n this episode, James heads to Amsterdam for Eurovision in Concert and previews Eurovision 2026 with the help of three guests already in the Netherlands – GJ Kooijman and Marco Dreijer from Ding-a-Dong, the Dutch Eurovision podcast, and ESC Insight’s own Sem Anne van Dijk

Following Eurovision in Concert in Amsterdam this weekend, the first major opportunity to see much of this year’s line-up perform live, ‘Liekinheitin’ by Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen is still projected to be this year’s frontrunner.

On this episode, James is joined by ESC Insight’s own Ben Robertson for in depth analysis of what Eurovision 2026 could bring. They chat about the running orders for each semi-final, which were revealed on Thursday, and why and how the running order can impact a Eurovision Song Contest entry.

The Model was once again revealed live on the ESC Gabe YouTube channel this week, with a full voting sequence including qualifier reveals and the full breakdown of the final. In that voting sequence, ‘Liekinheitin’ by Linda Lampenius & Pete Parkkonen extended its lead in this week’s Model projection to reinforce its position as the favourite to win Eurovision 2026.

As Eurovision Asia is confirmed to go ahead in 2026, could this be the start of a series of continental Contests? Gina Jones takes a closer look at what you need to know.

This wewk, on Inside The Model pocast, Finland’s Eurovision 2013 artist Krista Siegfrids joins James Stephenson to look at this week’s results, and ask if Finland will win its first Contest in two decades.