Ben Smith has been watching the Eurovision Song Contest since 2008, blogging/podcasting about it since 2011, and a part of its digital press center since 2021. He has deep thoughts about the ways improvements in streaming media in the last decade have made the contest more of a truly global event, and can also do a tight five on Norway’s selection process. He lives in Somerville, MA and can be found more generally at goodatinter.net.
Ben Smith has hosted 230 Episodes.
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Episode 232: Broke
May 14th, 2024 | Season 7 | 25 mins 36 secs
australia, croatia, czechia, iceland, ireland, israel, netherlands, norway, poland, sweden, switzerland, ukraine, united kingdom
Somehow we made it through the other side of the 2024 Eurovision Grand Final in one piece. Things that didn't: the Netherlands, Nemo's trophy, and possibly the EBU? We examine the immediate aftermath of Saturday's show from Malmö.
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Episode 231: Poop Chaos
May 10th, 2024 | Season 7 | 33 mins 17 secs
armenia, austria, croatia, cyprus, estonia, finland, france, georgia, germany, greece, ireland, israel, italy, latvia, lithuania, luxembourg, netherlands, norway, portugal, serbia, slovenia, spain, sweden, switzerland, ukraine, united kingdom
In our Eurovision 2024 Grand Final Preview, we discuss the results of the two semi-finals in Malmö, make some predictions on what may happen on Saturday, and scratch why Sweden's hosting has been itching us this week.
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Episode 230: Designated Perceived Nudity Corner
May 6th, 2024 | Season 7 | 42 mins 32 secs
albania, armenia, australia, austria, azerbaijan, belgium, croatia, cyprus, czechia, denmark, estonia, finland, france, georgia, germany, greece, iceland, ireland, israel, italy, latvia, lithuania, luxembourg, malta, moldova, netherlands, norway, poland, portugal, san marino, serbia, slovenia, spain, sweden, switzerland, ukraine, united kingdom
It's Eurovision Week! After we get caught up on Contest news, we make our predictions on which acts will advance to Saturday's Grand Final. Will there be heartbreak in Malmö?
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Episode 229: "Authenticity"
April 30th, 2024 | Season 7 | 1 hr 3 mins
france, germany, italy, spain, sweden, united kingdom
Chris Molanphy from Slate's Hit Parade joins us to discuss the Big 5 and Sweden's entries for Eurovision 2024. How do the entries from France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the UK, and Sweden stack up to current US Billboard chart sensibilities? Are there any bangers in the mix?
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Episode 228: Pulling Focus
April 23rd, 2024 | Season 7 | 50 mins 53 secs
armenia, austria, georgia, greece, israel, netherlands, sweden
Ned Raggett returns to helps us wrap up our coverage of the second semi-final for Eurovision 2024. Which entries are legit snacks? Which songs left us hungry for more? How did we manage to bring food into every discussion?
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Episode 227: CVS Bangerz
April 16th, 2024 | Season 7 | 1 hr 7 mins
belgium, denmark, estonia, san marino, sweden, switzerland
Audio engineer and Never Post host Mike Rugnetta joins us for a Eurovision crash course. We discuss this year's entries from Estonia, Denmark, Belgium, San Marino, and Switzerland, as well as the overwhelming schedule for Eurovision rehearsals and the finer points of grocery store playlists.
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Episode 226: Oops! All Revamps
April 9th, 2024 | Season 7 | 45 mins 1 sec
albania, czechia, latvia, malta, norway, sweden
First-time guest Katie Proctor joins us to kick off our coverage of Eurovision 2024 Semi Final 2! We explore the full range of revamps with this week's set, including lyrics tweaks, remastering, and translation. Were the changes made by Czechia, Albania, Norway, Malta, and Latvia successful?
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Episode 225: Optimistic
April 2nd, 2024 | Season 7 | 38 mins 46 secs
australia, azerbaijan, iceland, portugal, serbia, sweden
Meredith Clark from Light Treason News joins us to chat about our last set of songs for Eurovision Semi Final 1: Serbia, Iceland, Australia, Portugal, and Azerbaijan. Topics include: Memes popular in Bangladesh, Whose Line is It Anyway, didgeridoos, three-minute world building, and arms appreciation.
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Episode 224: SFX Appeal
March 26th, 2024 | Season 7 | 44 mins 59 secs
croatia, cyprus, lithuania, moldova, poland, sweden
Eurovision superfan dudepoints joins us to delight in the bleeps and bloops of five more entries from this year's first semi-final. We discuss the songs from Moldova, Lithuania, Poland, Croatia, and Cyprus, as well as dude's experience at the Eurovizija.lt Grand Final.
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Episode 223: Encarta
March 19th, 2024 | Season 7 | 51 mins 5 secs
finland, ireland, luxembourg, slovenia, sweden, ukraine
We kick off Eurovision 2024 Review Season with our special guest Sam Gavin! We discuss the entries from Slovenia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Ukraine, and Finland as well as reminisce about My Neighbor Totoro, pre-internet software, and cringe content from back in the day.
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Episode 222: Scrunchy Face Sounds
March 12th, 2024 | Season 7 | 21 mins 38 secs
armenia, australia, azerbaijan, georgia, greece, israel, portugal, sweden
We're at the end of Eurovision Selection Season and get caught up with internal selections from Australia and Greece plus the conclusion of Sweden's Melodifestivalen and Portugal's Festival da Canção. ... what do you mean there are still some unknown tracks?!
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Episode 221: Maximal
March 5th, 2024 | Season 7 | 42 mins 14 secs
austria, cyprus, iceland, netherlands, portugal, serbia, sweden, switzerland, united kingdom
Several internal selections join the Eurovision 2024 field this week and exactly zero of them are holding back. Serbia's national final goes harder than necessary while Iceland... also made a selection this week. We're in the homestretch!