A Tour Of ESC Insight
Welcome to ESC Insight!
Thanks for visiting ESC Insight. Over more than a decade of covering the Eurovision Song Contest, we have expanded our content from a handful of podcasts to the point where we can reach an audience of half a million people through a mix of articles, social media, newsletters, ebooks, video, audio podcasts and radio broadcasts.
Here’s a look at some of the major areas of our site, and links so you can experience some of our favourite articles, interviews, and podcasts.
Articles From Voices Around The World Of Eurovision
While Eurovision is a fast-moving story, there are a lot of daily news sites out there. ESC Insight contributes to the community in a different way. We focus on -depth features and detailed commentary. Think of us as a weekly current affairs magazine, a bit like Newsweek, Time, or The New Statesman.
Some of the highlights of the 2023 National Final season included a look at the importance of Ukraine’s National Final to select a song for Liverpool, the inspirations behind Spain’s Benidorm Fest, and why Finland’s UMK became the must-watch National Final of the year.
We attended Liverpool to cover the Song Contest; highlights here include exploring Liverpool’s role in popular music, the reminders of Ukraine around the Host City, and how Eurovision became the Queen of Cool. ESC Insight explored the story of many artists, including a look at Let 3’s approach to political satire through drag and humour, Käärijä’s journey from illness to national hero, and a deep discussion on Loreen and ‘Tattoo‘.
It should come as no surprise that we analyse the results and statistics of the Song Contest; the unavoidable bias in the running order, the many issues of singing last at the Contest, and the impact of changing the jury/televote split.
We also talked about the community with articles on the joy of discovering National Finals, what you could do if you didn’t get tickets for the live shows, and examining the issues around what the community calls Post-Eurovision Depression.
You can browse our coverage of Liverpool 2023 here.
The Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast
ESC Insight’s core product is our audio podcast. This runs throughout the year, fortnightly over the summer months, weekly during the ‘on-season’ period of September-April, and daily from the Press Centre.
For most of the year, it runs in a magazine format, with news headlines, short discussions, and musical performances. During the two weeks of rehearsals in May it switches to the discussion panel format, hosted by ESC Insight’s Fin Ross Russell and featuring contributors from ESC Insight and other noted Eurovision voices.
Listen to our recent podcast episodes on the website, or find us in iTunes.
Juke Box Jury
In the weeks running up to the semi-finals and finals, we preview each country’s song in our Juke Box Jury format, with lively discussions between two judges and host Ewan Spence before rating each song as hit, miss, or maybe.
Here’s the final episode of the 2023 season, where we review the songs from Germany, Azerbaijan, San Marino, Austria, and Portugal. You can find all of the Juke Box Jury podcasts here.
Interview And Discussion Podcasts
Our interview series, Chat Over Coffee, allows us the chance to sit down and explore the Eurovision Song Contest with a single guest for an extended-length show. You might find the ESC Insight team talking about the issues of the day, such as Liverpool winning the Host City bid; a deep dive into a song with one of the composers, or a wide-ranging interview with one of Eurovision’s longest-serving commentators.
We Hope You’ll Come Back!
We’ve brought you a flavour of ESC Insight here but we have more to offer; annual guide books to the Song Contest performers, collaborating with other community sites to conduct the Eurovision Audience Poll, our broadcasts on FM, AM, Shortwave, and DAB digital radio around the world, daily podcasts from the host city, and newsletters.
ESC Insight is updated regularly every week of the year, so you’ll always find something when you visit us.
Oh and the site was started by Sharleen and Ewan, but there are many contributors who make up the site. Think of us as the curators