238 Vacay === [00:00:00] Mike: perhaps it is extreme optimism on their part where it's just like, Oh, nothing bad will ever happen. It's like, Oh, honey Hello and welcome to the Eurowhat, episode 238, dropping on July 30th, 2024. We are a pair of Americans trying to make sense of the Eurovision Song Contest. I'm Mike McComb, and I'm here with my co host, Ben Smith. Hey Ben! [00:00:34] Ben: Hey Mike. [00:00:35] Mike: In this episode, we'll be catching up with July Eurovision headlines. How's it going, Ben? It's good. It's been a while since we've last chatted. Uh, [00:00:43] Ben: like, it's been a minute. I'm doing well. The Olympics are here. I'm, I'm excited about that. Although I, like, it has, like, raised my every two year chestnut of, we desperately need a different song for events like this other than John Lennon's Imagine. [00:00:57] Mike: totally agree on that. It just like came up and it's like, uh, one of the lines being, imagine there is no country. It's like, um, that's kind of part of the point, but sure. Uh, [00:01:07] Ben: it's nice to imagine, but also that raises so many other issues, Mr. Lennon. [00:01:11] Mike: yes. So, uh, I don't know, perhaps a Eurovision winner could be the, love, love, peace, peace, whatever, whatever that the Olympics brings out in all of us. So. [00:01:22] Geneva vs Basel --- [00:01:22] Ben: Yes. Speaking of summer competitions, uh, we now have it down to the final two. Host cities for Switzerland next year. [00:01:29] Mike: The shortlist for the host cities was released on July 19th. it is now down to Geneva and Basel, to host next year's contest. we're still waiting on the final decision that is expected in late August, but, do you have any first impressions on, uh, Either of these options? [00:01:48] Ben: It feels like it's going to be expensive. [00:01:51] Mike: Yes, [00:01:52] Ben: I mean, we knew that, we knew that since May. [00:01:54] Mike: we knew that going in, but then, like, I did a little bit of, like, very cursory background, research on these cities as in top line of their Wikipedia entry. But yeah, like, Geneva, second largest city in Switzerland. It's in the French area of the country. It's a financial center and home to several international organizations, including the EBU, which I think is probably going to be a point in its favor. but The line that stopped me was, In 2018, ranked as second most expensive city in the world. Just like, No! Basel is the third largest city in Switzerland. Uh, it's the tenth most livable city in the world. Uh, I'm curious what the methodology is there. [00:02:37] Ben: Yes. [00:02:38] Mike: it's in the German part of Switzerland, and is considered the cultural capital of the country. So, seems like a good fit. it's also the hometown of Roger Federer. and the two venues that are being proposed for Basel are both sports halls. So, it could be a very sporty Eurovision, if that one ends up getting selected. both of the ven the proposed venues, the, uh, Saint Jacob Park and Saint Jacob's Hall, both will require, some extensive roof projects, in order to be finalized, as the venues. But, they both seem like viable options to me. [00:03:12] Ben: I, yeah, like, I'm thinking just the roof project nature of things and the prospect of like a walking commute for the EBU portion of things really kind of tilts things in Geneva's favor, but we'll see. [00:03:24] Mike: I know that Eurovision is trying to maybe not get into austerity mode, but hey, can we make this a little less expensive? I think Switzerland winning is going to make that a more challenging task for 2025. [00:03:39] Ben: are put, they are putting that particular goal on hard mode. [00:03:42] Mike: Adding to that difficulty is a group called the Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland, which is threatening to use referendums to challenge government funding. for Eurovision. apparently this is like a common thing to happen in Switzerland. It like it is a referendum based form of government, which is kind of neat from like an American perspective. But, it's not a high bar to clear to get something on a ballot. Like, I think it's, 2, 000 signatures in Basel signatures to get it on the ballot in Geneva. and that will just put the question to voters. Uh, then you'd have to actually get a majority of voters to support a referendum. But it does Add difficulty to planning, because if that referendum doesn't happen until, say, January, that's gonna put the EBU in a spot if, the referendum passes and they suddenly do not get funding from the city or the canton or, you know, Wherever. So, yeah. [00:04:47] Ben: it feels very parks and rec for the, for just, just, just the town. Just very town meeting. [00:04:55] Mike: Yep. [00:04:57] Ben: Hello, this is a 15 minute filibuster about Star Wars, you know. [00:05:01] Mike: Exactly. So, where the FDU is coming from on this, like, they are a very right wing. Uh, Democratic Union, um, as Democratic Unions go and yeah, like their concern about Eurovision is that it is, quote, more and more Satanist and occultist contributions. And I'm not sure what they're talking about. Um, we do have a bullet point here. Bambi Thug teases Eurovision return with two time entrance Jedward. I don't think that's related. Uh, [00:05:33] Ben: Oh no no no no, I get it, it's the whole twins thing, they are kind of creepy in general. [00:05:36] Mike: oh, okay. Yeah, there we go. So, I'm not sure. There's anything that's actually going to come of this, but it's just going to be an extra hurdle. [00:05:45] Ben: I feel like we just see this sort of popping up all over Europe right now, of just like, Somebody getting enough people to sign the petition, like, we shouldn't do Eurovision anymore, and then, like, you, you, like, look into it, like, one more Google. It's just like, because it's satanic and occultist, it's like, okay. [00:06:01] Mike: Yeah. It's just like, but, no, that's why we want to do it. No, just kidding. [00:06:06] Ben: We want the good corn harvest. [00:06:09] Mike: So, yeah. Possibly more on that. Yeah, I don't know if they've actually gotten the signatures yet to get on the referendum. I just know that they're, like, in the process of doing so. so we'll see. [00:06:22] Eurovision 2025 Staff Updates --- [00:06:22] Ben: the other news from the team producing the show is that Switzerland 2025 has the core project team in place. Uh, last time we looked at the news, we had sort of the, the two heads of Whatever city we're in 2025 figured out, and they've got the rest of the gang together, and there's a lot of notable names. Christer Bjorkman is gonna be head of contest. he's done a lot. He, he does a lot. Uh, Yves Chiffre is taking a break from being the Swiss head of delegation to be the head of the show. Bernard Spani, the head of PMO, used to work on events for the IOC, it's Olympic season. Tobias Aberg, head of production, worked on production for the 2013 and 2016 shows. So, whatever arena we are in, they're going to assemble it well. And Nadja Burkhardt Trackle is head of event. [00:07:07] Mike: along with the core project team, the EBU has announced, the results of their independent review into all of the Events of the 2024 contest. it sounds like they've taken in a lot of the feedback, not necessarily all the feedback, but a lot of the feedback and are kind of restructuring staffing for the contest Martin Usterdahl, he's still around, I was not worried that he was going to get fired, but I, I would not be surprised if that option was on the table for like half of a second, but, it sounds like his role is being restructured so that it is more focused on being, like, head scrivener and, the showrunner. for Eurovision, versus handling everything related to the contest. Like, he had a lot of stuff on his plate. he's now, reporting to, like, head of show, there's a new director role, and, they're also introducing a welfare producer to the process, which I think is a much needed addition to the team. [00:08:11] Ben: yes. Yeah, and like, my main takeaway from looking at the first thing that came out, The independent reviewer that was looking into all this was PR Garbo, who was the executive producer of Eurovision 2014. That is the same role that Martin Sterol had in 2013. [00:08:27] Mike: Oh, okay. [00:08:28] Ben: yeah, so just like some like which like I understand somebody familiar with the show means that you don't have to do as much onboarding with them. But yeah, it's interesting, I want to see where this continues to develop, especially because, like, we got like that first initial press release out of this, and it's very high level, which I expected it to be, just because this is a large organization with many members and many moving parts, but it did sound like they know where they want to focus, they are putting together committees to work on that and make things, so I think this is not the last we're gonna hear, I don't think that they're deploying the Mission Accomplished banner, we've fixed it, [00:09:01] Mike: Oh, yeah, like, I would not be surprised if this is like a, at least a two to three year restructuring project because this is the first swing, see how things work in Switzerland. there will probably need to be tweaks. Another role like they're they are like setting up more of a crisis communications team, which, again, feels very much like, oh, we need to have a tiebreaker mechanism. What? [00:09:26] Ben: yeah, it's like, the EBU and Eurovision has not been good about this sort of planning. [00:09:32] Mike: Yes. And, uh, I mean, perhaps it is extreme optimism on their part where it's just like, Oh, nothing bad will ever happen. It's like, Oh, honey. If you are interested in the ESC director role, it is posted on the EBU website. Um, you do need to have a fair amount of, of hardcore experience, like I was looking through it, not because I was interested. It's like, oh, I don't think I would want this job. But it's just like [00:09:58] Ben: Oh yeah, no, like, I, I, [00:09:59] Mike: of higher level management experience, stress management, a must. It's like, no, um, [00:10:07] Ben: and stress and solid stress management skills. I'm like, yes, uh, strong cultural and political understanding and mitigation is key. I do like that they're realizing, oh, okay, we can't just put all of this on. on the, like, the role that, that Merton has gone into is just like, oh, this is, it's good that they're, that they're having a moment going, oh, this is more, this is more complex than it used to be. This should be two or three jobs, not [00:10:30] Mike: right. Yeah. I'm kind of not surprised that it got to that point. Like, there was, there was definite scope creep, uh, in that role from, even when, like, Jan Olsson was, in the role. It's like, oh, when you started in, like, 2011, 2012, whenever that was, uh, much different role than it was in 2019, [00:10:48] Patreon Summer of Celine Book Club --- [00:10:49] Ben: checking in with our Patreon, thank you to everybody who subscribes to that. Thank you for your support. Like, it means so much to us that you, like, are showing up to help Make it happen. we're having a summer of Celine, which seems aptly timed. I just did because Switzerland, and we can finally just do all the stuff and be done with it. Uh, but then she, but then she popped up at the Olympics. which, pairs really nicely with our most recent bonus episode. We watched the I Am Celine Dion documentary, which details her journey the past couple years with stiff person syndrome and what that looks like for her. having watched that, I really appreciated her performance in the opening ceremony. [00:11:25] Mike: Absolutely. Yeah, like, it was it was a good performance overall. But, felt much more emotionally attached to it than I think I would have had I not watched the documentary. [00:11:34] Ben: Kelly Clarkson called her, a vocal athlete, and absolutely, like, I weirdly want like a follow up documentary about like, what is the training and stuff she went through for that performance, cause like, just having seen her deal with, some of the struggles of what stiff person syndrome does to your body, and how it prevents her from doing the thing that she loves. Again, it was a very resonant moment for me, of just like, just knowing what she has gone through and knowing how much she loves to perform. [00:12:01] Mike: Yeah, yeah. And you could definitely see it on her face, like, once the performance was finished. And, and the fact that it all took place on Tom Lieb's front porch, like, that [00:12:09] Ben: Yes, that was so nice of him to like, rent out his house as the AirBnB for that performance. [00:12:14] Mike: Yes. So, uh, deep cut just for you, dude. So, uh, but yes, uh, coming up, on the Patreon, we won't be doing a bonus episode, we are going to be doing a bonus book club. which I'm kind of excited slash nervous about, but we'll see how it goes. there was a book in the 3rd music criticism series, about the Celine Dion album, Let's Talk About Love. So we will talk about Let's Talk About Love, in our first online book. Club Experiment. [00:12:49] Ben: yeah! Yeah, come! Come! Watch us in real time figure out, is this working? [00:12:54] Mike: Yes, yes. And it won't just be us talking. Hopefully, y'all will be able to participate as well. We're still kind of finalizing the details and the mechanics of all of this, but, uh, yeah, if you head over to patreon. com slash eurowhat and join the channel, as a free member or as a contributor, we love you either way. Um, but yeah, we will post details about that soon. we are aiming for end of August, which would be US Labor Day weekend for, trying out this book club thing. [00:13:23] Ben: So get a copy of the book, give it a read, and we'll discuss. [00:13:28] Mike: yes, yes, it is waiting for me at the library as we speak. So, uh, yeah, definitely check out, libraries, eBay, uh, used bookstores. Um, It'll be fun. It'll be weird. [00:13:39] Ben: It'll be, it'll be fun. It should be an easy read. Like it's, it's like slightly over 100 pages. Like it is, your standard 33 and a third, nice and short. yeah, it should be fun. [00:13:48] 22 Countries for Eurovision 2025 So Far --- [00:13:48] Mike: All right. And, uh, looking ahead to 2025, we are now up to 22 countries that have indicated interest in participating. we've got Sweden. I'm surprised it's taking them this long to say yes. [00:14:01] Ben: not, not surprised. Yeah, but not surprised also like it took you guys this long. [00:14:04] Mike: yeah, well, maybe, maybe they just woke up from their post Eurovision nap. So, [00:14:07] Ben: Yeah. [00:14:08] Mike: uh, we've got Norway. which, has stirred up a little bit of controversy in Norway. Like, there's still concerns about, participating, alongside Israel. that is going to continue to be a concern for 2025, as the situation remains unchanged. Italy, has officially announced that they are going to be participating. and San Remo, is going to be their selection method probably. the date did change for that. I'm not sure if we talked about that last [00:14:34] Ben: I think we mentioned it last time, but just like, they moved the week of San Remo a week to February 11th through 15th so that it wouldn't be interrupted by Italian football. [00:14:44] Mike: Priorities, you know? Uh, no. [00:14:46] Ben: They wanted to do both. [00:14:48] Mike: yeah, Latvia, they, have decided to participate, Again, looking at referendums and petitions and stuff, Latvia's parliament, the Saima, they rejected the petition that was put out. And there was a similar petition effort that was underway in Lithuania, and Lithuania's broadcaster, LRT, responded basically, LOL, no. Good on ya, Lithuania. yeah, Latvia will be using Supernova again, it will be the 10th time. Edition of Supernova. So kind of geeked about that. [00:15:21] Ben: Cyprus is, participating, Serbia is going to be using Pesma. Eurovision again, uh, the UK has confirmed their participation, and San Marino has confirmed we are getting another Una Voce per San Marino. Yeah, I, I, was excited now and then I just remembered this year's Una Voce per San Marino, I was like, wait a minute, let's, let's calibrate this. [00:15:43] Mike: Yeah. I mean, like I'm just waiting for it to produce an act that will. But, uh, yeah, it'll be a wild Saturday, whatever Saturday that falls upon. So that'll be nice. And, um, yeah, I'm still on the mailing list for the, outlet experience. So, oh goodness. And then let's see, other national selection updates. Luxembourg, they are coming back and, their applications are open for, being their representative next year. And the one that I'm most excited about is Benidorm. We've got some details from Spain's process. They're planning on doing a similar format as the last couple of years. So having the two semifinals, the final, 16 acts, all that good stuff. the semi finals, they're not going to be doing the score breakdowns, the way that they have, in the previous years. they will just be announcing who advances to the final, so we won't know what the jury breakdown is, what the demoscopic breakdown is, I believe they are planning on releasing the results after the competition, very similar to Eurovision. I can kind of see how Reading too much into the scores from the semifinals could be influencing how the finals shake out. [00:16:54] Ben: It makes a lot of sense to [00:16:55] Mike: Yeah. Yeah. very much looking forward to that process. I would kind of like to go. The idea of Spain in January just seems lovely, but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to make that happen. [00:17:06] Ben: I'm just like you have normal ideas like Spain in January and I'm a weirdo who's just like Finland, February. Excellent. [00:17:14] Mike: Circle it twice in my calendar. Yeah. that's going to do it for this episode of the Eurowhat. Thanks for listening. The Eurowhat podcast is hosted by Mike McComb, that's me, and Ben Smith. [00:17:27] Ben: That's me. Head over to patreon. com slash eurowhat to join our channel and get the details about our Summer of Selene book club event. [00:17:34] Mike: Thanks for liking, subscribing, telling your friends about the pod, we'll be back in a couple weeks with our next episode.