals. [00:01:35] Ben: A fun little thing of like, what if instead of proportional scoring, 8, etc. and end up with the result that everybody is just sort of okay with. [00:01:46] Mike: I was prepared to go fully off on Germany about this, because that is exactly what happened. they had their international jury of eight countries, so a lot of points lying around. And then after all of those results were in, converted everything to 1210. But, like, second through fifth place, there was only, like, a four point spread. A couple of them were tied. [00:02:05] Ben: super close, it was super close, and they just boiled it down in ways where I'm like, That, no, no, those should be closer. [00:02:11] Mike: I felt really bad for, Florian, who was the wildcard and in distant last place after the jury, but he ended up with fewer points after the conversion than he had from the jury. It's like, well, that that's just rude! That happened, and then, uh, the televote results came in, and again, it was like the 12, 10, 8. It didn't really matter as much because, Isak was the winner of both the jury and televote, so, like The results would not have changed if they did a proportional score, but still. It's the principle of the [00:02:42] Ben: It's the principle of the thing. Like, give us a little bit of drama, Germany. [00:02:46] Mike: I guess we should talk about the winner Isak and Always on the Run. [00:02:50] Ben: He's got a really good voice, and I was really, surprised at how good he sounded live. [00:03:11] Mike: I think he had the best vocal of the night, but I really wish it was a better song, [00:03:17] Ben: no, this is, this is a voice winner song. This is what you give to the person where, like, you won the voice and we're never gonna hear from you again. [00:03:23] Mike: I'm curious to see how this is received, because it does feel like it is not necessarily current, but pop friendly, pop radio friendly enough. I looked up how old the song Radioactive is and had a mild tremor after realizing, oh god, that song is 12 years old, so yeah. [00:03:44] Ben: I saw, I saw somebody online just thinking of other acts this sounds like, called this Ragenbohnmann. And I was like, yes, it does sound like Ragenbohnmann, but German. Shout out to the random elephant noise in the chorus, that, that, that's what was getting me through the song. [00:03:59] Mike: Yeah. [00:03:59] Ben: I, cause I'm just like, why is that there? [00:04:02] Mike: To help me cut the audio clip. Uh, that, that's what I was using as my reference point. [00:04:09] Ben: I am not sure that this gets Germany out of the basement. [00:04:13] Mike: I kind of want to hear what the rest of the field is like, just because, it does feel like it's kind of a piece of what Latvia selected last weekend. And what I was worried was going to be picked in a number of the national finals this weekend. So like, it's like, Oh, is it just like growly man pop? Is that, is that? [00:04:30] Ben: Is that what we're doing right now? [00:04:31] Mike: So. Uh, but yeah, like the voice, wish I liked the song more on first listen. It may grow on me. It was the best option out of the options we were presented, I [00:04:43] Ben: Yes, yeah. [00:04:45] Mike: Although, justice for Katze, so. [00:04:46] Ben: justice for Katze though, because like, I'm just like, yes, this is what I want from Germany. Something that just feels very German. [00:04:53] Mike: Played so much better live than I was expecting, I, I don't know what I was expecting, uh, just based on the studio track, like, I thought it was going to be something very, very simple, and I suppose it was a very simple performance, but the live element of it really elevated. Maybe it was the audience, I think they were, uh, enthusiastic about it as well. [00:05:10] Ben: Yes. And then, oh, just like the continuing trend of, okay, I guess we're doing an ABBA medley. [00:05:15] Mike: Oh, yeah. [00:05:15] Ben: In every selection, it's just like, at this point, like, I would like there to be, a required essay component of this year's contest, entrant has to explain what ABBA song they like best and why, and it factors into their final score. [00:05:27] Mike: And the thing that I loved is that it opened with gimme gimme gimme and like all they were singing was gimme gimme gimme like they just kept repeating that part it's like wait a minute you can't you can't play ABBA that way like that that's taking it way too easy so far. Hahaha. [00:05:44] Eesti Laul Grand Final --- [00:05:44] Mike: on Saturday, we had four selections on top of a couple of other semifinals that were happening. the day technically started off with Moldova, but Estonia was the first one. Was Estonia the first one to name their winner? I don't know, it just kind of turned into a blur at about 2. 30. [00:06:01] Ben: television was happening. [00:06:04] Mike: Yeah. The first in our document is Estonia. they had, their Estee Laud final, where five of the semi finalists joined five of the auto qualifiers. All ten performed, there was a jury, there was televoting, there was their weird superfinal system, which even after following this contest for well over a decade, I still don't fully understand, but everybody seems fine with it. Olly, FiveMinust, and Pullup, and Nelilis Vyksu were the superfinalists. I think those three were the right three. What about you? [00:06:39] Ben: I also liked Annette Weichmann's Serotonin. [00:06:43] Mike: She was in good position to possibly advance, and It was, Five, Minust, and Pulup with Nendest, Narkotikumi, Dest, e Teya, Mekul, Medaki. They were the overwhelming crowd favorite. They got 60 percent of the Superfinal televote. Yeah, I have a feeling, had they not made it into the Superfinal, which was a slight possibility, there may have been riots in Tallinn. [00:07:27] Ben: That was my understanding going into this, is that they were the favorite. [00:07:30] Mike: What did you think of this one? [00:07:32] Ben: While it was happening on the show, okay, I get what this is going for, but it's not doing for me what I think it's supposed to be doing for me. But, I will say, every time I watch it, or every time I listen to it more, I get it, when I've followed my usual life with these things and listened to it without watching the visuals. I'm like, oh, this has big trennuletal energy. [00:07:53] Mike: Mm hmm. [00:07:54] Ben: This could really pop off in the arena. Although I want them to tighten up the stage show, cause like, watching it, I'm like, this is just six dudes kinda all over the place. [00:08:05] Mike: This one is giving me Winter vibes. This is one that I have instantly responded to. But I completely agree with you. they have a lot of work to do between now and May. Like, they need to tighten up that performance. Like, I watched the semi final performance, which, in my memory, was better than the final performance. While it was tighter, there were still a lot of things just like, oh, you need to fix that, oh, you need to fix that. camera operator did not know what to do. The choreography can be a little bit cleaner. I'm hoping now that they know that they're going, they'll be able to, like, really buckle down and, like, tighten everything up. But I completely agree with you about the trenulental, energy. [00:08:46] Ben: I'm not fully getting a winter vibe, but I'm getting, this one is gonna be a secret dark horse. Oh, especially given that it's in the second semi final. This is through. [00:08:56] Mike: Oh, yeah, absolutely. It kind of feels a little bit like a mixture of Trinuletal and Incorporate Sano, like just in terms of the radicalization, because it is Estonia sort of saying ACAB, which I'm also like, intrigued by, [00:09:12] Ben: They need to make that clear in the performance, because that was not, like, because I did not pick that up at all, and I'm immediately more on board. [00:09:18] Mike: Yeah, yeah, like if you, if you, if you look at the lyrics of the song, it's like, oh, this is, yeah, like, uh, yeah, so [00:09:27] Ben: Good work, Estonia. [00:09:29] Mike: it was a fun final. I thought Olly's performance was really good. Like I don't like the sort of Linkin Park vibe in general, but it was a great example of what he's trying to do. And yeah, like I think it was a great example of that genre of music. that I've seen in any contest. [00:09:48] Ben: yeah, like, I also generally do not respond to the Linkin Park of it all, but I was like, no, this is, this is decent. I would not be mad about this, even though, like, it seemed like, uh, Feeb Minoost and Pooloop, uh, had the, had it kind of a runaway. [00:10:01] Mike: Hopefully Ali comes back soon. I believe he was in last year's contest and did well. Uh, he was second place here. I would not be surprised if we see him at Eurovision in the next couple of years. [00:10:12] Natalia Barbu represents Moldova again with "In the Middle" --- [00:10:12] Ben: You were focused on Esti Lau, I was focused on Moldova's process, since that also started early in the day. That was like a fun opening act for Holograph. [00:10:21] Mike: think the concert was longer than the actual competitive performances portion of the [00:10:26] Ben: Oh yeah, cause like, we were getting to like 2pm and I'm like, I need to switch over to Lithuania, can you guys like, name some finalists? But like, would keep checking in on like, the tab I had moved things over to, just like, okay, but like, have you guys figured some stuff out? I was underwhelmed by Moldova's choices this year. [00:10:41] Mike: Really? [00:10:42] Ben: A, I missed out on, like, the, the marathon, so, like, this is my first time seeing a bunch of them, but, like, a lot of them vocally, were not there. I was very concerned that the people performing could not sing their songs. [00:10:53] Mike: I did watch the auditions and I was very enthusiastic coming out of the auditions. It's like, Ben should cover the final just so that, he can be as excited as I am about this, but yeah, like, I think vocally, it was still, it was better than at the auditions for some of them, but, [00:11:09] Ben: I hope so! Visually, they had, like, a couple things that felt very strong and very thought through visually, and it turns out those were number one and number two. Controversially, it turns out, in terms of how things shook out, because, Natalia Barbu And in the middle, was named as the winner. I am very into the five identical women with violins. That was a really good visual, I can see how it translates to what we know about the Sweden stage. So like, I understand, like, why the jury placed this one at the top. Moldova did the thing that seemingly everybody else was doing this weekend, and took the jury vote and turned them into 12, 10, 8, etc. And then did that with the Televote as well. I mean, the problem is that, uh, Valeria Pasha's anti princess, had almost twice the televote as Natalia. If they had used proportional points for this, she would have won, because she had so much of a percentage of the televote. [00:12:14] Mike: right, [00:12:15] Ben: Looking at the official rules of this year's process, it doesn't actually spell out what to do in the event of a tie for first place will be broken. Either by the jury vote or the televote, it's simply the song which receives the most points. Like, this is the sort, this is why Lithuania had an All Public Superfinal this year, just in case they had another situation like what happened last year. [00:12:36] Mike: well, I mean, what, they could do a mashup, see how that [00:12:40] Ben: I'm, I'm really interested to see how this shakes out, because, like, they've definitely sent the paperwork for Natalia Barbu, but Valeria is appealing the results, and, like, those were the correct two to be near the top. Both of them have visual presence. Specifically, like, the sort of visual presence I associate with Moldova. [00:12:57] Mike: Yeah, like, I was kind of blown away by Anti Princess's performance, because that song really was doing nothing for me from the studio side, but that stage performance, like, in my nose, it was like, oh, this is really working for me. [00:13:11] Ben: The stage performance is like, this is classic Moldova. [00:13:13] Mike: Yeah, yeah. Like the aluminum foil wrapped props and stuff. It was just like, oh, I love it. It's the DIY national final. It's fantastic. [00:13:23] Ben: my assumption is that no, we're sending Natalia and we'll just shake this out for next year. [00:13:27] Mike: it's such a shame because like, I really enjoyed this year's lineup. I'm a little disappointed that you didn't enjoy the show as much as I was hoping you were going to enjoy the show. [00:13:37] Ben: I do want, whoever put both of the songs called Fever back to back, I just want them to get a raise because that's just chef's kiss. Come [00:13:45] Mike: but I wish we were talking about the show rather than this really murky result that came out of it. It's like, oh, we're just kind of burying like what was great about this particular Moldova season. So, oh, well, figure out your rules, people. Come on. [00:14:02] Ben: have a policy for what happens in case of a tie. Especially if you're doing the reductive voting thing. It's gonna happen. It's going to happen. [00:14:11] Saba wins Dansk Melodi Grand Prix with "Sand" --- [00:14:11] Mike: Continuing in the theme of murky results, Denmark! they had their Dance Melody Grand Prix, there were eight acts that were performing, a jury, plus Televote to reduce that to three super finalists, and then the jury and Televote again. It was very similar to what Luxembourg did, and it was also as weird as the implementation as Luxembourg, but The winner ended up being Saba with the song Sand. And this one also has a little bit of controversy because Saba finished first with the jury, but was third in the televote, but because of the way the points like the points were sort of proportional, but yeah, people were not happy that the person who finished third in the televote still ended up. Winning. Uh, so we, we have learned nothing from 2023. [00:15:17] Ben: learned nothing. Um, although, like, I will note that, like, they did this proportionally, which is nice, because looking at the numbers, like, I don't know, like, the televote is pretty evenly spread out, like, there's not, like, a strong preference in one way or the other for any of these three songs, which feels like an uh oh to me. [00:15:34] Mike: Did you actually watch any of Denmark or did you just see my annoyed posts about it? [00:15:40] Ben: Okay, like, it was, it was not the most prominent tab in my browser. Lithuania was on the TV by that point and just would, like, check in on the other ones as they were happening. I fully agree with you that, uh, Choo Choo's The Chase, parentheses, Zoom Zoom, is like 70 percent there and I'm really scared about the other 30%. [00:15:58] Mike: I don't think it should have won, but it was the one, like if it had like a multi stage process, it'd be like, okay, I could see this one, like moving on to a second round. And then I'd like to see what sort of revisions are made to like really boost it. But that's not what this process is. It's a one and done. [00:16:12] Ben: Admittedly, I missed any sort of pre roll that may have happened explaining the meaning behind Basim's song. Heard that one in the Superfinal and was just like, lyrically, Yeah, no, this one is kind of messed up, dude. [00:16:24] Mike: Yeah, that one, I was ambivalent about going in by the time of like the 15th repetition of it. I was just like, I actively hate [00:16:34] Ben: Yeah, it's just like, I actively dislike this. Yeah, I'm just like, I don't, like, this is what y'all wanted? [00:16:39] Mike: There were a couple of songs in the lineup that really grated on my last nerve, and it may have just been like, yeah, Saturday was a very full day, and I think I was maybe just a little cranky, needed a snack, that sort of thing, but there were a couple of songs in the lineup in Denmark's contest that, no, absolutely not. [00:16:58] Ben: Like, it got down to the three it got down to, and I'm like, well, it's clearly sand. And, like, this one does feel kind of like a Lorraine response of, like, okay, we've got, like, half a Panini press lying around. [00:17:10] Mike: It was a good opener, I think. It was like, alright, you're kind of setting up your thesis statement for this particular final. All of the movement in the performance is coming from the cameras and from the lights. Sabah, she's not doing a lot of movement herself. I'm hoping that that gets tweaked, for Melma. This seems like something that, Sasha Jean Baptiste might be able to [00:17:33] Ben: Yeah, get them in the mix. [00:17:36] Mike: I'm not thinking, like, four dancers in a line behind her, I, I, that, that, but something, like, the way that Jean's Tears performance got tweaked, [00:17:44] Ben: wasn't me they were my brain with, although now I'm just like, oh man, we're gonna get four dancers. Four dancers wearing hats. [00:17:50] Mike: yeah, hourglass hats, ooh, there we go, uh, with three minutes of sand in them, oh, it'd be fantastic. So I think this was, again, of the options presented, the right one to be selected. That's not the most ringing endorsement, but, [00:18:10] Ben: Well, yeah, like, I'm just like, like, Denmark, this is like the third year in a row where we've been like, well, I guess it's this. [00:18:16] Mike: mm hmm, yeah, but they are in that second semi final, so [00:18:21] Ben: There's a chance, there's a chance. [00:18:23] Mike: if everybody is submitting, girl, I guess, to that semi final, like, it'll make it a real contest, so that'll be fun. [00:18:31] Ben: I don't wish this on the countries yet to select for that one, but just the notion of a, all of the good ones are here, and the, I guess, [00:18:38] Mike: This has a good base, like, it's good. I want it to be great, and I think it can be great. There's just some stuff that's gonna need to happen over the next couple of months for it to get done. Up to that next level, I think. [00:18:50] Ben: yes, agreed. [00:18:52] "Luktelk" and Silvester Belt win Eurovizija.lt --- [00:18:52] Ben: The last selection of the day, although I did not expect it to be the last selection of the day. was Lithuania! Like, the ten entries they selected sounded even better in the arena. Looking through pre show stuff, uh, Dude Point had written a lovely, blog post explaining all of the various things in Lithuania's final, and pointed out that the vocalist in Plui du Komet is Juste from Need More Fun last year, which blew my mind, I had not realized it was her. [00:19:15] Mike: Yeah, I didn't really realize that either, and I loved Need More Fun, so, um, yeah, I wish I loved this track as much as I loved that one, but [00:19:24] Ben: it's, it's a, it's a good vibe, but like, it, it wasn't like a good Eurovision selection. Apparently it is, this was the Saturday of long interval acts because we had like, three or four songs from Mango. [00:19:35] Mike: An act I don't believe I've encountered before? [00:19:39] Ben: Yeah, although it's, it's like the, it's been like the rare Lithuanian interval act where I have been like, Lithuania, why aren't you sending this? And I'm like, no, this is good, this is, this is a good interval act. They can hang out in Vilnius, it's cool. [00:19:50] Mike: It's not a girl group type year, I think When that swings around again in Eurovision land, they might be someone to tap on the shoulder, [00:19:58] Ben: Mm hmm, yes. When they did the reveal of the first round, they showed the numbers for everybody except the top three, which they listed in alphabetical order, and like, gave everybody like a mild heart attack. I feel like we knew The Roop was gonna be in the mix. I was pretty strong that Sylvester Belt was gonna be in the mix, just because that one has been apparently at the top of Lithuania's Spotify Top 50 for like, weeks. But then SHOWER was also in the mix. Mwahahahahahaha! [00:20:27] Mike: to that because I don't think I, and it's not even that I said anything controversial. It's the fact that I didn't say that Sylvester Belt was in the mix, that, that is the most pushback I've gotten from the audience of this podcast. But nobody had Shower on their radar. So everybody can back [00:20:45] Ben: Yeah, it's just like, hey everybody, leave us alone. We've been on the Sylvester Belt train. But like, [00:20:52] Mike: Ben, you were part of that backlash toward me, so no. [00:20:55] Ben: I was part of it, I was part of it. Yeah, I was also scribbling. Okay, but Mike, Sylvester Belt. I've been on the we should have Eurovision in Lithuania train for a few years now. You talked about Estonia having winter vibes. This one has winter vibes for me. [00:21:25] Mike: Oh yeah, I completely agree. [00:21:27] Ben: The, the way that they've done the staging so far feels like it translates really well. He can sing it live, it sounded better in the arena than it did in his heat, and it sounded really good in the heat. There's just something very catchy about it, there's an earned dance break. [00:21:41] Mike: I'm glad that's becoming part of the criteria, because I have to think about like, earned and unearned key changes. I think Dance Break can also kind of fall into that sort of Rubrics. [00:21:50] Ben: It's like, we get it, you saw Chanel. [00:21:52] Mike: This does seem like a fully realized performance, and he has a charisma about him that you can't manufacture, I don't think. [00:22:00] Ben: I've been meaning to say this every time we talk about Lithuania, but like, shout out to like, the Lithuanian TikToker that they put in the interview role, because he's been doing a great job. [00:22:08] Mike: Overall, what did you think of this new format, this new season? [00:22:12] Ben: The right choices were made, because again, everybody sounded fantastic in the arena. Like, even VB Gang. That was the best they have sounded, that was a really fun performance. Like, I still kind of miss the way that we got to see development and evolution in these performances. Mm-Hmm. [00:22:30] Mike: the ultimate correct outcome was achieved. I feel like we may have lucked into that. [00:22:37] Ben: Yeah. Yeah. Like I was, yeah. 'cause like, there was a moment where I was real scared that, oh, no. Shower won. [00:22:43] Mike: It kind of felt like the format was being designed to kind of cushion the idea of the group inevitably winning. Like, I'm thinking back to, like, 2021, where they can't just send them again in 2021. They need to have some sort of competition, but they're probably going to win. How do we have, a legitimate competition, or at least the veneer of a legitimate competition? And it feels like this format was kind of trying to account for that a little bit, but having two relative newbies to this style of competition be first and second place is like, oh, okay. [00:23:18] Ben: This was my first time actually hearing the, the ru song. Like, I, I did not catch up after, after my trip last week. I think I'm like it, well, I'll see it at the final. If that had been an interval act, I think I would've enjoyed it more than knowing it was in the competition. [00:23:33] Mike: Of their three most recent entries, it's not their [00:23:36] Ben: It's no. The performances were like a rehash of various other things they've done in years before, but they're not quite as fully baked. [00:23:44] Mike: Good job, Lithuania! Sylvester Belt, I think, is an excellent choice. [00:23:49] Ben: I'm really excited to see what they do for this in, in Malmo. [00:23:53] Mike: Baltics are coming in strong this year. [00:23:55] Ben: Selfishly, as a person who would like to go to the Baltics, I would not be mad about a Lithuania win. [00:23:59] Poland selects Luna and "The Tower" --- [00:23:59] Mike: [00:23:59] Ben: Alright, and then first thing Monday morning, woke up to news that we have Poland's artists, and it is Luna who will be representing them with The Tower. So Poland's process this year was they had a five person selection committee going through 60 submissions, there was voting and apparently it was very close. I saw that apparently this beat out, Justina, who was their, 1995 entry, by like one point. [00:24:40] Mike: Oh, wow, okay. [00:24:41] Ben: I like that they went with a closed committee this year, cause just my understanding of this selection last year was that even though there was a public process, it was very much kind of a committee picking anyways. [00:24:51] Mike: Yeah, also, Poland's broadcaster is in, um, a bit of an overhaul right now, [00:24:57] Ben: right, yeah, like, that's a whole mess, yeah. Hehehehehehe! [00:25:01] Mike: wonder what Poland's status is going to be in the competition, but, uh, yeah, there was, like, no rumblings of them, like, not being able to participate, so I'm glad that there's a song. What do you think of this track? [00:25:13] Ben: We described them as hotel art last year and this is like a different style of hotel art to me. it's Spotify, uptempo, alt electronica. [00:25:22] Mike: Okay, yeah, for me, it was kind of reading as Ellie Goulding by way of Kidz Bop in terms of production. [00:25:30] Ben: The production is like, a little on the generic side for me. Like, this is commercial music. I was reading about Luna. I was reading about her as a performer before I hit play on the song, and I was expecting that Poland had seen what Slovenia is doing this year. I was like, we can do that too! And then I hit play, and this is a completely different song from that vibe. [00:25:49] Mike: Yes. Although, I thought in the video, the choreography, like, just the kind of, like, bonelessness is really the only way to kind of describe it, but it's like, oh, they have kind of similar body types or body movement things going on. It's very interesting to look at, but yeah, like, uh, I also could not help but think what this was going to look like on stage, coupled with Poland's, uh, Desire to use visual effects and overlays. [00:26:19] Ben: The Windows Movie Maker of it [00:26:21] Mike: Yeah, yeah, so I have a feeling this may be closer to, uh, Super Mario Wonder, than previous years, and I'm kind of excited for that. [00:26:30] Ben: yeah, no, like, I absolutely want to see what graphics package they put on screen this time. Uh. I don't know. Reading through her background, it's like her biggest influences are Nick Cave and Bjork. [00:26:39] Mike: Hmm. [00:26:39] Ben: awesome, those are, those are very interesting artists to have as things that inspire you, but also, where? [00:26:46] Mike: Truthfully, I need to sit with this one a little [00:26:49] Ben: Yeah, cause like, yeah, we've had it for hours. [00:26:51] Mike: yeah. Like, I didn't even have the chance to check her Wikipedia page. So, uh, this is very much a first impression. But, a positive first impression? [00:27:00] Ben: It's not the most interesting thing, but, like, in, in stating that I feel like I also need to clarify, it's not, like, boring? [00:27:05] Mike: No, it's not boring at all. And, and I did the thing this time where I listened to the song before watching the video, and I think that that also helped, uh, with that. 'cause uh, yeah, the video, it focuses on chess. Come on. No [00:27:21] Melfest Heat 3 --- [00:27:21] Mike: Along with all of those selections, we had our normal Saturday programming, uh, including Melfest. It was their third heat. The acts that went direct to final were Jacqueline and Cassiopeia. Not really surprised by either of those? [00:27:39] Ben: no, although I will say the Jacqueline song is the best thing I've heard this Melfest. [00:27:43] Mike: Completely agree. Yeah. [00:27:45] Ben: It made me actively mad that it got direct to final because it means I can't listen to it on Spotify a bunch. [00:27:50] Mike: Yeah. [00:27:52] Ben: I went to Spotify to go listen to it again, I was like, wait, ah, dang it. [00:27:55] Mike: High hopes for her. Cassiopeia's entry, it was fine. It was kind of what I was expecting. [00:28:00] Ben: like, yeah, I get why it's there, and like, it did what it set out to do, it's not my favorite. [00:28:05] Mike: And then the two that went on to the wildcard vote are Claudie's and Gunilla Pearson's. [00:28:14] Ben: Who, thank you for noting, I went to the show notes for last week. And like, went to her Wikipedia page and went on a whole journey. [00:28:21] Mike: This song and performance was 100 percent what I expected, 100 percent what I wanted. [00:28:30] Ben: I finished the episode of Melfest, sad that Clara Klingenstrom Got shut out of getting a chance in the final because of this I have rewatched it several times now and I'm like, oh now that I see what's doing I'm just like okay How did we not in like in the one season of American Song Contest that we are ever going to get? How did we not have any of the Real Housewives? Like, how did we not have Countess Luanne? [00:28:58] Mike: That's my thinking, is if they do ever have a second American Song Contest, they should cast it exactly the way that they are casting The Traitors, and just have it be reality show people who have released novelty singles. And Countess Luanne should absolutely be at the top of that list. I'm thinking there's at least 50 drag queens from RuPaul's Drag Race who could also be included in that list. [00:29:21] Ben: Mhmm. Candy Burris is already a songwriter. [00:29:24] Mike: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh man, there are so many of the housewives. Yeah, this was Countess Luann energy through and through. Yes. [00:29:39] Ben: as, like, it is, it is a song that is sung. Is it sung well? I don't know. Probably, for her. [00:29:47] Mike: I [00:29:49] Ben: is this some kind of community service option? Was it just, like, negotiated that, like, okay, you're a reality TV star, we could make you do some, some time for, for that one time when you, like, stole sunglasses or whatever. Or, you're just gonna be on Melfest. That's your punishment. You're gonna be on Melfest with a song that feels like it should be in, like, a season of The Masked Singer, Sweden. [00:30:13] Mike: mean, I've always, joked that Melfest is an alternative option if you do not want to do like mandatory military service, like either, either two years in the Swedish defense or two songs in Melfest. [00:30:27] Ben: Just sort of like how in the 80s when your sitcom was off the air you could either do daytime game shows or like made for TV movies during the summer. [00:30:34] Mike: Yep, exactly. Oh, [00:30:39] Ben: to like her laundry list of things from her time from being a Swedish housewife, she apparently owes the Swedish government like around 630, 000 Swedish kronor. [00:30:49] Mike: jeez. [00:30:51] Ben: Her hotel room was raided the morning after her heat because, like, okay, if you're showing the money on TV, you need to pay up. Apologies, this is the Google Translate of things. During the morning, precious shoes, clothes, and accessories were confiscated. If you show off your assets in the media, we'd be stupid if we didn't push it in. [00:31:08] Mike: That sounds filthy and I know it's not, but Oh, goodness. I [00:31:14] Ben: She has a debt with the Crown Bailiff of over 630, 000 Swedish kronor. [00:31:20] Mike: I really hope she wins one of the wildcard slots. I doubt it, [00:31:24] Ben: I doubt, I doubt it, but also part of me is like, Sweden should just pick this internally. [00:31:28] Mike: fortunately, Jacqueline's in the final, so Heat 3 represent. This is the first time I've been excited about Melfest in quite a while, so [00:31:39] Ben: That song was legitimately good. Why is it here? This is too good for Mel Fest. [00:31:43] Mike: So, next week on Melfest, we're going to see the return of Dotter and Danny Saucedo. So, um, yeah, I guess look forward to it. I don't know if they're going to be able to top this week. Uh, [00:31:55] Ben: Like, can they top go [00:31:58] Iceland's Songvakeppnin Begins --- [00:31:58] Ben: while everything else was happening? SVA captain kicked off. I was excited about this year's SVA captain, although I always forget that, like the two, hes before the final just have real sabado ante energy [00:32:10] Mike: mean, the final does too, [00:32:11] Ben: if they filed this tube , but, but like by, but like I'm used to it by then. I liked this subgroup of songs that Iceland has to choose from amidst everything, and I thought that everything was really well performed for this heat. Although, The standard Eurovision thing is that you open it with, like, a medley of, like, various Icelandic hits, and, favorites that have gone to Eurovision, favorites that have just done really well in Songvakeppnin, uh, and then just, like, in the middle now is just always Hattrik Mútsigra. Just being real nicely sung by, by, in this case, uh, I forget who the other person was, but one of them was Siga, who was their 1994 entry, because she was getting a special award. Yeah, and she performed her 1994 song as part of, a later interval act. Every year, just like, we're just gonna hear like a little snippet of the Hatred mit Sigra. [00:32:56] Mike: it is a bit of a gear shift. So [00:32:58] Ben: It, yes. Through to the final this week, we have Vibes Biomind and Anitta's Stingen Off. So just like a real good week if your band name was in all caps. [00:33:09] Mike: I really liked Stingham off. I thought the performance was really polished. [00:33:16] Ben: Yeah, like that one was like a great closer for the night. Felt really polished, felt very Just, like, a lot of charisma. [00:33:22] Mike: I didn't watch the Songvakeppnin show, I just picked up the performances on YouTube, and I was actually watching them in reverse order, so that was the first one that I watched, and I was like, oh, this is a really good way to kick off the show. Oh, it's number five, wait a minute. [00:33:34] Ben: Mhmm. I had it down to, I think it's these three, and it was the two that went through, so Beomind and Stingamoff. Uh, and then I really liked Sonny's song, Feef Riddle Dee. It's not quite trip hop, but like, it's her vocals over what eventually becomes like a very drum and bass beat. [00:33:53] Mike: Yeah, like, that one, it just, it felt a little too subtle, and a little too interior, [00:34:00] Ben: Yeah, it was a little lower energy than the two that went through. [00:34:02] Mike: if it comes back for the final, I wouldn't be mad, I'm just hoping that there's a little bit more oomph to the performance, because it didn't feel like it was really playing to the live audience, but it wasn't really playing to the TV audience either. [00:34:16] Ben: I felt like Beomind maybe wasn't, like, my favorite of the night, but, like, they had really thought through their performance. [00:34:23] Mike: It had big Jedward [00:34:25] Ben: Oh, good, that was my note, that was my note as well, I'm like, I was just like, Icelandic Jedward. Positive! Any of the three that did not go through this week could be a wildcard finalist. Next week's heat has both Hera Bjork and Bashar Murad. [00:34:37] Mike: That's probably going to gather some attention, I'm [00:34:40] Ben: Mhm. I just remember that like, 2019 we had Hara Bjork and Hattori in the same semifinal. [00:34:47] Mike: She brings it out in people? I don't know. That should be a good show. [00:34:52] Una Voce Per San Marino reveals big artists --- [00:34:52] Mike: We've got Una Voce per San Marino. They have semi finals that are going to be airing each day to go through about 130 contestants. And by the time that you hear this, episode, the Monday episode would have, happened. On Monday, San Marino also announced, who the big artists will be. And it's a. Recognizable list? I think that's the best way to describe [00:35:18] Ben: Yes, yeah, like, I, like, I went through it and, like, in our notes, like, they're, they're mostly listed by how much Googling I needed to do for them. The big one on the list for me was, like, Ulysses, who was Italy's entry in 1997. [00:35:29] Mike: Yeah, also, Loredana Berte, who was, a competitor in this year's San Remo and was one of the favorites going into this year's competition. I think there's going to be a faction that is very excited that she may have a second chance to go to Eurovision this year. [00:35:44] Ben: the first Google I did was like, Okay, is the Corona that they're mentioning the Corona from, uh, Rhythm of the Night? And yes. Uh, although, very confusingly, one of the acts is just a comma separated list that's just Vladi, DJ Jad, Corona, Ice MC, like this is the menu at a new American restaurant? [00:36:07] Mike: I'll get an ASMC to go, please. Thank you. [00:36:12] Ben: but yes, it is that Corona, so I'm intrigued. [00:36:14] Mike: And then they have alumni from San Remo Giovanni, the 2022 edition of Univoce, Marcella Bella, who has been in many San Remos back in the seventies and eighties. And, for some reason, this. Really tickled me, uh, Pago, who is from Music Farm, I'm assuming that's some sort of reality show. [00:36:35] Ben: Yes. Oh, yeah, okay, so I googled Pago, Italian singer, and the first Google result was not like a Wikipedia Wikipedia, but like a fandom wiki. For, uh, Big Brother. [00:36:48] Mike: yes, I first, you have it in here as Grande Fratello VIP4, and it took me a minute to be like, oh, wait, yeah, that is Big Brother, uh, and the VIP is just like, oh, it's Celebrity Big Brother, but Celebrity in the biggest of air quotes, so. [00:37:02] Ben: Mhm. Mhm. [00:37:04] Mike: And Temptation Island, uh, what's that about? Mmm. [00:37:08] Ben: uh, apparently Italy also had Temptation Island, and he was on it. That may have also been a celebrity edition, which is a wild [00:37:16] Mike: ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha [00:37:18] Ben: I didn't do, like, as much googling, like, Just, like, it was hard to just find results for Temptation Island, Italy? [00:37:28] Mike: Wow, [00:37:29] Ben: Yeah, [00:37:30] Mike: anybody was going to have Celebrity Temptation Island, Italy does seem like a front runner for some reason, and [00:37:36] Ben: really do. [00:37:37] Mike: Oh my goodness, [00:37:38] Ben: Yeah, but no, apparently guys started on Music Farm, which I assume is some sort of American idol esque thing, but for Italy. [00:37:45] Mike: these eight artists will automatically advance to the final of Univoce Pier San Marino. There's also AI songs that were specifically developed for this year's contest. Uh, there's a company, Caspar Ai, that put together, I think it was like eight or maybe a dozen songs using ai. Boiled that down to four different entries, And the winner from that set, was Dana Gillespie with the song The Last Polar Bear. [00:38:18] Ben: I have not listened to any of them, I just assume that they have, that like, if I stare at them too long I'll notice that there is one too many fingers on their right hand. [00:38:26] Mike: There are actual humans that are performing in this one! [00:38:30] Ben: I was, uh, yes. It's Hatsune Miku, everybody. I do like that one of them is called Dare to Dream, which is one of the themes of the contest before we settled on United by Music. Good job, computer, you did it. [00:38:40] Mike: I'm not really surprised that this one won because Dana Gillespie has. A very impressive resume. Like, she is a prolific recording artist from the UK. She worked with David Bowie. She was the original Mary Magdalene in the London production of Jesus Christ Superstar. So, uh, she's, she's got her bona fides. [00:38:59] Ben: Yeah, I'm very intrigued, although song wise, like, admittedly, I did not listen to any of the AI songs. [00:39:06] Mike: Oh, you're missing out. [00:39:08] Ben: Oh yeah. Like I'm, I'm, I'm gonna have to go back, but like, this one, just the description, just like, oh, okay. It's the climate change song, which like, yes, that is an important issue. Yes, there is, but I'm, I'm just like, I don't want to, I don't know. I'm, I'm going to hear it [00:39:20] Mike: Yeah, also the idea that an AI is talking about climate change when you consider how much [00:39:25] Ben: yeah, when you Oh [00:39:26] Mike: power. [00:39:28] Ben: to, to quote, a previous Eurovision song that's rich [00:39:32] Mike: Mm hmm. So Ah, so, yeah, Un Voce per San Marino, San Marino being its most authentic self. I cannot wait. [00:39:43] Ben: just a beautiful, chaotic mess. I'm so excited. [00:39:46] Mike: The final will take place on Saturday, uh, it's going to be a pretty big show. Of the 130 contestants, 8 of them will advance to the final, they will join the big artists. Uh, it's all jury, there's no audience input on this, but it should be a ton of fun. [00:40:05] This week: Belgium's entry from Mustii, Croatia's Dora, Portugal's Festival da Cancao --- [00:40:05] Ben: Also on the horizon, we will hear Belgium's entry on Tuesday morning. Moosty's song is called Before the Party's Over, uh, and it should feature a choir from Public Submissions. [00:40:16] Mike: Dora, Croatia's selection, will have their semifinals, those will be taking place on Thursday and Friday, and they're doing a Sunday final, we love a Sunday final, [00:40:27] Ben: Sunday final. [00:40:28] Mike: There are 24 acts that are competing, so it'll be 12 in each semi final, 8 will advance from each semi final, so it'll be a 16 song grand final, so kind of a big field. That should be a lot of fun. [00:40:42] Ben: I'm very excited that we're getting more of that process, because it's been, it's been a real gem the last couple years. [00:40:48] Mike: Yep, yep, and let3 is in the mix again. I'm always curious what they're, uh, I was going to say what is up their sleeve, but that could just be inviting horrors that I don't want to imagine, so. [00:41:02] Ben: It's nothing. They're naked on stage again, except for corks. On Saturday is the start of festival. The, the au There are 10 songs in each semi-Final Five will advance based on jury and tele vote results. And a wild card from the second tele vote after the first five have been named, uh, will round out the field there. And that the, the final of that will be in a few weeks. But Hooray. Portugal's back. [00:41:21] Mike: Yes, and it's the 60th edition of Festival da Cancao, so it should be bigger shows than usual, which, ooh, I guess Saturdays are going to run a little late. They already get a pretty late start, uh, [00:41:34] Ben: real, a real casual start time. [00:41:37] Mike: 3 0 7 ish. That's how it shows up on my calendar anyway. [00:41:42] Ben: We did it. We, we survived another Super Saturday. Well, that's gonna do it for this episode of the year or what. Thanks for listening. The Eurowhat Podcast is hosted by Ben Smith, that's me, and Mike McComb. [00:41:53] Mike: That's me! If you'd like to help support the show and access a ton of bonus content, head on over to patreon. com slash eurowhat. [00:42:01] Ben: Our full coverage of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest can be found on our website at Eurowhat. com. You can also follow us on social media at Eurowhat. [00:42:09] Mike: Next time on the Eurowhat, we'll be easing toward the end of selection season with results from San Marino and Croatia. It was, uh, Five, Minust, and Pulup, with, uh, Nendest, Narcoticum, Idest, E, Teya, Me, Kul, Me, oh, dang it. The video window blocked the end of it. Okay, let me try that again.