There Was Once A Bleak Future A year ago, Ireland’s competitive future at the Eurovision Song Contest looked bleak. With only one qualification since 2013 the legend of being a Eurovision powerhouse was in tatters; that Sweden equalled its record of the most wins further enhanced the Irish pain. How long until Sweden became the undisputed victor? I reflected on where everything had gone wrong here on ESC Insight, from the glory years and through the subsequent decline. It wasn’t all dark, and there were glimmers of hope. In 2018, Ryan O’Shaughnessy showed that qualification was not off the tab ..read more

When you walk into any IKEA in the world, you understand what to expect. You can find anything from affordable furniture to great kitchenware, and, of course, the famous meatballs. You can spend hours collecting things you want but probably don’t need; leave the place with a lighter wallet but a carload of new storage solutions. Things are all the same. Things are all organised. You have expectations, and they are met. This is why you shop at IKEA. IKEA is also the home of the ever-popular Billy bookcase – sturdy, comes in various colours, easy to assemble, basic, yet flexible; Billy can be fi ..read more

Several artists and delegations at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 have confirmed they reported multiple concerns to the EBU during the rehearsals and live shows in Malmö; including delegations from the Netherlands, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Concerns have also been raised publicly throughout the media, and various activities have been cited that made members of the press feel unsafe while covering Malmö 2024. Several incidents were reported to the EBU during the week, including harassment of journalists, the recording of private conversations without conse ..read more

Flags are such an integral part of the Eurovision Song Contest, not just as emblem of the nation performing to the flags waved and worn as insignia of support, but also as symbols of identity and allegiance. And that is complex. I interviewed the former Eurovision Executive Supervisor, Svante Stockselius, for the UK fan club’s convention one year. He talked about how they’d deliberately dropped border outlines for countries in the graphics as for those with disputed territories, this fast became a headache. It seemed a wise move. Svante Stockselius (photo: EBU / eurovision.tv) Which Flags Ar ..read more

It’s the day of the Eurovision Grand Final, the day when a new artist will take the trophy, the day that many of us in the community look forward to like it is Christmas. But today is not a day of celebration, of colours and joy. Today, my feelings are grey. I have never known a build-up to a Song Contest so full of tension and ill-feeling. Yes, a lot of that is because of the cloud over this competition that the Israeli participation brings. It brings extra security, extra division between people, and extra reasons to be protective over your emotions. It’s a competition where numero ..read more

The running order for the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is as follows: The creation of this running order was decided by host broadcaster SVT, and is the responsibility to of Contest Producer Christer Björkman, and is thereafter approved by the EBU. This year the running order for the Grand Final was crafted with even more freedom for the host broadcaster team. This year only six countries could draw a slot that fixed them in the first half , and six others placed a slot in the second half. The other thirteen were given a free choice anywhere in the running order from 2 to 2 ..read more

Tonight, another 16 acts will compete for a spot in Saturday’s Eurovision final. But Semifinal 2 has a whole lot more to offer than just those songs. Time for the traditional Spotter’s Guide to highlight some of the things to look out for in tonight’s show. We’ve grouped in broad themes of the night, under which you’ll see many acts appearing: Swedish Humour The first Semi Final had some good jokes (especially the Grindr skit that certain UK tabloids reported as fact!) However, the show focused on introducing and establishing the chemistry between Petra and Malin, rather than comedy. The openi ..read more

Despite the world of popular music being seemingly boundless and borderless, with the only limit to a composer’s potential being the equipment they have on hand and their own imaginations, some tools keep being utilized over the decades, allowing for both consistency as well as innovation over time. One of the tools that has become a mainstay of the music scene is sampling, where a portion of one song, whether it’s a vocal, a drum beat, or a horn riff, is repurposed into an element of another. Eurovision songs are not immune from sampling over the years, and at least two songs this year alone ..read more

The purpose of therapy can be seen as alleviating psychological distress. However, this does not mean that it has to involve concentrating on suffering, pain and problems. Understanding and appreciating factors that illuminate a person’s world can be incredibly important, especially in times of difficulty. Having examined post-Eurovision depression last year, I am now examining what could be termed Pre-Eurovision Euphoria, or how the Eurovision Song Contest can help contribute to our mental well-being. Katrina Leskanich (Photo: Esc.tv) What makes life worth living is perhaps a topic too big ..read more

It started in 1957. The host country entry from Germany, ‘Telefon, telefon’, brought to the Song Contest what has been regarded as the first ever gimmick of the competition, as artist Margot Hielscher picked up a telephone and held it to her ear throughout her performance in Frankfurt. Ever since that time each song at the Song Contest has had to think not just about songwriting and singing, but also about staging. And as the show has become ever more focused on the television aspect, and as pop music has become ever more a visual art, the Song Contest has followed. 2024 is the year when the ..read more