The Euro Trip | Eurovision Podcast

This week we chat to Silia Kapsis, who, at the age of just 17, will represent Cyprus at Eurovision this year. We also have another chat with Rick Jakobs on our March to Malmo series who gives us an update on the Euro Fan Cafe. Plus, imagine avoiding all the Eurovision songs for the first three months of the year? That's what listener Kyle did - he gives us his thoughts on the class of 2024. Join u...

This week we're discussing revamps and whether altering your original song can improve your chances at the contest. Firstly ahead of her revamp release, we're joined again by Czech entry Aiko as she discusses the alterations to her song, while later we head to Sweden for a catch up with Eurovision winning songwriter Linnea Deb. This year she has two songs competing, her home country of Sweden, and...

One of the biggest stories of the week is the EBU's announcement of three big rule changes for this year's Eurovision Song Contest. We're joined by ESC Insight's Ben Robertson to discuss what impact the changes will have on the contest. Also, with national final season drawing to an end, it marks the start of our March to Malmo, so we'll be crossing to this year's host city to get to know what to...

It only feels like two minutes since Melfest returned 6 weeks ago, but in the blink of an eye it's all over. We're back for one final episode of Melfest Monday to debrief everything from Saturday night's final. Aftonbladet's Tobbe Ek and Melfest commentators Bella Qvist and Tina Mehrafzoon join us to review the winners, and look ahead to Eurovision in Malmo. To support the podcast, head to Buy Me...

With selection season coming to an end, we speak to two successful Eurovision songwriters on how to write the perfect entry. Austrian 2023 entrant Teya joins us to share her love for Nemo's song for Malmö and her hopes that Switzerland could win the compeition, while Cazzi Opeia discusses writing for Melodifestivalen and a Eurovision winner for Loreen. The boys also have a couple of big announceme...

The Melfest final is just a matter of days away but it was the Finalkvalet - the new final qualifying round - that got everybody talking on Saturday. We'll be talking about it in dept with Mellopedia's Gustav Dahlander and Aftonbladet's Jenny Agren. We do find just enough time to preview the final too, with guest appearances from Maria Sur and Smash into Pieces. You can read all of Gustav's statis...

UK Eurovision release day requires a very special bonus episode, and we're delighted to bring you all the reaction as 'Dizzy' premieres to the public. The boys share their thoughts, read your messages, and get a review from leading music journalist Nick Levine. Then we wrap up a busy day with Olly Alexander's Mum as she shares her thoughts on her son's participation in Eurovision, and gives us an...

Friend of the podcast Dan Shipton was the Lead Creative Director at Eurovision 2023 and has also staged some of the most iconic performances of recent years. On today's episode, Dan exclusively reveals which performances he's working on this year and tells us what the process is like. We'll also be joined by Besa who is representing Albania this year. Plus, we put your Eurovision knowledge to the...

Four heats are in the bag, but we still have a brand new fifth heat to come... as well as the final and the new-look final qualifying round. We'll be joined by Aftonbladet's Natalie Demirian and QX's Ronny Larsson to get us right up to speed. Plus we're joined by artists Jay Smith, Chelsea Muco and Medina who tell us what to expect from their performances on Saturdya. To support the podcast, head...

After being the first artist to be announced for Eurovision 2024, Mustii's song for Belgium has been revealed this week to high praise from fans. We're joined by Sven Garreyn from Songfestival.be who helps us analyse the song. Denmark's Eurovision commentator Ole Topholm also stops by to ronud up everything from DMGP at the weekend. Plus, Hera Bjork from Iceland tells us why she's trying to repres...

We're at the halfway point of Melfest 2024 but we still have plenty to come over the next few weeks. On this episode, we're joined by a dream team of expert panellists in Melfest presenter Tina Mehrafzoon, Melfest commentator Bella Qvist and Aftonbladet's Tobbe Ek to dissect everything that happened on Saturday. They'll cast on aye over what to expect in heat four plus we'll hear from Dotter too....

This week we're given a rare interview with Germany's Head of Delegation to hear more about their plan to return to the left-hand side of the scoreboard.  Alexandra Wolfslast tells us about the personal impact her country's poor form has had on her professionally, how she plans to bring success back to her nation, and we find out more about how reparations for their selection show taking plac...

Melfest season is in full swing now that we've seen two shows on TV already. Aftonbladet journalists Jenny Agren and Stina Dahlgren join us this week to analyse heat 2 and look ahead to heat 3. No debutants have yet made it to the final so we discuss what a newbie needs to do to bag a spot in the final. Plus we hear from Cazzi Opiea, Clara Klingenstrom and Kim Cesarion ahead of their participation...

With Finland gearing up for UMK this weekend, we meet the founder to discuss the evolution of the competition. He tells us more about how the show differs from others across Europe, and how he goes about selecting the acts to compete to represent Finland at Eurovision itself. We also meet one of the main contenders to win, rockband Cyan Kicks, while we also reflect on a busy weekend and dicus...

The news is out! Petra Mede will host Eurovision 2024! To mark the news, we delve into our archives to bring you an incredibly rare English language interview we had with Petra back in the summer of 2021 from our first series of The Contest & Me. Petra tells us all about her love of the Eurovision Song Contest and even tells us back then that she would love to host Eurovision again. To support...

We've seen the first heat of Melfest 2024 and two artists have bagged a spot in the final. There's plenty to discuss from the show and ESC Insight's Ben Robertson and SVT's in-house Melfest expert Gustav Dahlander are on hand to delve into the data. They help us look ahead to the second heat too, plus we're joined by three artists taking to the stage in Gothenberg: Dear Sara, Engmans Kapell and LI...

On the eve of the 2024 competition, we were delighted to chat with Melfest Show Producer Karin Gunnarsson as she tells us more about how she prepares for Sweden's biggest television show. We learn more about how she picks the songs, and she tells us more about how she managed to presuade Loreen to participate in the contest last year. To support the podcast, head to Buy Me A Coffee . Follow us on&...

The Semi-Final Allocation Draw took place in Malmo earlier in the week, so Ben Robertson from ESC Insight talks us through the benefits and pitfalls of being drawn in each of the shows. Plus, we look back at Luxembourg's national final with help from Daniel Rosney. And we look ahead to Vidbir in Ukraine and chat to YAKTAK, one of the artists competing in the show. You can read Ben Robertson's anal...

Melodifestivalen is back on our screens this weekend so we're back with Melfest Monday to get you up to speed on the competition. We're joined by Aftonbladet's Tobbe Ek, Melfest commentator Bella Qvist and SVT's Förfest presenter Tina Mehrafzoon who help us get to know some of the artists and what we should expect from this year's show. Plus Adam from SMash into Pieces stops by to tell us why the...

We meet Czechia's Eurovision entry in the first of many upcoming conversations with the class of 2024. Aiko joins us in the studio to discuss her favourite breakfast cereal, her ideal pizza topping, and the emotions of winning ESCZ back in December. Before that we meet the Finnish singer who has gone on record saying he will boycott the contest should he win his country's national selection, provi...

National selection season has properly kicked off and with Luxembourg and Ireland ready to host their shows at the end of month, we go behind the scenes of them both. Firstly, Jan Bors, formerly Czechia's Head of Delegation, tells us everything about Luxembourg after he was on the selection committee which shortlisted the competing songs. Then we hop over to Ireland for a very candid conversation...

We mark the beginning of another year in which Sweden host the Eurovision Song Contest by remembering some of our favourite stories told by iconic Swedes here on the podcast. Delving into our archives we hear from the likes of Bella Qvist, Carolina Noren, Petre Mede, Anderz Wrethov, Tobbe Ek and Christer Bjorkman as they share tales of favourite moments, split screen drama, and famous victories. T...

Olly Alexander is representing the UK at Eurovision 2024 - but how was he chosen? The BBC's Executive Producer of Eurovision Lee Smithurst, and the Commissioning Executive for Music Will Wilkin sit down with us to tell us exclusively what the process was like to select him. To support the podcast and for links to all our research, head to Buy Me A Coffee . Follow us on  Twitter , Instagram &a...

We've assembled for a special bonus episode after the news some big Norwegian Eurovision alumni were returning to try and represent the nation again in 2024. We discuss the songs competing in Melodi Grand Prix, plus, we hear from Head of Delegation Stig Karlsen and returning MGP royalty Keiino. To support the podcast and for links to all our research, head to Buy Me A Coffee . Follow us on  T...

In this festive special, Martin Green CBE, the Managing Director of Eurovision 2023, sits down for a feature length conversation about this year's contest. He discusses his early days in the role, deadlines, back stage drama, and how the team came together to organise arguably the best Eurovision of recent years. To support the podcast and for links to all our research, head to Buy Me A Coffe...