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Eurovision Insight Podcast: Daily Chat From Vienna, Friday 15 May Written by on May 15, 2015 | 7 Comments

Today’s podcast covers the back half of the second semi-final, including the graphical might of Sweden, the artistic delight of Azerbaijan, no Hera Bjork, and the surprise appearance of a wheelchair.

It’s an Insight family panel today, with Ben Robertson and Benny Royston sparring with Ewan in the host’s chair.

Eurovision Insight Podcast: Daily Chat From Vienna, Friday 15 May

Hosted by Ewan Spence, with…

Ben Robertston (ESC Insight).
Benny Royston (ESC Buzz).

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

7 responses to “Eurovision Insight Podcast: Daily Chat From Vienna, Friday 15 May”

  1. Michael Jaker says:

    Loving your work guys! Your effort is greatly appreciated. Really!

    However there was some serious CRAZY talk going on here! Just have to pick up one a few points:

    – Israel have not suffered from televoting. They won the whole thing in 1998 under televoting. They have suffered when they’ve sent poor songs, and done better with stronger songs.

    – The idea that Hera Björk and her amazing charisma as a backing singer would influence the song’s chance is insane fan-talk. Who is going to notice one backing singer and vote for the song because of her???

    – The suggestion that Poland might win ESC 2015 has to go down as the single most ludicrous ESC prediction I have ever heard. It’s not because she’s in a wheelchair that people will vote en masse for such a weak (and generally unpopular) song. I think someone outside of the bubble needs to inject some reality here!

    That said, nothing but support and respect to you all.
    I love listening – keep the madness coming! 😀

  2. togravus says:

    I agree with Michael that you have finally reached the ultimate stage of ESC bubble. 🙂

    Most people sitting in front of their TV sets will see the entries for the first time while knowing absolutely nothing about the artists and the history of ESC. Will they remember Lisa Andreas from 2004? Certainly not, in particular because we have had hundreds of ethno shake shakes, average pop songs and pompous ballads since then, which might make Cyprus stand out as a very special entry this year to the average viewer imo. I am pretty sure that both the German jury and the German televote would support Ireland, Cyprus and Norway much more than Russia f. e. if we talk ballads. Big ballads haven’t been popular here for many years. We only gave 7 points to Conchita f. e. The average viewer won’t mind Maraaya’s headphones either imo. When they see the recap, most people will say: “Look! There’s the girl with the headphones who sang that lovely song.” and vote for it. In the real world the headphones will help to be remembered whereas we fans in the bubble keep contemplating the gimmick until we do not see the wood for the trees anymore and predict possible failure.
    At this point, my money is on Sweden because this entry will look cool to the younger audience and new to the older viewer. However, the juries might kill Måns. Plus, we haven’t seen Australia yet, which might steal enough points from Sweden in Western, Central and Northern Europe to let someone else slip through. Could it be Italy? I hope not!

  3. I agree with Ewan, Eurovision brings so many different opinions because I’m finding mine at odds with almost everything Benny said in this podcast!

    Oh, apart from the Latvian DIana Ross reference…

    Mans won’t be the next Eurovision star as he comes across to me as too much of a smug g**…

    And Monika for Poland IS highlighting her disability on stage bigtime as her wheelchair is clearly visible – if she wanted to hide it, her dress would cover her legs. I have no problem with showing the wheelchair and in fact it does highlight her disability positively but she is NOT hiding it…

    All in all, I think that NO act in SF2 actually showed they had the finished article – unlike SF1, where Greece, Russia and Georgia were ready to go.

  4. Ben Cook says:

    I agree that if any of the 3 favourites win, they will do well. I don’t see as many making a big splash in the UK charts as last year though because streaming has made it a lot more difficult to make top 40. It’s a lot easier to get 10,000 sales than 1,000,000 streams.

    La La Love didn’t chart in the UK btw but it was a big hit in Sweden.

    I really don’t think MZW has a big international career waiting for him, particularly not in the UK. Heroes is a hit, but radio isn’t going to continue to support a Eurovision winner.

  5. Fiona Kenny says:

    Can Azerbaijan in 2011 be described as a surprise winner?

  6. Fatima says:

    I though Ben was a bit snippy about Nadav Guedj, who makes me feel queasy. If he really is 16 then why has he got a frown like Gordon Ramsey and tattoos like a navvy ? And why would he be singing lines like “Did you say hello, my ladies?”

    I also think, sadly, he’s getting carried away with the hit potential of Eurovision songs in the UK. The winning song might be #13 for a week but that would be it then be strangled by the lack of airplay. With Scott Mills being one of those responsible, having had his Eurovision jollies for the year.

  7. Eric Graf says:

    Came here to say what Michael Jaker already said … Israel has gotten the results they deserve for the last several years. The fan community’s constant overrating of their entries is a source of continuing bafflement to me. This year definitely included.

    Speaking of double standards, Nadav, not Bojana or Trijntje, should be the front runner for the Barbara Dex award. He looks absolutely ridiculous.

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