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Eurovision Insight Podcast: Daily Chat from Copenhagen, Saturday 3rd May Written by on May 3, 2014 | 11 Comments

The timetable makes a few changes, so a touch later with the podcast today, but here we are with a look back at the second technical rehearsals from the first semi-final line-up.

Eurovision Insight Podcast: Daily Chat from Copenhagen, Saturday 3rd May
Hosted by Ewan Spence, with…

Samantha Ross (ESC Insight)
Ben Robertson (ESC Insight)
Keith Mills (EscKaz)

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About The Author: Ewan Spence

British Academy (BAFTA) nominated broadcaster and writer Ewan Spence is the voice behind The Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast and one of the driving forces behind ESC Insight. Having had an online presence since 1994, he is a noted commentator around the intersection of the media, internet, technology, mobility and how it affects us all. Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, his work has appeared on the BBC, The Stage, STV, and The Times. You can follow Ewan on Twitter (@ewan) and Facebook (facebook.com/ewanspence).

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Have Your Say

11 responses to “Eurovision Insight Podcast: Daily Chat from Copenhagen, Saturday 3rd May”

  1. Peter says:

    I still don’t think Hungary is as obvious and painful as people think. And even with the dramatic and slightly dark edge to the staging, I honestly can’t see it putting many people off voting for it, even if the message is explicitly stated by the commentators before hand. It’s just a very good song (albeit one in a style that I don’t personally like) with a very strong presentation.

    There have been plenty of songs that have done well in the charts with messages (both positive and negative), and I wouldn’t mind betting that most people don’t even give the lyrics any actual consideration when deciding if they like a song or not.

  2. Peter says:

    Also, I do understand what Ewan is saying about the Netherlands, it is a far way from the best song of its style, but Eurovision is also a far way from the typical Country venue.

    This means I think “Calm After The Storm” might actually work as more accessible entry-level primer for people who are new to the genre (without falling into the YeeHah cowboy stereotype like Sam hinted), in the same way that people often start with the generic mass-produced beers before learning to appreciate the better quality stuff down the CAMRA-approved end of the bar.

  3. Hans Wollstein says:

    After listening to today’s podcast, which, as always, was top tier, I feel forced to reevaluate my opinion of Mr. Keith Mills. Because if there’s one thing I admire in my pundits it is consistency. And Keith is nothing if not consistent. I now believe I understand where he’s coming from: Ireland by the way of the United States. Because this idea that light entertainment should never force you to explain unpleasantness to your children is a widespread belief in my other home country. And this is a fair enough point of view. I don’t personally share it, but I do understand. Mr Mills clearly feel uncomfortable mixing Eurovision with doses of reality and that is, well, what it is. We’ll just have to agree to disagree. I did notice, though, that he ranked Hungary even lower than, dare I repeat it? “that nasty thing from Austria!”

  4. Kevin says:

    Sweden aren’t always the fan favourite. They only are when they pick a song that sounds “typically Swedish”. “You” for example didn’t do that well at all with the fans. And are we pretending that Azerbaijan isn’t at least heavily relying on diaspora voting? Most other countries couldn’t have got half of the Azerbaijani entries in the top 10. To me “Undo” is a very instant song. I loved it the first time I heard it. The first time I heard “Start a Fire” I thought it was incredibly boring. It is kind of growing on me, but it doesn’t sound like a televote grabber at all to me.

    I haven’t seen the Dutch performance yet, but pretty much every site says how great it is. Strange how negative you keep on talking about it. Huge difference in opinion on this one. The first time I heard “Calm After the Storm” at De Wereld Draait Door I didn’t like it, but I think there is an important difference now. Most people will hear it for the first time with this apparently great performance. I think we’ll qualify easily and I think a top 15 result in the final is possible. “Calm After the Storm” even moved up from 25 to 18 with the bookmakers. We’re moving in the right direction.

  5. togravus says:

    @ Kevin

    My reactiion to the Swedish and Azerbaijani songs was totally opposite.
    I loved “Start a Fire” on first listening (and it has been in 1st place on my list ever since) and found “Undo” rather pretentious and boring. Sweden 2014 has lately grown on me a bit but I think that’s because I am in the ESC bubble now, a mental state in which I support all entries.

  6. Kevin says:

    It’s always good to be in such a positive mental state 😉 Different opinions and all that, but I don’t believe at all that if “Start a Fire” had been the Swedish entry it would have been the OGAE winner. However, I don’t think “Undo” would have been the OGAE winner had it been from Azerbaijan. Personally I don’t care if it’s from Azerbaijan. I loved “Always”, “Drip Drop” and “When the Music Dies”, but I thought “Running Scared” and “Hold Me” were very overrated. “Hold Me” at least had a brilliant act that saved a mediocre at best song. I still don’t understand how “Running Scared” won.

  7. Kevin says:

    One thing I forgot to ask, do you usually like the typical Swedish ballads/songs like Undo?

  8. Shevek says:

    I must disagree with Keith on Hungary. The song deals with an unpleasant theme and reality is made of both good and bad things. ‘Mother’ bothers me more, to tell you the truth.

    I do agree with Keith on Sweden; cold, hollow and artificial are good words to describe ‘Undo’.

    Azerbaijan, the Netherlands and Armenia have the best songs, imo. SF1 is by far the best one.

  9. togravus says:

    @ Kevin

    It depends on the individual song. I am not a musical style or genre guy but pretty much like songs from all different genres. It always depends on whether I find a particular song interesting/moving/challenging/disturbing (disturbing is the best a work of art can be imo) or not.

  10. Sharleen says:

    awww, don’t! You are making me cry! I will be back next year.

  11. mag says:

    Thank god you’re not part of any jury! You killed basically every single song from this semi-final! Maybe not Armenia!
    If there is a song that I feel is creepy rather than making me uncomfortable is Belgium’s song where an adult guy sings about his mother (“You’re my guiding light”)…But Hungary is my favorite. They have a great song, it’s sung well and I don’t feel uncomfortable at all! And I’m not obsessed with the message…it’s a song, I don’t analyze the meaning of every word and so on. Over time many ballads that were not exactly “entertaining” won…We’re in century 21…we can talk about things, guys! After you criticized Eastern Europe for not understanding Conchita, you came with all this ranting about Hungarian song’s message…

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