Mysteries of the EuroVerse

Dr. Alban, Hello Afrika, One Love (26:30), Deborah Ann Woll, (HBO's True Blood, Netflix's Daredevil, (37:13)   This week, we're talking about the Swedish domination of pop music. How  this tiny country took over one of the world's largest entertainment industries is a story with a ton of twists and turns-- and, of course, Eurovision is at the center of it. First we deep dive into that history and...

Guests:   Paul Jordan (Dr. Eurovision), Dave Keating (Brussels Based EU Reporter), and Elias Jahshan (This Arab is Queer) featured in the Deep Dive - 1:37 Zack Beauchamp (Senior Foreign Policy Correspondent, Vox.com) - 27:24 Professor Shibley Telhami (Brookings Institute, Council of Foreign Relations) - 45:47 This week, we're talking about the controversy surrounding Israel's participation in Euro...

Episode 14: Eurovision Behind The Iron Curtain   25:00 Dr. Dean Vuletic (Historian, “Intervision: Popular Music and Politics in Eastern Europe”)   40:28 Chris Molanphy (Chart Expert, Host of Slate's Hit Parade, Author, "Old Town Road")    This week we're talking about the Intervision Song Contest - the Eurovision equivalent organized by communist governments during the cold war. Putin has been mak...

Linda Martin (Winner, Ireland 1992), Elisabeth Andreasson (Winner, Norway 1985), Senhit (Grand Final feat Flo Rida, 2021), Barrett Foa (NCIS: LA, The Residence - Netflix)   On this episode, we explore what it takes to be a Eurovision Icon and what separates Eurovision icons from pop icons-- diving into how the aesthetics, music and politics of Eurovision affect the stars who get elevated.    More...

EP 12: The Spin-Offs   Riker Lynch (Glee, Dancing With The Stars, American Song Contest) John D. Carrion, Executive Director of The NYC Gay Men's Chorus   On this episode, we're talking about the numerous times that the European Broadcasting Union (or EBU) has tried to spin-off the Eurovision concept. We start by taking about the European spin-offs that were started under the EBU's network of nati...

German Nenov (Ukraine's Creative Director Eurovision 2023), SuRie (UK 2018), Izzy Uncut (Watch What Happens Live)   On this episode, we explore the technology required to make a spectacle like Eurovision happen-- and we discuss how Eurovision's identity as a technological innovator is connected to its self-identity as an institution meant to stitch Europe back together. We talk with Ukraine's Crea...

Sally Ann Triplett 18:41 (Prima Donna - Love Enough For Two - UK 1980 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8fUTTwOp40 , Bardo - One Step Further UK 1982 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qy6S7LvtNc ) Tvorchi 31:26 (Heart of Steel- Ukraine 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neIscK1hNxs ) Size Matters With Josh Keating 36:44   In this episode, we talk about a core inequality in Eurovision's system fo...

21:06 Andrew Lambrou (Cyprus, 2023, Break a Broken Heart): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQG9YH2nCJw)   31:37 Troy Iwata (The Daily Show, Dash and Lily)   We are in the middle of National Finals season, and controversy is already swirling around some of this years' selection processes! We talk about how a country's choice of song reflects what they want to project to the world, and how authorita...

Blanka (Poland 2023) - 19:31 Her song, Solo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvQRpV1-ZhY Theodor Andrei (Romania 2023) - 30:09 His song, DGT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRxv-AUCinQ Pixie Aventura (Hulu's Drag Me To Dinner) - 42:16   On this episode, we're talking about the fandom! The unique nature of the Eurovision fandom comes from the fact that it's a sprawling international set, communica...

1:07- Deep Dive- Eurovision and Contemporary Pop 21:43 Joker Out (Slovenia 2023) 39:58 Killer Notes or Killer Nodes with Telly Leung This week we're discussing Eurovision's relationship to contemporary pop-- and specifically what it is about the rules of the world's largest song competition that complicate its relationship to the charts. We cover rules around back-up singers, auto-tune, the orches...

21:24 Interview with Fazla (Bosnia, 1993) - All The Pain In The World, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmbrJkzQ4Ik 36:20 Interview with Jeff Hiller (Somebody, Somewhere)   In this episode we look at politics at Eurovision in the modern era. First, we examine a series of conflicts in Europe, and discuss how Eurovision's increasingly dominant self-conception as "apolitical" has hampered its ability...

19:55 - Gjon's Tears talks about his 2021 Eurovision near-win 35:00 - Michael Hsu Rosen plays a game putting the people against the powerful   We dive into one of the biggest controversies among Eurovision fans: how Eurovision selects its winners. Should they rely on the expertise of industry juries or should we let the people decide? We explore the evolution of Eurovision's constantly evolving se...

Deep Dive - Eurovision's Language Rule - 1:19 Interview - Go_A (Ukraine, 2021) - 18:19 Tops and Bottoms - Soman Chainani (The School for Good and Evil) - 32:30     In this week's episode we explore Eurovision's language rule-- which, during the eras' it's been in effect, has required that countries only submit songs in their own national languages. Defenders of the rule claim that it's necessary t...

#03: Pop, Power, and Politics 1:15 Deep Dive into The Political History of Eurovision 16:46 Jamala (Eurovision Winner, 2016, Representing Ukraine) 30:49 Brooke Gladstone (Peabody Award-winning host of On The Media) These days, Eurovision claims to be “apolitical,” but that wasn’t always the case. We explore how Eurovision was founded in the aftermath of World War II, alongside political institutio...

#02: Queer-o-Vision 18:36 - Gustaph (Eurovision Contestant, 2023, Representing Belgium) 35:18 Robin de Jesus (Three time Tony Nominated actor, Netflix’s tick…tick..BOOM!, Hulu’s Welcome to Chippendales) There’s always been something a little queer about Eurovision. In our second episode, we explore the contest’s history with the LGBTQ+ community– and how this “family show” has, at many points in i...

Guests: David Dobkin (Director: Wedding Crashers, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga with Will Ferrell), Jerry Mitchell (Three Time Tony Award Winning Director/Choreographer, Kinky Boots, Legally Blonde) Eurovision is the most watched song contest in the world– with viewership reaching 200 million people. It’s larger than the Superbowl! But while Eurovision songs have charted 28 times...