It’s Round Three of Juke Box Jury, and five more songs heading to Basel 2025 to represent their country at the Eurovision Song Contest make a stop in the Insight Studios to face two returning judges. Hits, misses, and maybes are all on offer. And will we think this week’s winner has a chance of winning the Song Contest? Let’s find out.

Eurovision Insight Podcast: Juke Box Jury #3

Belgium: Strobe Lights, by Red Sebastian.

Stay up to date with all the discussions, news, and reviews as we get ready to travel to Malmö for Eurovision 2024 with ESC Insight. You’ll find the show in iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available. We have a regular email newsletter which you can sign up to here., and you can support us on Patreon here.

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We carry on looking at the sogs heading to Malmö for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025. They all might be fighting for the hits, misses, and maybes, but the journey is just as important as the result. Join us now…

Eurovision Insight Podcast: Juke Box Jury #2

Azerbaijan: Run with U, by Mamagama.

Stay up to date with all the discussions, news, and reviews as we get ready to travel to Malmö for Eurovision 2024 with ESC Insight. You’ll find the show in iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available. We have a regular email newsletter which you can sign up to here., and you can support us on Patreon here.

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As the National Final season ends, the Review Season begins. Which means, at least for ESC Insight, it’s time to welcome back Juke Box Jury. We’ll be with you right up to the start of the rehearsals in Basel, as we talk about this year’s songs over seven shows. Who will pick up the hits, the misses, and maybes? Let’s find out.

Eurovision Insight Podcast: Juke Box Jury #1

Latvia: Bur man laimi, by Tautumeitas

Stay up to date with all the discussions, news, and reviews as we get ready to travel to Basel for Eurovision 2025 with ESC Insight. You’ll find the show in iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. A direct RSS feed is available. We have a regular email newsletter which you can sign up to here., and you can support us on Patreon here.

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And with that, the National Finals are over. As we publish the latest Insight News podcast we’re waiting on France to declare its entry to the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest.

The community’s reaction is in the spotlight this week, as are the artists’ reactions. Other delegations are working the PR machines to get as much love inside the community and to try and create the all-important buzz with the general public. With the submission deadline now passed, what can we expect over the next few weeks?

Eurovision Insight News Podcast: Waiting For Some Odd Shaped Balls

Why are we getting ready to watch some grown men chase an odd-shaped ball around a rugby field, the big deadline wooshes past us, and some surprising weekend results have energised the final lap of National Finals. Scott Reid and Ewan Spence go over this week’s talking points on the Insight News podcast.

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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With one weekend of National Finals to go, the Eurovision playlist for Basel 2025 is almost full of the songs of every nation. Yet the global nature of the Song Contest has been brought into sharp focus with international songwriters contributing throughout the shows and cultural norms being challenged across borders.

Eurovision Insight News Podcast: Losing The Televote

Why there are so many Colors at Eurovision, what does it mean to lose your National Final televote, how OFCOM impacts the Song Contest, and more… Ewan Spence and Martin Bishop discuss the week’s hot topics in the Insight News podcast.

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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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 episode six, the final episode looking at the 2024 season, Phil Doré and Ana Oppenheim, widen the scope of the podcast to look at some of the other political moments that impacted Malmö 2024, albeit without as much coverage in the mainstream press as the Israeli entry.

How are the tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan reflected in the Contest, how close was controversy in the Serbian selection to disrupting Malmö 2024, and how should the EBU decide which countries should be represented by their national broadcaster at the Song Contest?

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.

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A single National Final last week, a slice of Icelandic vibes between two Super Saturdays. Of course, there was the small matter of Måns Zelmerlow in his Melodifestivalen heat to set tongues wagging in the community.

Michelle Kittens (That Eurovision Site) joins us on the News Pod this week to discuss a roller-coaster week that moves through the Semi Finals, talks about how a TV theme tune could be heading to Basel, why Melodifestivalen is more an industry than a Eurovision selection and more…

Eurovision Insight News Podcast: Introverted Glam Rock

Protecting some fragile staging, the responsibility in the Melfest press room, and how to troll your bigger and more successful musical neighbour.  Ewan Spence and Michelle Kittens bounce round Europe for this week’s Song Contest podcast.

Watch Michelle’s interviews from Melfest at That Eurovision Site.

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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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.

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