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Eurovision Insight Buscast: The Aftermath of Semi-Final 1 Written by on May 7, 2014 | 18 Comments

What do you do when you leave the Eurovision stadium in high spirits on the way to the Euroclub? You go all hollywood musical and record the podcast right there!

So it’s a warm and jolly welcome back after almost four years to the ESC Insight Buscast! Full of the free flowing opinions you know and love from ESC Insight and our online friends, but with a touch of after-show adrenaline, sleep deprivation, and general high-jinks.

Enjoy!

Eurovision Insight Buscast: The Aftermath of Semi-Final 1
Hosted by Ewan Spence, with…

Samantha Ross (ESC Insight)
Steven Newby (ESC Insight)
Andrew Main (Eurovision Ireland)
Garrett Mulhall (Eurovision Ireland)
Benny Royston (Metro)

Please note the language in this one is ‘rather saucy’…

Don’t miss an episode of the Eurovision Insight podcast by subscribing to the RSS feed dedicated to the podcasts. iTunes users can find us in the iTunes Store and get the show automatically downloaded to your computer.

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

18 responses to “Eurovision Insight Buscast: The Aftermath of Semi-Final 1”

  1. OMG Love that you guys are doing the bus cast! 😀

  2. Stephen Colville says:

    That was brilliant. You need to do that on Thursday night. Garrett was hilarious when he lost it completely.

    Wished one of the team gave credit to Valentina’s performance though. She earned her qualification.

  3. Rum Red says:

    Ewan is aware Linda Martin won Eurovision in 1992 with a song written by Johnny Logan. On several podcasts he’s made references to her coming second or is that the joke?

  4. Ewan Spence says:

    @RumRed, Ireland 1984, Terminal Three, by Linda Martin, lyrics and composition by Johnny Logan (listed sometimes as Sean Sherrard, his birth name). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_3

    😉

    As well as Why Me, obv.

  5. Peter says:

    @Rum Red: They’re talking about Linda’s first appearance at ESC in 84, where she came 2nd with “Terminal 3”, a Logan-penned song.

  6. Peter says:

    Oops, beaten by Ewan – hopefully recovered from a very happy night at Euro Club? 😉

    I totally agree with Steven. Valentina needed a bit more credit in the podcast, she outperformed a not very good song. Also, Garrett was hilarious at the end when he broke into giggles!

    Please do another one on Thursday. I knew the warehouse was in the arse end of nowhere in CPH, I never appreciated that it was 40 minutes away from civilization – it’s the perfect podcast length 🙂

    It’s worth noting about Hungary that Scott Mills didn’t say anything about the meaning of the song, so viewers were free to listen to it and attach their own meaning. I can only assume other broadcasters would have dodged the issue as well. But even if they did announce what the song was about, the performance isn’t so “in your face” that it would make people uncomfortable.

  7. togravus says:

    Some random thoughts:

    The Netherlands were a mile above the rest last night.

    There were 3 more acts I liked: Azerbaijan, Hungary and Armenia.

    Montenegro had a beautiful song performed by a very competent singer. Unfortunately, it was ruined by a silly performance.

    The rest was waste imo. Sanna was terribly flat vocally througout the 1st minute.

    San Marino qualifying is nauseating.

    When Belgium was on, my mother left the room saying “I refuse to be exposed to this for another second”.

    All in all, a weak and terribly gimmicky semi-final. For me Ukraine did not work visually either. I found it rather lame.

    The Netherlands FTW please!

  8. Kevin says:

    Ewan talking about Calm After the Storm is like Keith Mills talking about Euphoria. You may ALL love the song, but I know it’s terrible, the performance doesn’t work and I’m right. 😉

    I don’t understand how you can say they don’t connect with each other and the camera. I really thought it was a magical performance and it will get A LOT of points this Saturday.

    I think San Marino deserved to qualify. She sang it really well. Very happy for her.

    Our commentator did mention the subject of the Hungarian song. I don’t think it matters though.

    Other than the Netherlands I thought Sweden was a stand out. That or the Netherlands probably won the semi in my opinion. Armenia was very disappointing in the first 1,5 minute. If he doesn’t do better in the final he won’t finish near the top I think.

  9. Ewan Spence says:

    Kevin, sometimes a song simply doesn’t connect. I do my best to acknowledge that in the cast. just as we latch to favourites, others are impossible to get. we’re all human and I’d rather honest opinion than crowd following on the podcast. It’s also why we try to get a lot of voices on the podcast when on the ground. (and fyi I think NL was Top Three last night)

  10. Ewan Spence says:

    On the subject of credit to Valentina, sometimes with a ‘snap’ podcast interesting story threads can be missed. I’m sure we’ll correct this later in the week!

  11. Kevin says:

    Well, we still don’t know anything for sure of course. They could have been 10th and finish 24th in the final and then I was wrong. And I do appreciate the fact that people speak their minds here. That’s why I come here. I was just mostly surprised by the fact that you thought they didn’t perform it well. But perhaps they did worse during the rehearsals, that I don’t know.

  12. Fredrik says:

    Hilarious “buscast”!!! I love you all even if I don’t always agree 😉 Think you are a bit harsh about Sweden sometimes but I can see your point. We do tend to send these perfect overproduced songs and I for one wanted Ace Wilder to represent Sweden…

    My personal views on SF1:

    Undo – Very competent by a very nice 29 year old ;-). Not my cup of tea though.

    Cake To Bake – I’m so disappointed that this didn’t go through! The lyrics in the verses are just so clever!

    No Prejudice – A happy song with an important message and nice blokes in the band! I’m happy they made it through!

    Not Alone – Still not my favourite song, but he performs it rather well. Can still win the final!

    Maybe – I’m so happy for Valentina! The song is quite good, but the Italian version is even better!

    Running – Great voice and a great tune. I can see this win on Saturday despite the difficult subject.

    Calm After The Storm – This has grown on me and I like it more and more. Not a winner though.

    Tick-Tock – The performance was maybe too much (can it really be too much in ESC?), but I do love Mariya and her song 🙂

    I’m not surprised that Quera Ser Tua and Mother had to leave the contest. “What were they thinking” 😉

    Keep up the great work at ESC Insight! You’ve made a great show even better! Your podcast which I now have listened to all year is just perfect!

    From Sweden with lots of love // Fredrik

  13. How about the Robot dance on stage to go with the skater for Montenegro?

    Too much? lol

  14. Philip Newton says:

    Brilliant Buscast episode! Please do it again on Thursday! (With a webcam?!)
    Gutted Latvia didn’t make it through though.

  15. Denis McEvoy says:

    Great to hear the buscast back again! Brings back great memories of Oslo 🙂

  16. Seán says:

    Arguably the best podcast on Insight this year…

  17. Shai says:

    Hilarious:)

    BTW:JBJ #7,anyone?

  18. LouiseH says:

    Great buscast!

    I reckon if Axel had got through he would have won it with a deluge of unexpectedly similar but under rated voters, Lordi style.

    But I’m glad it didn’t. Weeeeeird.
    Lx

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