Happy Eurovision New Year! We start our 10th Season (sidebar: WHAT?!) catching up on the planning for 2027 as Bulgaria prepares to host the big event for the first time.

📸 Photo by Ondrej Bocek on Unsplash

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Find your podcast app to subscribe here.

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email or reach out on Bluesky @eurowhat.bsky.social.

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We also have the EuroWhat? AV Club Podcast, a monthly bonus episode for paid members exploring Eurovision-adjacent TV, movies, books, and more. Join today to get our coverage of Eurovision Song Contest: Asia Edition!

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• Justin Ladia

The Eurowhat AV Club finishes out the 1980 Disco Musical Trilogy (which includes The Apple and Xanadu) with CAN’T STOP THE MUSIC.

Spoiler: We would like to stop the music...

📸 EMI Films, Ltd.

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Find your podcast app to subscribe here.

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email or reach out on Bluesky @eurowhat.bsky.social.

If you want even more EuroWhat? in your life, join the EuroWhat? AV Club on Patreon! You can join for free to get virtual high fives and a monthly newsletter featuring:

We also have the EuroWhat? AV Club Podcast, a monthly bonus episode for paid members exploring Eurovision-adjacent TV, movies, books, and the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest Asia edition.

Support The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews

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• Episode 20: Bite The Apple

The Eurowhat Movie Club celebrates the legacy of Olivia Newton-John’s film career with a detour into the roller disco classic(?) Xanadu. And OH BOY do we have questions...

📸 Universal Pictures

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Find your podcast app to subscribe here.

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email or reach out on Bluesky @eurowhat.bsky.social.

If you want even more EuroWhat? in your life, join the EuroWhat? AV Club on Patreon! You can join for free to get virtual high fives and a monthly newsletter featuring:

We also have the EuroWhat? AV Club Podcast, a monthly bonus episode for paid members exploring Eurovision-adjacent TV, movies, books, and the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest Asia edition.

Support The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews

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• Tresóna Multimedia v. Burbank High School Vocal Music Association

The instantly-doomed American Song Contest really did seem like a good idea at the time: 56 states and territories competing for the hearts and minds of the public on NBC. The execution was not great, but we were pot-committed back in 2022 when we covered this pale imitation of Eurovision. What lessons can be learned before Asia tries its hand at the ESC formula?

📸 NBC

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Find your podcast app to subscribe here.

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email or reach out on Bluesky @eurowhat.bsky.social.

If you want even more EuroWhat? in your life, join the EuroWhat? AV Club on Patreon! You can join for free to get virtual high fives and a monthly newsletter featuring:

We also have the EuroWhat? AV Club Podcast, a monthly bonus episode for paid members exploring Eurovision-adjacent TV, movies, books, and more. And if there is a season 2 of the American Song Contest... well... :::monkey's paw intensifies:::

Support The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews

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• Episode 5 Playlist | Spotify

The instantly-doomed Great American State Fair was supposed to bring together all 56 US states and territories. What if there was a song contest that did that? NBC tried it in 2022 and we watched it all.

This episode pulls out some of the best bits from the first half of the series as we consider Eurovision’s next attempt at expanding their brand in Asia later this year.

📸 NBC

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Find your podcast app to subscribe here.

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email or reach out on Bluesky @eurowhat.bsky.social.

If you want even more EuroWhat? in your life, join the EuroWhat? AV Club on Patreon! You can join for free to get virtual high fives and a monthly newsletter featuring:

We also have the EuroWhat? AV Club Podcast, a monthly bonus episode for paid members exploring Eurovision-adjacent TV, movies, books, and more. And if there is a season 2 of the American Song Contest... well... :::monkey's paw intensifies:::

Support The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews

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• Episode 1 Playlist | Spotify

Scopitone was a video jukebox from the 1960s that featured short clips that could be considered proto-music videos. Ben discusses the history, production, and cultural impact of the medium while Mike delights in the off-model nature of the content.

📸 Cover Image by Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Find your podcast app to subscribe here.

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email or reach out on Bluesky @eurowhat.bsky.social.

If you want even more EuroWhat? in your life, join the EuroWhat? AV Club on Patreon! You can join for free to get virtual high fives and a monthly newsletter featuring:

We also have the EuroWhat? AV Club Podcast, a monthly bonus episode for paid members exploring Eurovision-adjacent TV, movies, books, and more. And if there is a season 2 of the American Song Contest... well... :::monkey's paw intensifies:::

Support The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews

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• Scopitone in the MoMA collection

What is "Camp"? In 1964, literary critic Susan Sontag investigated this question in her culture-defining essay "Notes on Camp". We discuss how the concept of Camp applies to Eurovision, other forms of pop culture, and our day-to-day lives.

📸 Cover Image by Loyloy Thal from Pixabay

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Find your podcast app to subscribe here.

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email or reach out on Bluesky @eurowhat.bsky.social.

If you want even more EuroWhat? in your life, join the EuroWhat? AV Club on Patreon! You can join for free to get virtual high fives and a monthly newsletter featuring:

We also have the EuroWhat? AV Club Podcast, a monthly bonus episode for paid members exploring Eurovision-adjacent TV, movies, books, and more. And if there is a season 2 of the American Song Contest... well... :::monkey's paw intensifies:::

Support The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews

Links:

• Notes on "Camp" - Susan Sontag (pdf) | Monoskop.org

Better late than never: let’s talk about Eurovision 2026. We’ll discuss what happened in Vienna, what this means for the Contest going forward, and share our post-confetti plans. Also: BULGARIA?!

📸 Sarah Louise Bennett | EBU

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Find your podcast app to subscribe here.

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email or reach out on Bluesky @eurowhat.bsky.social.

If you want even more EuroWhat? in your life, join the EuroWhat? AV Club on Patreon! You can join for free to get virtual high fives and a monthly newsletter featuring:

We also have the EuroWhat? AV Club Podcast, a monthly bonus episode for paid members exploring Eurovision-adjacent TV, movies, books, and more. And if there is a season 2 of the American Song Contest... well... :::monkey's paw intensifies:::

Support The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews

Links:

• How Israel Turned Eurovision’s Stage Into a Soft Power Tool - The New York Times

Spain has been ride-or-die for Eurovision since debuting in 1961. In this episode, we’ll be taking a look at how Spain’s original approach to the Contest may have informed their decision to not attend the festivities in Vienna for the first time in 65 years.

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Find your podcast app to subscribe here.

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email or reach out on Bluesky @eurowhat.bsky.social.

If you want even more EuroWhat? in your life, join the EuroWhat? AV Club on Patreon! You can join for free to get virtual high fives and a monthly newsletter featuring:

We also have the EuroWhat? AV Club Podcast, a monthly bonus episode for paid members exploring Eurovision-adjacent TV, movies, books, and more. And if there is a season 2 of the American Song Contest... well... :::monkey's paw intensifies:::

Support The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews

Links:

• Spain was not Living a Celebration: TVE and the Eurovision Song Contest During the Years of Franco’s Dictatorship | VIEW Journal of European Television History and Culture

Eurovision is an expensive enterprise, and the Netherlands has been one of the Contest’s largest financial supporters. In this episode, we’ll be taking a look at the financial impact of Netherland’s absence from Eurovision 2026.

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Find your podcast app to subscribe here.

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email or reach out on Bluesky @eurowhat.bsky.social.

If you want even more EuroWhat? in your life, join the EuroWhat? AV Club on Patreon! You can join for free to get virtual high fives and a monthly newsletter featuring:

We also have the EuroWhat? AV Club Podcast, a monthly bonus episode for paid members exploring Eurovision-adjacent TV, movies, books, and more. And if there is a season 2 of the American Song Contest... well... :::monkey's paw intensifies:::

Support The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews

Links:

• The EuroWhat? Episode 128: Bordspel