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Welcome to our new podcast series for the summer months. We’re all looking forward to a break, and the ESC Insight crew are jetting in from all over the world to visit Île de Bezençon with their favourite Eurovision related songs and stories.
Ellie Chalkley is on border duty as Lisa-Jayne Lewis takes us all the way from Christer Bjorkman to Conchita Wurst as she argues for her eight songs and a luxury to reach the island.
Eurovision Insight Podcast: Eurovision Castaways, with Lisa-Jayne Lewis
New for the Summer, the ESC Insight crew are off to Île de Bezençon with their favourite Eurovision related songs and stories. First up, Lisa-Jayne Lewis takes us all the way from Christer Bjorkman to Conchita Wurst.
Keep listening to the ESC Insight podcast over the summer for more Eurovision news, fun, and chat. You’ll find the show in iTunes, and a direct RSS feed is also available. We also have a regular email newsletter which you can sign up to here.
Quite an enjoyable and interesting listen.
Some of the songs are not my taste but I admire the conviction behind choosing the songs.
Don’t ask me to choose 8 songs as it would be a difficult task.
Bring on the next podcast 🙂
Interesting and novel idea guys. It could make a good radio show!
More seriously, it got me thinking if I was marooned on a Desert Island what 8 Eurovision songs I would take. Unlike Lisa-Jayne my choice is not based on my own sentimental Eurovision journey (as there isn’t really one), but on my personal favourite songs and performances. After a great deal of thought and replaying a number of Youtube videos (what better way to spend a Saturday night) I came up with the following, in date order:
Maja Keuc, No One (Slovenia 2011)
Rona Nishliu, Suus (Albania 2012)
Pastora Soler, Quedete Conmigo (Spain 2012)
Amandine Bourgeois, L’enfer Et Moi (France 2013)
The Common Linnets, Calm After The Storm (The Netherlands 2014)
Loic Nottet, Rhythm Inside, (Belgium 2015)
Aminata, Love Injected (Latvia 2015)
Nika Kocharov and Young Georgian Lolitaz, Midnight Gold (Georgia 2016)
I would be interested to hear others’ choices. Come on Shai, no shirking the task.🙂
As for my luxury. It would have to be a signed photograph of Ewan.🙂
A very entertaining 45 minute listen there – having met Lisa-Jayne and now having heard that chat, she will be a very tough act to follow for the shows coming up. Good luck to the other castaways, you are going to need it!
Great stories behind the songs selected and its good to know that NF entries are also included!
One question Ellie – you going to approve everyone’s picks? 🙂
@Eurojock – I need to think about it a bit longer. I have around 300 Eurovision songs, which I like/love.
I have narrowed it down to around 20 songs. Narrowing this down to 8 songs, is a hard task and I’m not sure I am up to task.In fact I will need 2 lists of 8 songs, to get all the songs I really want.
TBH:Your list of 8 songs is a bit of a surprise.All songs are from the 2010’s. As if the contest never existed before that area.
Shai – 300 songs on your shortlist. No wonder you’re hesitant about picking your favourites!
My own favourites are all from the 2010s because that’s when I reconnected with the contest. It’s also very much a list based on my own personal preference. I have to confess (and I realise people have been burnt at the stake for far less heretical statements) there is little that I have heard pre 2010 that I have particularly liked.
However, if you or any other contributor can unearth a hidden Eurovision gem from contests in times gone by, I stand ready to repent my sins.
Three times – Riverdance.
Eurojock – You should check Every Eurovision Song(see link below).
Ewan is reviewing every song that has been on stage at Eurovision.
https://everyeurovisionsong.tumblr.com/
He started the project somewhere in 2014 and so far has reviewed around 700 songs. if you press on archive, you can see all the reviews that he made. There are some gems hidden there and Ewan reviews are done with love and dedication I admire.\It’s a good start to the history of Eurovision.
Thank you Shai – I have to admit to dipping in and out of Every Eurovision Song and so far I’ve found one pre-2010 song that would challenge for a place in my top 8 – Magdi Rusza’s Unsubstantial Blues (Hungary 2007). Doubtless there are others of similar quality out there, but I’m not sure I have the stamina to wade through all 700 in order to find them (and this from someone who listened to audio versions of all 24 of this year’s Georgian national final qualifiers – not a task I would wish on anyone!).
So, I will hold on in the hope that someone out there will signpost me to a Eurovision ‘fave’ that I will rate equally highly. Sorry Lisa -Jayne, but Christer Bjorkman and Samantha Janus didn’t quite do it for me. 🙂
Eurojock, Unsubstantial Blues just improves every time you listen to it, good choice.
Try ‘Born To Sing’ Ireland 1978, both live and the studio version… https://everyeurovisionsong.tumblr.com/post/103046119045/ireland-1978-born-to-sing-performed-by-colm and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN5UlYn2Lr8 then google what CT Wilkinson did in the West End after Eurovision. He should be mentioned in the same breath as ABBA and Celine Dion IMO.
Thank you for the pointer to Born to Sing, Ewan. Well – what can I say…Colm might not make my top 8 but this very ‘unique’ performance will live long in the memory. Salvador Sobral seems rather conventional by comparison. Actually, I gather he failed to qualify for Ireland in 1977 with another song ‘There Was A Dream’ which is very good indeed and extremely well sung.
You could see the songs beforehand back in the 1990s – the BBC used to do a review show on a Sunday afternoon, where they showed the videos of the full songs. It lasted until 1993, then in 1994 they just showed short clips (with Peter Snow doing weird ‘swingometer-style’ predictions), then after that they got rid of it. And you could get a ticket to Birmingham – me and my friend filled in a paper form, and if your form got pulled out of the hat you won the right to buy a ticket. One of the questions was ‘would you be interested in meal packages’ and we put ‘yes’ because we thought it would make it more likely we’d get tickets. It didn’t work!