It’s a new week in the werk room and we’re still comfortably riding the Eurovision wave: the 2025 iceberg is still pretty shallow, we’re moving at a relatively safe speed, and our enthusiasm is still helping us push through the drama.

We have travelled back to Italy this week, as a certain Sanremo winner decided not to accept a ticket to Basel, so a lovely first alternate is taking his place. Couple more stops in our European voyage: a story of survival from Armenia, a nautical cruise from Iceland, and a tale of shook milk from Australia. Beware if you’re easily scandalised.

This week we also take a moment to reflect on the elephant no longer in the room, and to keep John’s memory alive, we’re flipping the script on Valentine’s day to bring you the most heart-breaking, soul-collapsing songs from the history of the contest. Listen at your own peril.