128 Bordspel Transcript === [00:00:00] Dave: 1972 als 1973? [00:00:09] Mike: What is the verb in the sentence? [00:00:11] Ben: Hello, and welcome to the Eurowhat? Episode number 128 for the week of August 16th, 2021. I'm Ben Smith. And I'm joined today by Mike McComb. Hey, Mike. [00:00:35] Mike: Goedendag. [00:00:36] Ben: And our special guest, Dave Steeves. Hey, Dave. [00:00:38] Dave: Hi. [00:00:39] Ben: We are a group of Americans trying to make sense of the Eurovision song contest. And this week we'll be saying "dank je wel aan nederland" by play-testing the Eurovision board game. How's it going everybody? [00:00:47] Dave: I'm completely blanking on every Dutch word I ever learned from Duolingo. [00:00:51] Ben: By the time that this is actually getting released, I will have passed the 700 day mark and I just do not feel confident right [00:01:00] now. [00:01:00] Dave: I'm fully transitioned to Italian once Italy won. [00:01:03] Mike: Yeah, same here. Like I had started Dutch, I think probably the day that Netherlands won Eurovision in 2019 and promptly switched over to Italian the day that Måneskin won. So it was just like, no I'll stick with the Dutch and yeah, that didn't happen. Italian's easier. I'm much more comfortable with the syntax. [00:01:23] Ben: Friendship ended with Dutch Duolingo. Italian Duolingo is my new friend. Dave, welcome back to the show. [00:01:28] Dave: Thanks. It's good to be back. [00:01:30] Ben: It's great to have you here DM-ing this. Also Mike, where are we DMing things? [00:01:34] Mike: Okay. So I take 100% responsibility for this idea. This is either going to be the best idea or the worst idea. Past guest of the show Ryan Brazell messaged us to let us know that they were cleaning out their house and trying to get rid of a couple of things. And one of them was a copy of the Eurovision board game. They picked it up, I think it was as soon as it was announced, in 2018. It's not that the trivia is [00:02:00] super obscure, but if you're playing with friends who are very casual, Eurovision fans as in, they attend your annual Eurovision party, and that is the extent of their participation, the trivia's a little too difficult. Anyway, Ryan contacted us and he was like, Hey, do either of you want a copy of this? And I was like, sure, just as a collector's item, it could be fun. When it arrived, opened it up, rifled through a couple of the question cards that were already opened. When I flipped to the other side of one of the cards, I noticed that some of the questions were in Dutch. I know that all three of us had been doing Duolingo Dutch in preparation for going to Eurovision 2020, and then maybe 2021. And that didn't work out for reasons. But we don't want that to go to waste. So I thought it might be fun to play through the game, see what it's like as a game, and just for an added layer of challenge and to enrage our Benelux listeners, we would try to play it in Dutch. Sorry. [00:02:59] Ben: Just [00:03:00] apologies in advance. My Dutch accent is horrible. This is going to be fun. Also, I do like that somehow the people making the board game knew that the Netherlands was going to host soon. [00:03:10] Mike: I didn't actually look into if the company that made this is a Dutch company and that's why it's in English and Dutch. If anything, I would have expected it to be English and French. [00:03:18] Dave: Checking at the back now and I'm seeing some very Dutch names. There is more than one Geert. [00:03:25] Mike: Okay. We are going to do a play through of this game. And as a bonus for our Patreon listeners, we're recording this on video so you can watch us play through this and struggle with the Dutch language. [00:03:41] Ben: Our general comprehension of the Dutch language. [00:03:43] Mike: That's a nice little bonus if you subscribe to our Patreon channel, which you can find at patreon.com/eurowhat. [00:03:51] Dave will be running the game. So he has the game board, the dice all the pieces. He will be managing all of that and asking us the questions. [00:04:00] Ben and I are in separate locations. Yeah, I think that's all of the mechanics. Dave, do you want to take us through the basic setup of what we're doing here? [00:04:08] Eurovision Song Contest: The Board Game --- [00:04:08] Dave: Sure. The goal of the game is to complete Eurovision song contest entries for the two countries that you are sponsoring. To complete the entry you need costume, an instrument, a song, and a stage. Each of them has a number value, but they also have different icons and those corresponds to different musical genres. For example, a Cello goes great with Jazz... I dunno. The more that you have in the same category, the more bonus points you get at the end. We move on to the final round once somebody has completed entries for both of their countries as long as the other person has completed at least one country. So you can't have a complete blowout going into the finals. Roll a die, and move around the board, but unlike Trivial Pursuit, there are no categories of questions. They're all in one big stack, so I'm just drawing from one pile for everything. The [00:05:00] colors of the spaces tell you whether you're getting a costume or an instrument, or what have you if you get the question right. You only take one turn. You get a card if you're right. You don't get a card if you're wrong. And then the play passes to the next person. But for the most part, you're just rolling a die and then you're going to where you go. So, wie ist de jongste? [00:05:20] Ben: I'm assuming that's who is the younger person playing? [00:05:23] Dave: Yes. [00:05:24] Ben: That would be me. [00:05:25] Dave: Okay. [00:05:26] Ben: It's me. I am baby. [00:05:27] Dave: And you are the white pawn. [00:05:29] Ben: Yes. Should we talk about what countries we have chosen? Because we have gone completely expected. Dave had already preselected the Iceland one for me. And in addition, I will be representing the most serene Republic of San Marino. [00:05:40] Mike: Ukraine was set aside for me. And I'm also going to be representing Spain because I want to throw them a bone. [00:05:47] Dave: So let's begin. Ben gets a one. That puts you on the orange for a chance to get a stage. [00:05:55] Ben: Yes. [00:05:56] Dave: Hoe heet het winnende nummer van [00:06:00] 2014: Heroes; Rise Like a Phoenix; Calm After the Storm; or Not Alone? [00:06:07] Ben: Okay. I think that it's asking me who came number one in 2013. So I'm going to go with "Heroes." [00:06:15] Dave: I'm sorry. It was "Rise Like a Phoenix." [00:06:18] Ben: Oh man. Oh man. Yeah. [00:06:21] Mike: I thought 2013 as well. None of those. Oh yeah. But then none of those choices for 2013 and that's why I started panicking. [00:06:28] Ben: Yeah. [00:06:30] Dave: Going into this, I don't know if it helps or hurts that I am not a native Dutch speaker. There's a good chance. I'm mispronouncing everything the same way you guys do. [00:06:37] Mike: Well, it's adding to the challenge of the game. I feel like we should be well-versed in some of these questions. [00:06:41] Ben: Particularly the numbers. [00:06:43] Mike: Yeah. Duolingo does not like how I say any of the numbers. [00:06:46] Ben: If it's above 10, I'm doing something wrong, but it won't tell me what. [00:06:51] Dave: All right, Mike, I'm rolling for you. You got a five. Going for blue, going for a costume. [00:07:00] Wie zei "I can't sing no more, thank you" bij de reprise van zijn winnende nummer? This is not multiple choice. This is open. [00:07:09] Ben: Oh no, there are essay questions. [00:07:12] Dave: Oh yeah, I should point out there are multiple choice, open and photo questions. And the photo questions I believe are also not in multiple choice. [00:07:21] Mike: Okay. So it has an essay question. Webster defines. Could you repeat the question. [00:07:28] Dave: Wie zei "I can't sing no more, thank you" bij de reprise van zijn winnende nummer? [00:07:34] Mike: I have no idea what this is asking. [00:07:36] Ben: I think I know what it's asking. I just don't know the answer to the question. [00:07:38] Mike: Yeah. I think it's asking who saying what is the title? The English part. What is, [00:07:44] Dave: The English part is I can't sing no more. Thank you. [00:07:48] Mike: I can't sing no more. Thank you. Oh, wait. No. Who said that in their winner's reprise. Wow. I have no idea. This might be before [00:08:00] time. Not in a _Pointless_ sense. Oh goodness. Let's go with ABBA just to move this along. [00:08:11] Dave: Johnny Logan. I will not be doing accents, by the way. All right, Ben, two is blue going for a costume. In welk jaar deden er Twee Michelles mee? This is multiple choice. 2000 2001, 2002, 1999. [00:08:33] Ben: In what year were there Three Michelles. I'm just going to take a stab at it and go for 2001. [00:08:38] Dave: That is correct. [00:08:39] Ben: Yes! On the board. [00:08:41] Dave: So your costume can be Torn, it can be Hippie, or it could be Baggy. Baggy is worth 80 points. It's good for Electronica or R&B. Hippie is 75. It's good for Folk or Reggae. And Torn is only 70, but it is good for Rock, Pop, or [00:09:00] Latin, I think. [00:09:02] Ben: Okay. I want to go with Torn. I'm going to assign that to San Marino. I feel like they can work well with that. [00:09:08] Dave: All right, Mike. I think you're about to get on the board. Wie won met "Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi"? Was it Lara Fabian, Sandra Kim, Patricia Kaas, or Celine Dion? [00:09:20] Mike: They made that one multiple choice? [00:09:24] Dave: There are also three levels of difficulty. This is a 1. [00:09:28] Mike: Okay. All right. That is fair. Who won with that song? I don't think it was Lara Fabian. What were the other three choices? Just kidding, it's Celine Dion. [00:09:40] Dave: Okay. you have a clear choice here. There is the wild card that is also worth the most points. [00:09:45] Mike: Yeah, that's the one that I wanted. Let's do that with Spain. [00:09:48] Dave: All right, Ben, six. Maak af: "My Number..." blank. [00:09:55] Ben: I'm assuming this is fill in the title I'm going to go with "My Number One."[00:10:00] [00:10:00] Dave: That's right. I looked up "blank," it is a cognate. So you are getting a stage for one of your contestants. They're all worth 65. You can go Dream, which has lots of options. You can go with Flowers, which has lots of options, or you can go with Traditional, which is just Folk or Reggae. [00:10:19] Ben: Or Reggae. [00:10:21] Mike: Icelandic Reggae! Icelandic Raggae! [00:10:23] Ben: Oh man. Do not tempt me. I'm going to give Iceland Dream. Why? Because I'm trying to recreate "Is It True." [00:10:31] Dave: Mike again with a one puts you on pink for a song. Noem het duo: Sandra & blank. [00:10:40] Mike: Oh no. Yeah, I have no reference point for this one. Let's pick a name. Sandra and Bob. [00:10:51] Dave: Sandra and Andres. [00:10:53] Mike: Okay. Okay. [00:10:55] Dave: Ben gets a five. All [00:11:00] right. You are on blue. Welke songfestivalenklassieker zong de groep Mocedades in... here we go again. [00:11:12] Ben: It's fine. I know it's like roughly, I think it's 1972. This is "Eres Tu." [00:11:16] Dave: This is "Eres Tu." Yes. [00:11:18] Ben: Everyone's favorite Spanish class exercise, listening to "Eres Tu." Yeah. [00:11:24] Dave: All right. So you get a costume for Iceland. You can go with Streetwear, which has 70 points and has lots of things that go with it. Hippie is 75. It's only got two options. Baggy has 80, also only two options. [00:11:38] Ben: I'm gonna go with Streetwear. This is turning into Euroband "This is My Life" and I'm here for it. [00:11:44] Dave: Mike goes to orange for a stage, multiple choice. In welk jaar werd voor het eerst het 12 punten system gebruikt? 1995, 1985, [00:12:00] 1975, 1965. [00:12:01] Mike: I believe that's asking when was the 12 point system introduced and that was in 1975. [00:12:09] Dave: That's correct. [00:12:10] Ben: Excellent. [00:12:11] Dave: So you get a stage for somebody. You can get Flowers, which has many options, but it's only 65. Traditional is 65, but only has two options. And Disco for 80 points, but only good for Disco, Salsa, or Latin Pop or whatever. [00:12:27] Mike: I'm tempted to do flowers for Ukraine. Cause that works well for them this year. So yeah, let's do that. [00:12:32] Dave: Okay. Ben, orange. Welke zanger(es) won het Songfestival in 1960? Jean-Claude Pascal, Rudi Carrell, Jacqueline Boyer, Teddy Scholten. [00:12:50] Ben: That is, I think, who won the song contest in zestig. Okay. We're just going to title this episode [00:13:00] "Numbers are the Problem" aren't we? Okay, "zestig" is either going to be 60 or 70. What were my options again? [00:13:08] Dave: Jean-Claude Pascal, Rudi Carrell, Jacqueline Boyer, Teddy Scholten. [00:13:13] Ben: Let's go with Jacqueline. [00:13:15] Dave: That is correct. [00:13:16] Ben: That was a guess! [00:13:18] Dave: So now you get a stage for San Marino. You can have Disco for 80 points, but only two different choices. If you can somehow pull Salsa out of that, that would go great. But if not, Urban for 65 has lots of options and Traditional is also 65, but it only has Reggae and Folk as an option. [00:13:39] Ben: Okay. And remind me what I already pulled for San Marino. I believe I pulled the Torn costume. [00:13:44] Dave: Yes. So you have two different things, actually, all three mesh well with Urban. [00:13:49] Ben: Okay, I'm going to go with Urban, I think. "Adrenalina" worked well for them which is sort of half Latin, half urban. [00:13:57] Dave: All right, Mike, goes five. [00:14:00] Going for pink. Hoping for a song for Ukraine. Voor welk land won "Severine" het Songfestival? Monaco, West-Duitsland, Luxemburg, Frankrijk. [00:14:13] Mike: Okay. What country had the song "Severine"? I think this is one of those songs that pops up on the ESC 250 every year. And it's the only one from that year that's present. I think it's Monaco. [00:14:27] Dave: That is correct. [00:14:28] Mike: Yay. [00:14:29] Dave: A song for Ukraine. You can go with Electronic for 70. Reggae works well for you. Reggae is the only one out of the three that matches what you already have. And it's also worth the most points. [00:14:42] Mike: Yeah. I cannot pass that up. [00:14:45] Ben: I'm trying to think of a reggae song in the history of the contest. [00:14:50] Mike: I know Finland had one. [00:14:51] Dave: Ben, you are moving three. You're going for another costume. You have costumes for both of yours, but if you get this right, you can [00:15:00] swap for a better costume. [00:15:01] Ben: What are the fan blogs going to say? [00:15:03] Dave: Welk land won met "Rock 'n' Roll Kids"? Ierland, Polen, Noorwegen, or Verenigd Koninkrijk. [00:15:13] Ben: I am not quite sure what that last nation is in Dutch. But that would be "Rock 'n' Roll Kids", and I'm pretty sure that's one of the entries that's in the three years that Ireland kept winning. I think it's Ireland. [00:15:25] Dave: That's correct. So if you would like to upgrade your costume, you can go with Bridal, which is only good for love songs in spite of what you may have seen with "Hey Mamma". You're doing well with Iceland for your costume. For San Marino, the Baggy costume would be worth more points and mesh at least as well. [00:15:46] Ben: I'm gonna stick with my instincts and I'm going to leave things as they are. [00:15:50] Mike: Not going to overproduce your entry? [00:15:51] Ben: No. Again, what would the fan blog say? "They've changed their costume for the second time." [00:15:58] Dave: Mike, you are going for your first [00:16:00] costume. Welk land won met "I Wanna"? Litouwen, Estland, Letland, Polen. [00:16:08] Mike: Oh, okay. Who had the song "I Wanna". I'll go with Letland. [00:16:13] Dave: Letland is correct. So you are getting a costume. You can have Bridal, Hippie, or Baggy. [00:16:22] Mike: And this is for Spain? [00:16:23] Dave: This is for either one. If you want something to match with Ukraine's Reggae, you can go with Hippie. And then Spain, anything goes. [00:16:31] Mike: We know that. [00:16:32] Ben: It often does. [00:16:33] Mike: So if it's anything goes which one has the most points, or are they all... [00:16:38] Dave: Bridal and Baggy are both worth 80. [00:16:40] Mike: I will go Baggy for Spain. [00:16:46] Dave: Ben gets a five, going for pink. Wie zong "Zwei Kleine Italiener" en werd daarmee slechts zesde? I am saying these things and I don't [00:17:00] know what they are. [00:17:02] Ben: Which song is a little Italian and something about 60. Maybe? I do not know. [00:17:09] Dave: The answer is Connie Froboess. "Zwei Kleine Italiener" two little Italians. [00:17:14] Ben: Two little Italians. Okay. [00:17:16] Dave: My German is slightly less awful than my Dutch. All right. Photo. In welk jaar won dit land het Songfestival? [00:17:30] Mike: In which year did this country win. [00:17:35] Dave: It is three horizontal stripes, red over blue over white. And then there is a coat of arms with a crown and a two-headed white bird of some sort with a shield over it. [00:17:45] Mike: Okay. And they're asking for the year? [00:17:48] Dave: In welk jaar. [00:17:49] Mike: Sorry, they're asking for the jaar. My mistake. I think that is the flag for Serbia and they won [00:18:00] Eurovision in 2007. [00:18:02] Dave: You are right on all counts. [00:18:04] Mike: Yes. [00:18:05] Dave: You are getting a stage for Spain. You can have a Bright Light, you can have a Disco, or you can have a Traditional. Things that match up with the costume that you have would be the Bright Light, and only the Bright Light. [00:18:20] Ben: You get one bright light. [00:18:21] Mike: Yes, I will head toward the light. [00:18:25] Dave: Ben is getting green. Finally, somebody could get an instrument. I don't think we've seen one yet. Hoe heet het winnende nummer van 2000? No Goodbyes, Fly on the Wings of Love, Everybody, My Star. [00:18:39] Ben: I'm so glad that this has multiple choice on it because I know what year it is, but I don't remember who. That would be "Fly on the Wings of Love" from Denmark, I think. [00:18:46] Dave: That's right. So you are getting an instrument. And that is a Cello, which is good for Jazz, Classical, or Electronica. A Flute, which is good for Latin, Reggae, Folk, or [00:19:00] Pop. Or a Bongo. A single Bongo. For Folk, Reggae, or Electronic. Flute is worth less than the other two. [00:19:10] Mike: Sorry, Tinkara. [00:19:12] Ben: [00:19:12] Oh, okay. I'm going to give Iceland a Cello. [00:19:16] Dave: Okay. Yeah. You've got a trio of Electronic right now for Iceland, so that's nice. [00:19:21] Ben: I have now decided I am aiming for a fun Euro dance remix of "Is It True." [00:19:25] Dave: Five for Mike. You are also going for an instrument. Maak af: "Zwei Kleine...". [00:19:35] Mike: Zwei Kleine blank? Okay, so that's two small. Oh, goodness. Uh, "paarden." [00:19:47] Dave: Italiener. [00:19:48] Ben: Italiener. We just discussed this five minutes ago. It's Two Small Italians. Conny Froboess's immortal classic. [00:19:58] Dave: Ben, you [00:20:00] are on pink going for a song. Welk land heeft het Songfestival van 2007 gewonnen? [00:20:09] Ben: Serbia. [00:20:10] Dave: That's right. [00:20:11] Ben: I would like Electronica for Iceland please. [00:20:13] Dave: All right. So you have completed your first country. Mike gets a six, another shot at a green. [00:20:21] Mike: I hope it's a question that we've already had because that worked well last time. [00:20:25] Dave: Welk land won het Songfestival zowel in 1972 als 1973? [00:20:39] Mike: What is the verb in the sentence? [00:20:43] Dave: "Won." [00:20:43] Mike: "Won," okay. it was held in the UK in 74 because they didn't want to host again in 73. Was that Luxembourg? [00:20:53] Dave: That is Luxembourg. [00:20:54] Mike: Yes. [00:20:55] Dave: You are getting an instrument. Spain could complete [00:21:00] or Ukraine also needs an instrument. So we've got a Piano. If you want what's good for reggae for Ukraine, that would be either a Flute or a Bongo, worth 65 or 75. Piano is only worth 65 and it is not good for Reggae. [00:21:13] Mike: Which one is 75? [00:21:14] Dave: 75 is the Bongo. [00:21:16] Mike: Okay. I will go with the Bongo for Reggae, I guess. Yeah, it's getting weird Ukraine. Oh, I cannot wait for this VidBir. [00:21:28] Dave: Ben gets a two. Going for blue. Hoe vaak won Ierland het Songfestival? I'm just going to do this one in English: seven times, six times, eight times, five times. [00:21:41] Ben: That would be how many times has Ireland won the song contest? [00:21:44] Dave: Remember, this is as of 2017. [00:21:49] Ben: I need to think very carefully. Strike from the record how they have done in the past few years and think about just how many times they've won. Seven times. [00:21:58] Dave: That is correct. So [00:22:00] again, you can swap a costume if you'd like, although not much has changed. There's now a Suit that's worth 80 points that is good for Electronica, Classical, or Jazz. [00:22:09] Ben: San Marino currently has Torn. [00:22:11] Dave: But their stage is good for R&B, Pop, Electronica, Latin, or Rock. So there's one overlap with Suit that will get you 10 extra points. It's up to you if you want to take that chance. [00:22:24] Ben: I think I'm going to leave it as is. I still have not decided whether Sehnit, Valentina, or Serhat is representing San Marino in this fictional contest we are creating. [00:22:33] Dave: Mike gets a six. In welk jaar was er een audiovoorronde? [00:22:40] Mike: In what year was there an audio some thing. [00:22:46] Dave: Okay. I'm going to change my pronunciation a little bit. Now that I know what that means. In welk jaar was er een audiovoorronde? It probably won't help at all, but I will feel better about my pronunciation. [00:22:56] 1999, 1993, 1996, [00:23:00] 2004. [00:23:01] Mike: What weirdness happened in those given years. I'm thinking it might be like audio fore round. So like semi-final but it seems like semi-final would be the word there, but that's the logic train I'm going to hop on right now. So let's go with 2004. [00:23:18] Dave: You are right about what it means, but it was 1996. Preliminaries is what Google translate calls it. [00:23:24] Mike: Oh, right. I think that was the year that they had a preliminary round, but it was demo tapes rather than it being a staged competition. Okay. [00:23:33] Dave: All right, Ben, you got a four which puts you on green, which you do need an instrument for San Marino. Feel good about this one too. Wie won met "Fairytale"? Alexander Rybak, Lena, Dima Bilan, or Hadise. [00:23:48] Ben: Oh, man, I need to think about this one. I'm just kidding. I don't. It's Alexander Rybak. [00:23:54] Dave: And your instruments choices for San Marino are a Flute, a Guitar, or a [00:24:00] Piano. They're all worth 65. You can just as easily go Rock, Pop, or Latin and all of these are good for two of the three. Flute is good for Latin and Pop. Guitar is good for Rock and Latin. And Piano is good for Latin and Pop. [00:24:19] Ben: Let's go for the Guitar. [00:24:21] Dave: All you need is a style for San Marino. [00:24:27] Mike: Good luck. [00:24:31] Dave: Mike gets a one. Wat zong Edsilia Rombley toen ze in 2007 opnieuw mee deed? [00:24:41] Mike: Cause she competed twice. Which song... was that the year that she did Heaven and Earth? Hemel en Aarde? [00:24:47] Dave: The answer is in English. [00:24:48] Mike: Then it's probably not Heaven and Earth. [00:24:50] [00:24:50] it's the other one. [00:24:52] Dave: "On Top of the World." [00:24:53] Mike: Okay. [00:24:54] Dave: Ben gets a three. Met welk nummer [00:25:00] won Secret Garden? You Raise Me Up, Étude, 24 Words, nocturne. [00:25:05] Ben: Which song of these was by Secret Garden. You Raise Me Up, all I have right now is the terrible Charlotte Church, Josh Groban, deal. So that's probably not it. I think it's Nocturne. [00:25:18] Dave: It is Nocturne. [00:25:19] Ben: It's Nocturne. [00:25:20] Dave: So you already have both of your oranges. You can switch to a Disco, a Traditional, or Romantic stage if you want. Oh definitely shouldn't for Iceland. [00:25:29] Ben: Yeah, I'm gonna leave Iceland alone. [00:25:30] Dave: And for San Marino, you could switch to Romantic or Disco and get more points and they still go pretty well with what you've got. [00:25:41] Ben: Yeah. Let's switch over to Disco for San Marino. [00:25:43] Mike: It worked for Serhat. [00:25:45] Ben: It worked for Serhat, so here we go. The internet has yelled and it is now a Disco version of the song. [00:25:52] Dave: Mike gets a six. Voor welk land deed Hari Mata Hari mee? België, Servië, [00:26:00] Bosnië and Herzegovina, Nederland. [00:26:03] Mike: What country sent Hari Mata Hari. I'm grateful that it's multiple choice cause I think I would've guessed Croatia and that is not one of the choices. I don't think it was Serbia. So I'm going to go with Bosnia Herzegovina. [00:26:14] Dave: That is correct. [00:26:15] Ben: Nice. [00:26:16] Dave: Okay. So you are getting an instrument for Spain. Flute, a Piano, or an Accordion. [00:26:23] Mike: Please tell me the accordion does something. [00:26:27] Dave: You want Electronica or R&B. [00:26:31] Neither is found on any of these cards. So I would say, go with the Accordion because that's worth the most points. [00:26:37] Mike: Let's do it. [00:26:38] Dave: Alright. So you have completed Spain. So each of you is only one card away from sending us to the Finals. Three for Ben [00:26:46] Mike: Ukraine or San Marino may not qualify. [00:26:49] Dave: Wie won met "All Kinds of Everything"? The New Seekers, Dana International, Johnny Logan, Dana. [00:26:57] Ben: I like that I have my choice of Dana or Dana international. [00:26:59] Mike: [00:27:00] Dana International or Dana Domestic? [00:27:05] Ben: All jokes about Danas aside, I do believe it is just Dana, Domestic, as it were. [00:27:10] Dave: That is correct. So you can swap out an instrument, if you like. San Marino could get a Flute, a Piano, or a Bagpipe. I don't think I recommend really any of those. [00:27:29] Mike: Therefore, you should go with the Bagpipe. [00:27:31] Ben: I know that it's not recommended, but also I really want to do it. I'm just going to wake up and choose violence. I'm going to give San Marino the Bagpipe. I'm not playing to win. I'm playing to have fun. [00:27:44] Dave: Mike gets a one. Wie won met "Puppet on a String"? Lulu, Cliff Richard, Sandie Shaw, Olivia Newton-John. [00:27:55] Mike: Sandie Shaw. [00:27:56] Dave: And that is a completion of your [00:28:00] second. [00:28:01] Ben: Apologies to San Marino, we will not see the Bagpipe number in the final. [00:28:05] Mike: Ukrainian Reggae! [00:28:09] Dave: Ukrainian Reggae with Hippie costumes is my recommendation. That will give you a perfect set for Reggae. [00:28:17] Mike: Oh, this is going to be a nightmare. [00:28:19] The Grand Final --- [00:28:19] Dave: Everybody does make the finals, even though San Marino is doing some kind of free form. [00:28:24] Ben: It's doing some sort of free form spoken word piece. It's a dramatic reading. [00:28:31] Dave: Iceland is sending an electronic cello featuring a dream stage and streetwear. Ukraine is sending reggae with flowers and hippie costumes and a bongo. [00:28:42] Ben: I'm just realizing I might have recreated "10 Years." [00:28:47] Dave: And Spain is sending baggy costumes, bright lights, an accordion, and every kind of genre. Whichever country has the highest total at the end of the bonus round... [00:28:58] Ben: Will win the Eurovision Song [00:29:00] Contest. [00:29:00] Dave: Yes. So I'm going to start turning over these bonus cards. Each of them will have the option to be won by one of the countries. You can accept it or you can decline it. And we keep going until somebody has taken three cards for each of their entries. Each of these cards is worth either eight, 10 or 12 points, so there's no reason to pass up a 12 pointer, you're not going to get any better than that. All right. The first one is: lowest instrument points. So the bagpipes are the lowest pointed instrument. So Ben, you can take eight points if you want. [00:29:32] Ben: I accept. [00:29:33] Dave: Next up is lowest points. I am thinking that's also going to be San Marino. Yeah, it's definitely. [00:29:43] Ben: 12 points to San Marino. [00:29:44] Mike: Wow. The first one of the night. [00:29:46] Ben: The first one of the night, everyone in the arena is screaming. [00:29:50] Dave: Next one goes to best pop. So the highest total with a pop icon on it... so that would go to Spain if you want it, but it's only eight points, Mike. [00:29:58] Mike: I'm going to pass [00:29:59] Dave: [00:30:00] Three of the same icons. Iceland does, Ukraine does, and Spain does. It's worth 10 points. If both of you want this, then we would just roll a die or flip a coin or something. So would anybody like to pass on this? [00:30:14] Ben: I'm gonna pass.. [00:30:16] Dave: [00:30:16] So Mike, if you want to, you can put it with either of them because both of your entries have at least three of the same. [00:30:21] Mike: I will put it with Spain. [00:30:22] Dave: Best rock. That's going to be Spain. That's worth 10 points also. [00:30:27] Mike: Sure. [00:30:28] Dave: Highest costume points. That is also going to be Spain, if you want it that is worth 10 points. [00:30:33] Mike: Yeah, let's just close out Spain. [00:30:35] Dave: Okay. Best disco. Oh, it's definitely the disco stage from San Marino. It's worth 10 points if you want it. [00:30:41] Ben: Yes. Let's close out San Marino. [00:30:43] Dave: Okay. So now it's only Iceland and Ukraine competing for these. And remember, once one of them gets three we're done. So you might want to be a little bit more aggressive taking these. Highest stage points. 65 for each of them, would either of you like to pass on the 10 pointer? [00:30:59] Ben: I would like [00:31:00] it for Iceland. [00:31:00] Mike: I'll pass. [00:31:01] Dave: Lowest song points. That is Iceland, and it's 12 points. [00:31:06] Ben: I'll take it. [00:31:07] Dave: Two of the same icons. That would be either one of these. So it's worth eight points if either of you wants it. [00:31:12] Ben: I'm gonna pass. [00:31:13] Mike: I'm going to pass. [00:31:14] Dave: Best classical. There's a cello worth 75. So that would be the best for Iceland. If you want it it's worth eight points and it ends the game. [00:31:23] Ben: I'm going to pass. [00:31:24] Dave: Best R and B. That is Iceland. [00:31:27] Mike: Iceland what is going on? [00:31:29] Dave: That is worth 10 points if you want it. [00:31:31] Ben: I'm going to end the game and take it. Let's see how well Ukrainian reggae did. [00:31:36] Mike: I mean, they barely qualified. They almost lost to San Marino. [00:31:43] Dave: All right, I'm going to do Spain first since you closed them out first. Spain has three of a kind so starting with 10 points there. You have three 80 pointers and a 75. So it should be 325, and then add in the 30 for your bonus cards. So that makes [00:32:00] 355. [00:32:01] Ben: Strong placement on the board to start. [00:32:03] Dave: Second to finish was San Marino. You have two of a kind, which gives you five points, plus 70 and 80 and a 65. So that's 220. And then you've got an eight, a 12 and a 10. So that's 250. [00:32:18] Third to finish was Iceland. Iceland has all four electronica, so that's worth 20 points off the top. Then two 70s, a 75, and 65. So that is a total 300 there. And then 32 points in bonus cards. 332. [00:32:38] And finally Ukraine has all reggae for a total of 20. Plus three 75 and a 65. So that is 310. All right. And no bonuses. [00:32:52] Mike: San Marino finished with 250 points. Ukraine had 310. Iceland had 332 [00:33:00] and Spain from out of nowhere with 355 points. [00:33:04] Dave: Here's a thing I didn't think I'd be saying: congratulations to Spain for whenever the Eurovision Song Contest. Yes. [00:33:11] Ben: Barcelona 2022~ .~ [00:33:12] Review: did we like the Eurovision Board Game? --- [00:33:12] Mike: ~All right.~ So that was the game. What did we think? [00:33:15] Dave: [00:33:15] I enjoyed it. [00:33:16] Ben: As someone who read through the rules before we did this recording multiple times and did not quite follow them, this worked better than I expected. [00:33:23] Mike: I would agree with that. Yeah. Yeah. and I think that there is this fun element of being able to bring in our various biases but then knowing how these countries operate. I think that did add a lot of fun to constructing these entries. [00:33:36] Ben: I did not aim for a San Marino win. There's bagpipes. I need to see bagpipes on the stage with San Marino. [00:33:41] Mike: I would like to try this again sometime in English, because I think that would make things move a little bit more smoothly. But for the purposes of the show, I think the Dutch element was fine. [00:33:52] Dave: I would not want to do this again in Dutch. If there were an Italian version, I'd jump all over that. I [00:34:00] can think of several other languages I would rather be doing this in. Sorry, Netherlands. [00:34:06] Ben: I'm just now picturing the chaos that would be the home game version of Sanremo. Seven hours long. There's just a part where you'd have to give one of the people playing a microphone that has a vocoder attached to it and they have to noodle around with it for 10 minutes to get the points. [00:34:24] Mike: And rather than a Taboo buzzer, it just starts booing. [00:34:31] Dave: You have to take a break in the middle to play a completely different game for two hours. [00:34:37] Mike: Oh, yeah. You'd have to play this over the course of five days. [00:34:40] Ben: One day's entirely cover songs, somehow. [00:34:43] Mike: Have any of you ever played Diplomacy? I think that's how that game is supposed to work. I thought the trivia was a pretty decent mix. I think there needs to be a little bit more variety in the trivia. [00:34:56] Ben: There were two separate questions about "Two Little Italians." [00:34:59] Dave: They're [00:35:00] gigantic stacks of questions. That was just a coincidence, but there were a lot of questions of the same structure. And all the cards do have a star indicating how difficult they are. So you can adjust the skill level, depending on who you're playing with. [00:35:13] Mike: I think this worked out much better than I was expecting it to. I budgeted this taking four hours, both with the language limitation that we put on ourselves and how the rules set us up. [00:35:25] Ben: Yeah. That's up to set us up because if it's the third Thursday in a month ending in R, you are permitted to take one token. [00:35:32] Mike: This was much more straightforward and I would be happy to play this again sometime. [00:35:36] Ben: Yes, but in English. [00:35:38] Mike: Anything else about the game? [00:35:40] Dave: There's not a whole lot to the board. So I don't think people are missing much if they don't have a clear view of it. [00:35:46] Mike: Yeah. I guess that is one element. Once you have your stage or whatever category filled out, then it does seem kind of like, oh, okay, I landed on orange, I don't need an orange. And there doesn't [00:36:00] seem to be much incentive to switch things up unless there's like a drastic score change. But it seems like the points are bunched together in a way that inflates the scores a little bit but there's not really that much of a difference between a 65 and a 70, if everything is 65 and 70. Dave, thank you so much for being our dungeon master for this particular dungeon. [00:36:21] Ben: I cast magic missile. [00:36:23] Mike: We will add this to our bag of holding. Dave. Do you have anything that you'd like to plug? [00:36:28] Dave: Oh, I got nothin'. Minimal online presence. [00:36:34] Ben: That's going to do it for this episode of the Eurowhat. Thanks for listening. The Eurowhat Podcast is hosted by Ben Smith, that's me, and Mike McComb. [00:36:41] Mike: That's me. You can follow the Eurowhat on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the podcast app of your choice. If you'd like to support the show or get access to the full video of this playthrough, check out our Patreon at patreon.com/eurowhat. [00:36:56] Ben: Show notes are in the description of this episode and on our website at eurowhat.com. [00:37:00] If you'd like to contact us, we're @eurowhat on Twitter, or you can email eurowhatpodcast@gmail.com. [00:37:05] Mike: Next time on the Eurowhat, we celebrate the Eurovision new year by exploring our host country Italy with our special guest Bradley Dalton-Oates.