ESC Insight: Eurovision Song Contest Podcast

This episode discusses the winners. If you want to watch the show before hearing this information, watch the YouTube stream below.

Pan-Arcticvision was a riotous display of music and self-determination, in the beautiful setting of the Faroe Islands. Viewers were presented with Icelandic prog rock, Alaskan folk, Inuit mythology, Faroese rap and Sami joiking. The show may have a tiny fraction of the budget of Eurovision, but what it lacked in holograms and laser effects it made up for with heart and authenticity.

This is a song contest that knows its own ideals and firmly lives by them. Perhaps this is a lesson Eurovision could learn from events like Pan-Arcticvision?

As the Eurovision winter stretches out before us, stay on top of all the Eurovision discussions by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show in iTunes and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available.

The post ESC Insight presents Go North! Episode 5: Looking back at Pan-Arcticvision appeared first on ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

In a not-very-subtle swipe at Eurovision’s Israel controversy, Pan-Arcticvision have invited a Palestinian artist to perform at the contest on October 2nd.

Kokym grew up near Jenin in the occupied West Bank, under constant military occupation. Coming from a musical family, he learned to sing and play at an early age before formalising his training at a music school in Istanbul. He sings in Fallahi, the Arabic dialect of rural Palestinians, and blends traditional Palestinian sounds with a modern pop beat.

At Pan-Arcticvision he will perform the song Mish American (“I’m not American”), a love song about someone who wants to be romanced in Fallahi rather than English.

Pan-Arcticvision will be streamed live on YouTube on Friday 2nd October 2026, 19:30 Faroes/UK time, 20:30 Central European Time.

As the Eurovision winter stretches out before us, stay on top of all the Eurovision discussions by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show in iTunes and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available.

The post ESC Insight presents Go North! Episode 4 featuring Kokym appeared first on ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

Klara is a 24 year old singer-songwriter, currently studying music in Tromsø, Norway. She grew up in the small village of Pajala, in the Torne Valley near the Swedish border with Finland.

She tells us about her personal and musical exploration of Meänkieli, a variant of Finnish spoken by her ancestors. Today, it is mostly spoken by older people in her region because of longstanding prejudice, and she had to teach herself the language. At Pan-Arcticvision, she will perform a piano-driven folk-pop song that articulates the social and economic difficulties faced by people in her region.

As the Eurovision winter stretches out before us, stay on top of all the Eurovision discussions by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show in iTunes and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available.

The post ESC Insight presents Go North! Episode 3 featuring Klara Pasma appeared first on ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

Go North! is ESC Insight’s podcast mini-series about Pan-Arcticvision, your new favourite song contest ending in -vision. In Episode Two, hosts Phil Doré and Aisling Tempany look at the full lineup for Pan-Arcticvision 2026, and consider the variety of genres on offer, including rap, folk, prog rock, Inuit throat singing and joiking.

Føroyar Fun Facts

Phil and Aisling then explore some fun facts about this year’s hosts Føroyar (aka the Faroe Islands). It’s a place that has volcanoes (none of them active) and the world’s only sub-sea roundabout, but no escalators. They also discuss the Faroese language and its demographic issues.

As the Eurovision winter stretches out before us, stay on top of all the Eurovision discussions by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show in iTunes and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available.

The post Føroyar Fun Facts: ESC Insight presents Go North! A Pan-Arcticvision Podcast appeared first on ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

Imagine a version of the Eurovision Song Contest that showcases acts from the very edge of the inhabitable world, from communities that live far from the geographical and political centres that govern them. A Song Contest that isn’t afraid to be subversive and doesn’t pretend to be non-political.

Fortunately, there’s no need to imagine, thanks to Pan-Arcticvision (panarcticvision.org).

Now in its fourth year, Pan-Arcticvision is on a mission to unite the people of the Arctic through the power of music. Previous acts have included Icelandic teen punks, Inuit throat singers, Sami rappers and Russian musicians fleeing Putin’s wars of aggression. The vibe is scrappy and anarchic, with the music interspersed with pro-Palestine statements and expletive-riddled tirades against corporate over-fishing. It also brings these communities together and has attracted a small but loyal following from Eurovision fans disaffected by certain events.

You know. Those events.

Let’s Prepare To PanArctic!

Go North! is a new podcast miniseries hosted by Phil Doré and Aisling Tempany as they prepare to travel to the Pan-Arcticvision contest. In episode one, they talk about the ethos of this unique event.

Stay listening to the podcast as Go North! will follow their journey to Tórshavn in Føroyar. Where’s Føroyar? You may know it as the Faroe Islands, but Pan-Arcticvision prefers to call places by the names given to them by those that live there, rather than their colonisers. This is a contest that has its own way of doing things, and ploughs its own unashamed furrow.

As the Eurovision winter stretches out before us, stay on top of all the Eurovision discussions by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show in iTunes and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available.

The post ESC Insight Introduces Go North! A Pan-Arcticvision Podcast appeared first on ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

Eurovision Insight Podcast: Our Final Podcast From Vienna

As the glitter falls to the floor and the sequins are harvested for next year, James Stephenson and Samantha Ross look back at Vienna and the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.

As the summer months stretch out before us, stay on top of all the Eurovision discussions by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show in iTunes and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available. We also have a regular email newsletter which you can sign up to here.

The post Eurovision Insight Podcast: Our Final Podcast From Vienna appeared first on ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

Let’s look through all 10 of the qualifying entries, analyse why gold is the magic colour for Australia, explore the innovative stagings of the returning countries Romania and Bulgaria, and ask which of these songs could have chances to succeed in the Grand Final on Saturday.

Eurovision Insight Podcast: Daily News From Vienna, Friday 15th May

On today’s episode, James Stephenson and Samantha Ross are joined by ESC Insight’s David Horton and Lisa-Jayne Lewis to break down the results of the second semi-final of Eurovision 2026.

With the live show almost here, stay up to date with all the Eurovision discussions by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show in iTunes and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available. We also have a regular email newsletter which you can sign up to here.

The post Eurovision Insight Podcast: Daily News From Vienna, Friday 15th May appeared first on ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

We have our first ten qualifiers through to Saturday night. Now the final ten places are up for grabs in the second Semi Final.

Eurovision Insight Podcast: Daily News From Vienna, Thursday 14th May

James Stephenson and Samantha Ross look ahead to the second Semi Final and catch up with some more performers looking to get through to Saturday’s Grand Final.

With the live show almost here, stay up to date with all the Eurovision discussions by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show in iTunes and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available. We also have a regular email newsletter which you can sign up to here.

The post Eurovision Insight Podcast: Daily News From Vienna, Thursday 14th May appeared first on ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

Eurovision Insight Podcast: Daily News From Vienna, Wednesday 13th May

As we would say in another time, ten qualified, five fell, fifteen ran. Just before it all starts again with the second Semi Final, James Stephenson, Samantha Ross and some friends have a little review of Tuesday’s show.

With the live show almost here, stay up to date with all the Eurovision discussions by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show in iTunes and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available. We also have a regular email newsletter which you can sign up to here.

The post Eurovision Insight Podcast: Daily News From Vienna, Wednesday 13th May appeared first on ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

Although the first Semi Finalists performed for the jury (and the back-up tape) in last night’s rehearsal to get half of their score. Now it;s time to earn the other half and sing live to the world.

Eurovision Insight Podcast: Daily News From Vienna, Tuesday 12th May

James Stephenson and Samantha Ross look ahead to the first Semi Final and catch up with some of the performers looking to get through to Saturday’s Grand Final.

With the live show almost here, stay up to date with all the Eurovision discussions by listening to the ESC Insight podcasts. You’ll find the show in iTunes and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available. We also have a regular email newsletter which you can sign up to here.

The post Eurovision Insight Podcast: Daily News From Vienna, Tuesday 12th May appeared first on ESC Insight - Home of the Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.