213 Trickle === [00:00:00] Ben: New year, new us? [00:00:02] Mike: Absolutely [00:00:03] Ben: Absolutely not, same, same problems. [00:00:05] Mike: Year. [00:00:11] Ben: Hello, and welcome to the Eurowhat. Episode 213 dropping on January 9th, 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. In this episode, we'll be catching up with Albania's selection in the ESC 250. Happy New Year, we did it. [00:00:32] Mike: Are we still in the acceptable timeframe of saying Happy New Year? I [00:00:36] Ben: Yeah, oh yeah, no, it totally, [00:00:37] Mike: pushing that boundary. [00:00:38] Ben: this feels like we're still in, like, a safe range where I would accidentally write 2023 on a check. We had a nice little break and we came back to so much Eurovision news! [00:00:46] Albania chooses Besa and "Zemren n'dore" --- [00:00:46] Ben: Albania had Festivali I Kangas. 31 songs competed, that field got cut down to 22 songs in the final, but all songs were eligible for the Eurovision vote. Uh, the festival winner was Mel Retkoceri with Shmendur. I liked that one! As somebody who only showed up for the final of Albania's process this year, you just sort of had to let that wash over you, but like, I, I liked it. It felt, I don't know, it felt different from the last couple years of what they've chosen? Yeah, [00:01:20] Mike: See? Old us. No, um, like, I watched most of Albania's process. Like, I watched the first two nights to get the first impressions of the songs, and then the final, I didn't bother with covers night. Yeah. That one was early in the lineup of the first night. Yeah, it's intriguing, because he's a guy with, like, kind of a wrestler build, and he was wearing this sort of, like, leather singlet skirt combo thing, but he also had kind of, like, Steve Holt energy from, uh, Arrested Development, so it was just kind of confusing to look at. And then the song, like, It is really an enjoyable song. the live version didn't really do it for me, but I did find the studio track, and it's really good as a studio track. [00:02:02] Ben: that's what I found as well, is that my ultimate reaction was like, okay, I might, I don't, not sure I love his live performance of this song, but like, the chorus song is good, and I listened to the recording room like, okay, yeah, no, this works. [00:02:13] Mike: The judging panel of, FIK can be a bit stodgy at times, and this feels like, I don't know, I don't want to say progress, because that's really presumptuous, but it's just like, oh, it's something different, and yeah, I support this choice. Good for them. [00:02:28] Ben: It's worth noting, that's what one festival you can get, that's no longer They're directly tied to what Albania sends to Eurovision, and in fact, they did not send that to Eurovision. Uh, they sent Besa Kokajima with Zemirndor. [00:02:43] Mike: Beysa, also performed the first night of the show, and, uh, yeah, let me, what did I say about it on Blue Sky? Let me pull that up here. Uh, oh, yes! Oh no! Her pendant got caught on the nipple piercing of her chestplate! Ha ha ha [00:03:24] Ben: coming into the final, I was like, I know that Mike had said something about a chess play, and then when she performed, I'm like, oh, okay. [00:03:30] Mike: Yeah, well, that's the thing, like, she wore something different, during the final, which I think was a good choice, like, the chest plate was, uh, again, a lot of look and really kind of distracted from the song, to the point where when she performed in the final, I did not make the connection that that was the same person. What do you think of this track? [00:03:54] Ben: As I was, again, letting Albania's selection process wash over me, this was one of the ones that jumped out to me. Like, I think it would definitely have been in, my top of the night. I'm not sure, but it would have been my choice. But, like, Albania so rarely is Albania and I aren't on different wavelengths, and that's fine. Uh, I think it's very much in their wheelhouse. That's very much what they like to send to the contest. And I'm kind of looking forward to seeing how it slots in by the time we have, like, 20 more of these in the mix. [00:04:22] Mike: I'm really excited about this one, it's been such an earworm, and granted, like, this is only the third song that's been selected so far, but yeah, like, I, I think there's a lot of, like, it has good bones [00:04:37] Ben: Yes. [00:04:38] Mike: to start. I'm very curious to see how this one is going to evolve, because it is going to be revamped, Besa was asking on her social media, it's like, oh yeah, what ideas do people have? I think it's obvious that she's open to suggestions, like, there was the costume change between Night 1 and the final of F. I. K., and I think that was a good choice. [00:04:58] Ben: Yes. [00:04:58] Mike: I think there is a lot that can be done with this one. Like, I think if it stays in Albanian, that'll be fine. If she chooses a different language, I don't even think it necessarily needs to be English. I was reading that she's trying to break through in France, and if there was a French version of this song, I would really like to hear it. So, yeah, I think this was a really good choice for Albania. [00:05:22] Ben: I agree with you that like it has really good bones and just from the various performances we've seen I feel like they're gonna have fun with the staging on this one. [00:05:31] The Eurovision 2024 Stage Concept --- [00:05:31] Ben: Since we last spoke, we also know the stage, so that's a huge plus. Let me restate that, the stage is a huge plus. [00:05:37] Mike: Oh, yes! I see what you did there. [00:05:41] Ben: I have been lying in wait [00:05:43] Mike: Yeah. [00:05:43] Ben: since I saw the photos. Just like, I have one joke. They have brought back Florian Welder as the production designer. This is not his first rodeo. He has done the stage design and production design for Eurovision seven times since 2011. Most recently, 2021. A great, stage, I like that stage a lot. [00:06:02] Mike: Yeah, I sometimes miss that stage. It's like, oh, that second screen that they [00:06:07] Ben: Mm hmm, that second screen, yeah. Uh, he's done the EMAs, the VMAs, American Idol, he won an Emmy for the MTV VMAs production design. this year we've got sort of, like, these sliding cubes, above the stage, lighting wise. There's some real, like, morphability with the stage, and almost like a theater in the round feeling. [00:06:26] Mike: I'm understanding how they were able to do tickets so early now, because it looks like there is going to be a lot of room for an audience. [00:06:36] Ben: Yeah, and then, uh, Fredrik Stormby is doing the light and screen content design. He was the lighting designer in 2013 and 2016, so again, Sweden getting the gang back together. he was the Melfest lighting designer for the Melfest 2022 final, and all of Melfest 2023. He's worked on ABBA Voyage, he's worked on Beyoncé's Renaissance Tour, some very impressive resumes behind the scenes. [00:06:59] Mike: I think Sweden's going to put on a good show. I just have a hunch. [00:07:02] Ben: Yes. [00:07:04] Eurovision announces The Draw and a new sponsor --- [00:07:04] Mike: Yeah, I think it was on the day that our last episode dropped, Eurovision announced some news, as is usually the case, so, [00:07:10] Ben: this show works. [00:07:11] Mike: yes, uh, and yeah, they announced how the semi final allocation is going to be going down, first of all, it is now being called The Draw, and it will be hosted by Farah Abadi, who hosted The Draw, in 2013, and, Pernilla Monson Colt, who The draw is scheduled for January 30th. I'm making this a thing. Uh, it's [00:07:34] Ben: like, they've made it dramatic, we need to make it dramatic. [00:07:36] Mike: Mm hmm. Uh, yeah, so it is scheduled for January 30th. Other than, the renaming and, kind of making it more of a thing, it seems like it's gonna be the same sort of process. It'll be, countries divided into bowls and then people drawing bingo balls and matching them with either the first or second semifinal. Good times. So [00:07:56] Ben: Yep, just like, the magic of bowls, as always. [00:08:00] Mike: What I think was more head scratching, in terms of Eurovision announcements, uh, there was a post that went up on social media. It was like middle of last week, I think. The Caribbean is coming to Eurovision and everybody's just like, um, what does this mean? Oh, probably like Caribbean cruises or something. [00:08:18] Ben: Yeah, I had a brief internal scream of like, we just figured out the number of countries. The only one that we're still kind of questionable on right now is Romania. Do not throw Antigua in the mix. [00:08:27] Mike: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, there was one blog that was just like, Cuba would be eligible and it's like, Oh, that would be wild. And I kind of want to see that, but. [00:08:37] Ben: but also Yeah, no, the general fandom sniffed this one up pretty quickly. [00:08:42] Mike: Yeah, so more specifically, Royal Caribbean is now a sponsor and, quote, the official cruise line of Eurovision 2024 and 2025, which, of course, the troublemaker in me immediately is rooting for every landlocked country at this year's contest, be like, come on, Luxembourg, pull it out! Switzerland, this is your year! [00:09:03] Ben: to Viking Cruise Lines, eat it! None of this river stuff, [00:09:07] Mike: Nobody's really sure what this means in the grand scheme of things, but, uh, we'll see what happens with this, uh, and, yeah, and why it didn't happen with Portugal. So, uh, I [00:09:21] Ben: Congratulations to Boat on promotional opportunity. I read the paragraph in the press release about this like three times trying to figure out, okay, but like, what does either side of this get? [00:09:32] Mike: mean, money, [00:09:34] Ben: Yes, there is the money. [00:09:36] Mike: yeah, and, I mean, I did receive some pushback from listeners during my, previous slander about, Cruises, so, like, it is an audience match, [00:09:44] Ben: Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. There is some audience overlap, even if it's not audience overlap with us. I went on a cruise once, it was fine. [00:09:50] Mike: although I am kind of dreading it's like, Oh, what if there's like an official Eurovision cruise and are we going to have to go on it? [00:09:57] Ben: I mean, if they want to pay for us to go on it and talk about our experience, I will, like, sign me [00:10:01] Mike: Okay. Yeah, that I am for. [00:10:04] Ben: Just like, if you are paying the expenses, I will be on your boat. [00:10:07] "Cha Cha Cha" wins the ESC250 Countdown --- I have deeply enjoyed the ESC250 the last couple years, just cause like I wake up and it's roughly around like 150 by the time that I'm actually paying attention. [00:10:21] Ben: And just over the course of the day, like the last couple years, I have been wrapping up visiting family at getting back to Boston, getting back to the start of the new year. So there's something very nice about this countdown, kind of looking back, just sort of welcoming in the new year with that, and like, also there's just something that's been very fun about the last two years, that I have gotten to about song 15, and then had to like, go into airplane mode, and then will message you a bunch of exclamation points when I land in my layover and discover who has actually won. [00:10:50] Mike: Oh, you must have been very happy with this year's [00:10:52] Ben: I, yeah, yeah! I literally was, like, sitting on the plane going, Okay, well, the top three is gonna be Tattoo, and Euphoria, and Cha Cha Cha, And, I'm just gonna make peace with whatever combo that is, And then I landed and saw that Cha Cha Cha won, I'm like, Hell yeah, we did [00:11:06] Mike: Yeah. [00:11:06] Ben: did it, Joe. [00:11:09] Mike: Yes. So this is the ESC two 50 that was hosted by Song Festival, be on, the web radio station, EFR 12. There was another ESC two 50 countdown happening at the same time on ESC radio, which was the previous home of this countdown. So. Very confusing, uh, but, uh, cha cha cha won Songfestival. be's countdown, uh, which is the one that we were following and tracking and doing all of our number crunching on. I say we, it was mostly me and my spreadsheet, uh, and in my pajamas for most of New Year's Eve day, because I am fun. Oh, really? Oh, good. [00:11:48] Ben: oh yeah, in the, in the list comment, I'm like, I'm so happy that Mike is doing the spreadsheet for this. [00:11:52] Mike: I'm telling you, Airtable, game changer. So But yeah, like in terms of some of those stats, there were 48 countries that were represented in the countdown. Italy had the most songs in the countdown this year. They had 16 tracks. Greece was leading the field for most of the countdown. they had 14 overall. Sweden came in third with 13. And Norway, Spain, and Ukraine each had 10 songs in the countdown. there were 48 years that were represented no surprise, 2023 was the most represented at 26. 2022, came in with 24 entries, and 2021 had 20. So, there's still that kind of recency bias in the countdown. [00:12:33] Ben: have, yeah, I have uh, a friend who introduced me to this other countdown that was happening this year, counting down actual pop song, top 250. That had like a, that had like a little bit of like a UK bias. Uh, but a Marie's one thing won that, which yes, that's a very good pop song. [00:12:49] Mike: okay. Oh, is this the fear of music [00:12:51] Ben: Yeah. The fear of music. I had been watching that and sort of like trying to wrap my brain around that and they were watching the ESC two 50 for the first time and were were just sort of blown away by the recency bias. for me it's like a feature and not a bug is that, it's kind of like a game to see. Where this year's entries fit into, like, the last couple year's entries. Yeah. [00:13:12] Mike: yeah, and I think it's also a sign of how much the countdown has grown during its lifetime because, it started way back in 2007, I want to say, and that was more of a, like, Council of Learned Elders and their friends that were coming up with the list and the first list was like a hundred songs instead of 250. Then it started growing into something where people were voting on it. And, uh, again, it was still like more Council of Learned Elders, their friends and friends of friends and growing from there. This year's vote had like 10, 000 separate ballots. I think that's really cool. Um, the song that came in 251st, was Halo. Austria's 2022 entry. and that missed the countdown by three points. So, um, yeah, good for Halo. I was, I was, I, I, yeah, that, that feels like the right place to place that song. [00:14:07] Ben: Yeah, it's, it had kind of fallen off my radar, so just seeing that it was number two, yeah, like, I feel like it fell off a lot of people's radars. [00:14:13] Mike: In terms of the Class of 2023, this is the first time since 2012 that Ukraine's entry did not chart, it finished 400 first, which is kind of shocking considering it was, [00:14:26] Ben: Yeah, that feels low for Ukraine. They did well this year. [00:14:28] Mike: yeah, like 6th place, host country, the fact that it's Ukraine, but again, like they had 10 other songs, so they are kind of competing against themselves [00:14:38] Ben: I mean, yeah, yeah, because, like, even if I'm doing an all Ukraine ballot for this, I have ten, I get to pick ten songs. There are a lot of really good Ukraine songs. [00:14:47] Mike: Switzerland was the only other song from the grand final to, not make the final chart. it finished in 282nd place, uh, missed the countdown by about 100 points. So, um, don't feel too bad about that one. see my previous comments on Switzerland's entry last year. There were two songs that didn't make it to the final that did make it onto the countdown, Georgia's Echo and Latvia's Aya. Aya finished in 31st place. [00:15:15] Ben: That was the shock for me. I was like, wait, what? Good job, coordinated team, to get Aya in the ESC250. You did it. [00:15:23] Mike: Excellent. other things that happened during the countdown. So, uh, yeah, the stream, it was a new host, that was presenting the countdown this year. And there was only one tech hiccup that happened during, uh Mimikatz, uh, iKorosow, uh, which was kind of funny because, like, right when it was getting, into the chorus bit of it, there was, a data blip or something, and, like, it was just, like, database cannot be reached, and it's like, oh, maybe there's something up with my connection, [00:15:48] Ben: No, it was also my connection. I was literally refreshing the, like, blue sky and other sources to think, okay, is this down for me or everybody? [00:15:54] Mike: Yeah. Yeah. So it was just like, Oh, good for BB Cat. She broke the internet. So, [00:15:59] Ben: Correct. I like that you went through, like, the now released, like, full results and determined that I was, in fact, the only person to give Yedondon four points. [00:16:10] Mike: I mean, your, your ballot was much riskier [00:16:13] Ben: Yeah, like, yeah, like, I looked at my ballot and, like, did not realize that, the generally accepted, preferred Johnny Logan song is, Hold Me Now, cause, like, I am very much in the, in the What's Another Year camp. [00:16:27] Mike: Pouring over the ones that did not qualify, be like, Oh, well, like, number one, I just wanted to see where they landed in the countdown for you. And then, uh, yeah, I was like, Oh, well, I can reverse engineer it a little bit. And I don't know. I just thought that was [00:16:39] Ben: Yeah, just, like, of all of them, just, like, yeah, no, that one specifically. [00:16:43] Mike: Yeah. And that it was just the four points. Like, [00:16:46] Ben: I was the, yeah, just the fact that it's only, I'm the only four points on that one. Good for them, they're up 30 spots from last year and 556, but like, I think, I think I need to stop my campaign to make it on the 250. [00:16:57] Mike: yeah. Yeah. I mean, it does take a couple of years for that to really sink in and be like, okay, this is just my pet project and nobody else [00:17:04] Ben: I, I think I just need to like, move those points over to, uh, Taichi. Cause like, we love Taichi, and like, it's a good song. [00:17:12] Mike: Yeah, and that one is fairly consistent. It is iconic, you might say. I finally created the page from our iconic episode over this past summer. Had to fix the methodology a little bit, uh, I think when I originally gathered all of my data about placements on the ESC 250, data about 2008 was not readily available I remember for, like, 2009, I had to dig through, like, several individual blog posts and kind of cobble it all together, uh, the folks over at OzzyVision have actually done the legwork to, collect, the information that's needed, so, uh, had, had to make some tweaks, um, yeah, it turns out, Volare? Does not actually have a perfect record in the countdown! Uh, yeah, the 2008 countdown is kind of wild. Uh, number 249 on that list is Dancing La Chatumbay. Again, how the vote has evolved. But, everything should be up to date on that page, and we'll have a link to it in the show notes. Uh, and you can cut and filter and swap the data around all you like. It's a lot of fun to play with. In terms of new iconic entries, so these are ones where they've appeared on at least ten countdowns, the class of 2014, this is their first year that they could be eligible in that, had five entries, so Austria, Finland, Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden. from 2014 are now iconic officially so like rise like a phoenix hmm iconic yeah [00:18:38] Ben: calm before the storm, absolutely. [00:18:40] Mike: looking ahead to the 2024 countdown there are eight songs from 2015 that could join the iconic list something to get excited about we even have a filter on the iconic page for songs that have nine placements so far and just need one more to get that iconic status. So, be sure to check that out, in the show notes. [00:19:00] Ben: Indeed. [00:19:01] Process updates: Ukraine, Serbia, Ireland, Croatia, Finland --- [00:19:01] Mike: getting into more of the process y stuff, uh, for the 2024 contest, checking in with Ukraine again. They, released the results of their wildcard vote and, Anka will be joining the rest of the field for Vidbeer, she will be the 11th entry, and Vidbeer is scheduled for February 3rd. [00:19:22] Ben: Serbia has announced the 28th finalists of this year's Pesma za Eurovision. Uh, Constrata is back! [00:19:29] Mike: Yay! [00:19:30] Ben: Yeah! Which, uh, which, I knew that, and then during the ESC 250 when they were talking with her, and she was like, I'm not sure I'd come back, I'm like, okay, but like, we've seen the announcement, you're [00:19:39] Mike: Yes. Yeah, I may have screamed liar in my office. [00:19:46] Ben: And then another one I'm excited to see back, uh, Filip Balos, I really liked his song last year. Uh, excited to see what he's doing this year. there's a handful of other PZE alumni, Yanks has been a backing singer in the contest before, uh, the songwriter for Milan Bujakovic, uh, also co wrote Bosnia and Herzegovina's 2012 entry. Which, that's exciting to me. Uh, but we will learn more about these songs at the semifinals, February 27th and 29th. And from the semifinals, we'll have a final on March 2nd. [00:20:14] Mike: Still waiting on the songs from Serbia though, so really looking forward to hearing what's on offer, but in the meantime, Croatia has started dropping songs for Dora. I haven't actually listened to them yet because they aren't on Spotify and I haven't had the opportunity to like click into videos and stuff. Have you had a chance to listen? [00:20:33] Ben: I have not listened to any of them, but I have seen that Let3 is just being very Let3 about their song, and they're continuing to claim that, they didn't submit anything, and that somebody is impersonating them. Essentially, and like, I have seen a lot of chatter online that's just like, Guys, we need to look into this. And I'm just like, I did not read the Let3Wikipedia page several times last year and learn about the multiple times they appeared naked on television except for a cork in their butt for you to like, immediately buy into this. I wanna know, like, they're doing a thing, and I'm very excited about them doing a thing. [00:21:07] Mike: Oh no. Oh dear. Okay. Ireland, by the time this episode is dropped, they have started dropping their entries for Eurosong. so yes, they are doing the Eurosong process again. six songs will be, revealed over the course of this week. Uh, there was one on Monday, one on Tuesday, uh, there'll be two on Wednesday, and then one more each on Thursday and Friday. The actual EuroSong contest will be part of the January 26th edition of the Late Late Show. Um, yeah, I mean, I guess if you really want to hear our opinions about that, you could go back to episode 210, where we go into great detail about why we don't love this as their process, [00:21:49] Ben: Just, if nothing else, just like a special edition of The Late Show from a venue that has decent sound quality. For performing music live. [00:21:57] Mike: I mean, it's a new host, maybe there have been other revisions. This is the only time I ever interact with the Late Late Show, [00:22:02] Ben: True. [00:22:03] Mike: because why else would I? But, uh, yeah, yeah. We'll, we'll see how it goes. UMK will be announcing their seven artists on Wednesday, and we'll start, revealing the songs that'll be competing on Thursday. So, one a day, up through the end of next week. [00:22:23] Ben: The UMK Instagram has been releasing clues about the performers and the songs every day. One to three word descriptors and I'm very confused. One of them had the poop emoji so get hype. [00:22:37] Mike: Finland knows what they're doing. Okay. Ah, [00:22:42] Ben: they've really ended up in, the best possible spot, because, Karja had, the most viewed video on the Eurovision YouTube channel, he's top of the ESC250, they do not have to host. We are welcoming him with open arms like we do Verkosterduka, where they didn't win, but it's fine because we love them and we treat them like the winner. [00:23:05] Mike: it's the new Finnish national anthem. I [00:23:08] Ben: I mean, don't give them ideas. I think they're still running very high off of everything that's happened. The New Year's Eve performance, like, just like, they're have, everybody's having a great time. Good job, small green Finnish man. [00:23:21] TV This Week: Norway's NRK MGP, Moldova's Auditions, Lithuania's Eurovizija.LT --- [00:23:21] Ben: And then, Norway dropped their artists and songs on Friday. The first heat will be this Saturday, but we have all 18 songs, there's some returning favorites in the mix. Like, Mike, you had been, you, during the ESC to 250, you had said you would not mind Margaret Berger being back at, at, at a Melodi Grand Prix. Great news. [00:23:40] Mike: I was so shocked by that because like when I made that comment, it was like after Wikipedia incurred, just being like, oh, yeah, I haven't heard from her in a while. I'm surprised she hasn't done MGP since 2013 because like it was a very popular song. It's still ranking very high on the countdown and I was like, oh, I wonder what she's up to. And then she's like, oh. She's gonna be back! Great! So [00:24:02] Ben: my end, I've also been like, you know who I'd love to see try this again? Kano. Kano is also back. Lovely to see them, and at this point, like, I've, I have mentally made peace with the fact that, like, I don't always love everything Norway has in the mix, but like, they're, they've figured out a process that works for them, and it's doing very well for them. Like, they've had a good couple of years at the contest. [00:24:21] Mike: Yeah, and I think they've settled on a format that is less overly processed? I think that was the problem with the last few years where it was just like you have like the random draw and the duels and all of that it's like nope it's just going to be six songs three of them are going to advance to the final the field of 18 will be cut down to nine so it's actually functioning as a semi final and [00:24:45] Ben: Yes. [00:24:46] Mike: yeah and it'll be a final of nine songs it's [00:24:48] Ben: It'll be a final nine songs, and I feel like it will not come down to two songs that were in the first week of the contest. Yeah, [00:24:56] Mike: I, I feel like the heats are fairly evenly distributed. I don't know. The second, the second heat feels the most up for grabs. [00:25:05] Ben: I would agree, the second heat does feel the most sort of random, like, I feel like I can pick at least two out of the three that will come from the first and the third, but like the second one, kinda all over the place in a good way. [00:25:17] Mike: It's gonna be that AI song, isn't it? [00:25:19] Ben: Oh, yeah, just, just, yeah, just like, I, yeah, like there, I was gonna just sort of coyly be like, you know, there are some songs I really like in the mix, and there's one that I absolutely have a blood vendetta against. [00:25:30] Mike: yeah. Yeah. Although I wanna see what that performance looks like. 'cause it's going to be bananas the way that only Norway knows how to be bananas. [00:25:38] Ben: It's also me just going, oh, this is what I get for liking Subwoofer Wolfer a little too much a couple years ago, and that's fine, that's on me. [00:25:44] Mike: Norway's got it figured out for them. That's, I'm happy for [00:25:48] Ben: I'm happy for them, they've figured it out, they're doing well, I can't complain too much. [00:25:53] Mike: Also, sticking with a process that gets results, question mark, is Moldova. [00:26:00] Ben: It does produce a result, therefore it gets results. [00:26:03] Mike: we go, yes, uh, they will be having their auditions for their national process, this coming Saturday. Uh, there were 51 songs that were submitted, and initially there were 32 that were selected to audition. one of them dropped out within 24 hours of the announcement of the shortlist, so, Yeah, it's a mostly new field. Natalia Barbu is the only Eurovision alum, still in the mix. A number of acts that we've seen from previous, uh, auditions and Moldovan national finals. So, uh, yeah, it should be an, well, it'll be an interesting morning for us. Uh, hopefully things work out for, for everybody that wants to participate. Was it last year or the year before that somebody, was disqualified because they were stuck in traffic? [00:26:51] Ben: So many iconic moments from the Moldovan audition process. Somebody missing it because of traffic. Someone singing the lyrics off of their phone. [00:26:59] Mike: Yeah, and I think she's, in the list this year, so it's, uh, yeah, I'm glad that this is what is actually, like, kicking off selection season in 2024. [00:27:09] Ben: Yeah, just, just, yeah, just like, it's a little, it's a little looser. It's a little, it's a, it's a nice warm up. It's a chance to stretch your legs. [00:27:15] Mike: It'll be airing on Moldova One, uh, which is Moldova's main television station, which is the first time that the auditions have, uh, been on that channel, so, uh, it's moving up in the world, and it will also be streaming on Eurovision. md, hopefully it will also be streaming somewhere on YouTube, just so that, it doesn't turn into a giant stress test for the, Moldovan television website. and I'll see you soon. Bye! And that is scheduled to start around 9 a. m. U. S. Eastern time, and we are supposed to get the list of the acts advancing to the national final later on Saturday, so probably like 1 p. m. Eastern ish. Yeah. [00:27:58] Ben: starting Eurovision. lt. Yeah, it's, it's fine. I don't miss the Pabandomish Naujo name. I'm fine. I've made peace with this. Anyways, uh, there are 40 acts this year, including The Roop, who were supposed to represent them in 2020, that song still slaps, and it was still on the ESC 250, uh, and in 2021. Uh, Vilja, who represented them in 2014, uh, and Andrius Polyavis, who represented them in 2013. There are also 11 former Pabandomish Naujo alumni in the mix, so just like a nice, nice set of some returning favorites, some new people. Uh, it's gonna be five heats with the top two each week advancing to the final. Uh, again, that starts this Saturday and finishes on February 17th. [00:28:40] Mike: Yeah, I feel bad for whichever acts are in the same heat as the ROOP. I feel like that is going to be a real uphill battle. Uh, [00:28:47] Ben: like, congratulations guys! Y'all are competing for the one remaining slot. [00:28:51] Mike: mhm. I like that it is kind of moving more towards a sort of Melfest heat system, but, it's going to be tough competition. Like, only two advancing from each heat. That's a tall order. [00:29:04] Ben: yeah. having looked at the contestant list, I'm interested to see what the, what Queens of Roses follow up to Washing Machine is. [00:29:12] Mike: I am too. That's still in my main. [00:29:15] Ben: I just like, that one specifically of who's returning, like, I'm kinda sad that we don't have Rudimur in the mix, but I hope, I hope she comes back. [00:29:23] Mike: I'm sure she will, like, because, I mean, this is also just tied with, like, album cycles and such, and, like, I mean, solo, it was part of an album, so, uh, hopefully next year, but, uh, yeah, and the songs are starting to trickle onto Spotify, so, if you check our main Malmo page, on our website, we've got a calendar for all of the national finals. We've got the link to our Spotify playlist. We've got information about what is happening with the 2024 contest. who's doing what, where, when, why. Well, we don't know the why. Like, we will never [00:29:58] Ben: many times we ask the question why and we don't get a satisfactory answer. [00:30:02] Mike: No, no. But, uh, we try. [00:30:05] Ben: I think that's gonna do it for this episode of the Eurowhat. Thanks for listening. The Eurowhat Podcast is hosted by Ben Smith, that's me, and Mike McComb. [00:30:13] 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. [00:30:21] 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. [00:30:28] Mike: Next time on the Eurowhat, we'll catch up with what happened in Moldova, Norway, and Lithuania, and look ahead to Estonia's Estelal semifinal.