The latest Super Saturday is over, and there are lots of discussion points to choose from in this week’s Insight News podcast.

This week, we’re joined by Phoneix ESC’s MJ to talk about the differences between watching the show and being in the audience, deciding to go for a National Final or an Internal Selection, and what moment earns our weekly nomination for the Eurovision Iceberg.

Eurovision Insight News Podcast: Fake Tans And Commercial Breaks

Calling up an Italian legend, sneaking in a Dashing White Sergeant from Scotland, and the delights of an Irish hamper. Ewan Spence and MJ head round the continent to discuss seven days of song.

Listen to ‘Instead We Made A Pod‘ at Phoenix ESC.

Discover more about the Eurovision Song Contest and follow its journey to Basel by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show on iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available.

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A packed weekend of Song Contest selections saw some spectacular shows, as well as controversy around lyrics, feedback, and running length. Gina Jones joins Ewan Spence to continue the discussions.

Our nominations for the Iceberg start and end (on time) in Italy. Then we move to Finland and the increasingly spectacular UMK shows. Malta gets in on the action with lyrics that court controversy and heightened conversations. Finally, we head to The Late Late Show to discuss the tension between Reality TV panels and the Jury Feedback in Eurovision selections.

Eurovision Insight News Podcast: Serving Camp

The words and the music of Eurovision come under the spotlight once more, as Ewan Spence and Gina Jones discuss the latest headlines in the Song Contest world.

Discover more about the Eurovision Song Contest and follow its journey to Basel by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show on iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available.

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It’s been a packed week in the world of the Song Contest, with lots of discussion points and debates to be had. Ewan Spence and Tom Hendryck pick out some of them to talk about in the latest Insight News podcast.

As well as our weekly nomination for the Iceberg, they talk about the various ways of announcing an Internal selection, who best to do it, and what mistakes to avoid; Finland’s shrewd decision to give the UMK winner an advantage, and the power of small social networks to make the community a place of safety for all.

Eurovision Insight News Podcast: Where Internal Selections Roam Free

How to announce an internal selection, adding some Spanish to the iceberg, thinking about keeping our digital family in touch, and more. Ewan Spence and Tom Hendryck discuss the latest news from the Eurovision Song Contest world.

Discover more about the Eurovision Song Contest and follow its journey to Basel by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show on iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available.

The post Eurovision Insight News Podcast: Where Internal Selections Roam Free appeared first on ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

Eurovision Wars is a series of podcasts exploring geopolitical themes as they emerged on the Eurovision Song Contest stage. You can listen to Seasons 1 and 2 in full on Spotify, covering such topics as the Russia-Ukraine War, and the long-running dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia. For Season 3, the podcast moves to its new home at ESC Insight, and will focus on the many controversies of Eurovision 2024. In particular, hosts Phil Doré and Ana Oppenheim will attempt to contextualise the fierce rows over the Israeli entry for Malmö 2024.

In episode five, the date is May 11th 2024, and we arrive at the Grand Final of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest. How does the pressure leading up to the live show play out, how did the likes of Israel, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom fare, and how important is the Song Contest to the wider world?

Before we go on, a quick reminder of the principles we are holding to in this series. Discussing Israel and Palestine is inevitably difficult and polarising, so in episode one, we introduced three ground rules to frame our podcasts.

Be willing to keep more than one thought in your head.

It can be true that the founding of the state of Israel was in response to centuries of antisemitism and the horrors of the Holocaust, and also that its founding was marked by massacres and forced displacement of the local Arab population. Likewise, it can be true that Israelis have a right not to be victims of Hamas terrorism, and Palestinians have a right not to be bombed by Israeli warplanes. These are not contradictory.

Explanation is not justification.

When we say that decades of oppression against the Palestinians contributed to October 7th, that is not to justify the atrocities of that day. Likewise, in describing those atrocities, this does not render the mass destruction inflicted by Israel on Gaza acceptable.

 If one side in a conflict commits a war crime, that doesn’t mean the other side gets a free war crime.

Because, unbelievably, that point still has to be made.

Eurovision stage concept for Malmo 2024 (EBU / SVT)

If we are to fully understand how the Eurovision Song Contest became so controversial in 2024, then this inevitably leads to difficult conversations. But these are conversations we absolutely need to have as a community.

You can find previous Eurovision Wars episodes on ESC Insight here.

The post ESC Insight Presents…..Eurovision Wars: Grand Final Pressure appeared first on ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

This week on the Insight News podcast, Ewan Spence is joined by AJ Clay (Keep Watching podcast) to discuss seven days in the world of the Eurovision Song Contest.

They discuss the impact of the Semi Final Draw, who’s singing when, and wonder what happened to the Keys to the Host Cities; the impact of storytelling at the Luxembourg National Final, and why there is no such thing as a Eurovision Genre. They also nominate the BBC’s Claudia Winkleman for the Iceberg and look ahead to a busy Eurovision weekend.

Eurovision Insight News Podcast: The Work That Becomes A New Genre Is Eurovision

Betrayed by The Traitors, memories of France Gall, a bit of popera, and more. Ewan Spence and AJ Clay discuss the latest news from the Eurovision Song Contest world.

Join AJ and the team at Keep Watching for more Light Entertainment TV discussion.

Discover more about the Eurovision Song Contest and follow its journey to Basel by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show on iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available.

The post Eurovision Insight News Podcast: The Work That Becomes A New Genre Is Eurovision appeared first on ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

Faith Martin (@EurovisionFaith) joins Ewan Spence on this week’s Insight News podcast to discuss this week’s wonderful world of Eurovision. We have our hosts to discuss and the roles they play, the announcement of 36,000 tickets for the Watch Party next door to St Jakobshalle in Basel, Moldova’s withdrawal, the advantages and disadvantages of Superfinals in National Selections,  and the Iceberg moment of the week.

And, as always, we look forward to the weekend.

Eurovision Insight News Podcast: Who’s Still Entering The Song Contest?

Hello to 36,000 tickets, goodbye to Moldova and let’s welcome two hosts, three hosts, five hosts, a mascot, and more. Ewan Spence and Faith Martin discuss the latest ups and downs from the Eurovision Song Contest.

Faith’s YouTube essay on “How The UK Can Win Eurovision” can be found here.

TRM’s statemenet on Moldova’s Withdrawl from Basel 2025.

Discover more about the Eurovision Song Contest and follow its journey to Basel by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show on iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available.

The post Eurovision Insight News Podcast: Who’s Still Entering The Song Contest? appeared first on ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

It’s our second Insight News podcast of the year, and the second run at the new format. After last week’s double-length episode that to cover everything from September 1st, this episode only needs cover one week in the Song Contest.

Samantha Ross (12 Points From America) joins Ewan Spence to talk about Lithuania’s Eurovizija.lt Semi Finals and how they reach out to the international audience

We do have results from Lithuania’s first Semi Final to talk about, as well as what we’ll add to our iceberg this week, German broadcaster NDR’s high risk strategy for victory, and a discussion about the different options a broadcaster has when presenting songs to the community.

And, as always, we look forward to what happens next.

Eurovision Insight News Podcast: Germany Goes All In

Songs and schedules, Germany’s “all-in” decision, getting thrown around the Azeri stage, and more. Ewan Spence and Samantha look at seven days of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Discover more about the Eurovision Song Contest and follow its journey to Basel by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show on iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available.

The post Eurovision Insight News Podcast: Germany Goes All In appeared first on ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

This weekend will see the first Semi Final in Lithuania’s journey to select a song for the Eurovision Song Contest, and it’s the first of eight weekends that will be filled with non-stop National Selection action.  That’s on top of the two National Final winners and internal selections on the board already.

Yes, it’s getting busy! And what helps when it’s busy is the Insight News Podcast. There’s a slight change to the format this year; each week, Ewan Spence will be joined by a guest from the wonderful world of Eurovision to talk over the latest happenings.

In this week’s double-length episode, Dudepoint (dudepoints.fun) joins the podcast to look back at the news from December, national results from Montenegro and Albania, and to look forward to what happens next.

Eurovision Insight News Podcast: Icebergs, Ahoy!

A flood of songs, a diary of adventure, and why is everyone getting disqualified? Ewan Spence and Dudepoints discuss the latest ups and downs from the Eurovision Song Contest.

Discover more about the Eurovision Song Contest and follow its journey to Basel by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show on iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available.

The post Eurovision Insight News Podcast: Icebergs, Ahoy! appeared first on ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

Eurovision Wars is a series of podcasts exploring geopolitical themes as they emerged on the Eurovision Song Contest stage. You can listen to Seasons 1 and 2 in full on Spotify, covering such topics as the Russia-Ukraine War, and the long-running dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia. For Season 3, the podcast moves to its new home at ESC Insight, and will focus on the many controversies of Eurovision 2024. In particular, hosts Phil Doré and Ana Oppenheim will attempt to contextualise the fierce rows over the Israeli entry for Malmö 2024.

In episode four , we arrive in Malmö for the sixty-ninth edition of the Song Contest. Tensions are high all round, and several artists are looking at their moment in the global spotlight as an opportunity to speak to the world on the issue of the day. How were those protests made, what impact did they have, and how did they fuel the narrative of Malmö?

Before we go on, a quick reminder of the principles we are holding to in this series. Discussing Israel and Palestine is inevitably difficult and polarising, so in episode one, we introduced three ground rules to frame our podcasts.

Be willing to keep more than one thought in your head.

It can be true that the founding of the state of Israel was in response to centuries of antisemitism and the horrors of the Holocaust, and also that its founding was marked by massacres and forced displacement of the local Arab population. Likewise, it can be true that Israelis have a right not to be victims of Hamas terrorism, and Palestinians have a right not to be bombed by Israeli warplanes. These are not contradictory.

Explanation is not justification.

When we say that decades of oppression against the Palestinians contributed to October 7th, that is not to justify the atrocities of that day. Likewise, in describing those atrocities, this does not render the mass destruction inflicted by Israel on Gaza acceptable.

 If one side in a conflict commits a war crime, that doesn’t mean the other side gets a free war crime.

Because, unbelievably, that point still has to be made.

Eurovision stage concept for Malmo 2024 (EBU / SVT)

If we are to fully understand how the Eurovision Song Contest became so controversial in 2024, then this inevitably leads to difficult conversations. But these are conversations we absolutely need to have as a community.

You can find previous Eurovision Wars episodes on ESC Insight here.

The post ESC Insight Presents…..Eurovision Wars: Protesting From The Malmö Stage appeared first on ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

This week saw the launch of the Basel 2025 branding. While the Eurovision Song Contest has an overall look, each host city and year carries their own look reflecting the city, the country, and the values of the Contest. Artur Deyneuve is leading the team for Basel. ESC Insight’s Ewan Spence sat down with Artur following the launch to find out more about this year’s identity.

They talk about several topics, including…

“It was around August. There was a day that I was working super late, I was having one of those days of creative deep dives.  You are just there, on the internet, looking around. Is an idea going to come? At some point, I was surfing on the web and came across this meme. … and the moment I saw this meme of two years coming together to shape a heart, I felt goosebumps over my body. I felt a little bit of ‘boop!’ in my stomach and I was like ‘yeah, this is it, there is no other story’.”

“We looked into Liverpool; a nice typeface, all caps, san serif, nice. We looked at last year, and oh, all caps and serif are included as well. All caps… looks like everyone likes to shout at us. This typography is just shouting in my face.

“Because we have our creative approach and our creative idea; we are here to listen and to chat, we don’t want to shout. That’s why we went to that typeface. We use a serif typeface because serif is more connected to storytelling, to chat, to calming down. And not having a big typeface shouting in my face.”

“If you ask someone ‘Why do you buy a pair of socks with a swoosh,’ ‘Why do you buy a pair of socks with the Adidas logo there? ‘ it’s because they are buying a brand. You don’t try to tell people what Adidas is; you just put the logo on. And it is the same with Eurovision.

“It’s so big, so strong, and for so many fans, this is what they want. It’s Eurovision, and that’s the Eurovision logo, and that’s the Eurovision heart. You have to love this; if you don’t love this, you’re not a Eurovision fan.”

Eurovision Chat Over Coffee, Basel 2025 Art Director Artur Deyneuve

Ewan Spence sits down with Artur Deyneuve to talk about the visual design of Basel 2025, the Swiss Grid, half tone images, why Helvetica is not the chosen font, and more…

Discover more about the Eurovision Song Contest and follow its journey to Basel by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show on iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available. We also have a regular email newsletter, which you can sign up for here.

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