ESC United Podcast - Listen, enjoy and comment!

[Schlagerman1]

Yesterday, @Matt and I recorded the first EscUnited podcast! This is the first of many to come and this program we for example talked about the Montenegrin choice, UKs NF and if we should change the voting system. So listen through and enjoy! And if you have ideas of things to talk about in the coming programs or maybe want to join us as a guest, don't be shy, contact us!

Follow us on twitter @ESCUNITED and post your questions or comments to #escunited. You can also write by e-mail to Matt at matt@escunited.com. Or if you like that better, you can either write here in the thread and can also on pm to me (@Schlagerman1) or Matt.
Episode 1:
http://www.escunited.com/home/esc-united-podcast-montenegro-picks-the-act-italy-and-the-uk-take-eurovision-seriously-and-should-we-change-the-point-system/
Episode 2: Portugal withdrawing, Bosnia & Herzegovina may not be back after all, Australia in JESC & ESC?!?, Booing at Eurovision and the future of the contest http://escunited.libsyn.com/esc-united-podcast-0
Episode 3: Is Eurovision too political and is Iveta the right choice for Eurovision? Click HERE
Episode 4: Is Lebanon going to be in Stockholm and somebody at the EBU just got fired. Click HERE
Episode 5: Why did Turkey withdraw and the EBU drama continues. Click HERE
Episode 6: 43 countries in Stockholm and should we be concerned about Terrorim in Eurovision? Click HERE

 

[Lupus]

Hey really enjoyable, thanks for letting us know about it [MENTION=4395]Schlagerman1[/MENTION]! I am interested by what you said about having "too many" hosts this year. I cannot speak for other years, but I found that the trio worked really well. There was good banter between them and, to be quite honest, I don't really care if I have no idea who they were. They kept the show moving, tried their best to be amusing and didn't feel make any mistakes. I am not saying you have to have three, but I really feel that the focus should be on finding people who work well together and can do a good show. If that means having two, three or four, then fine by me. One person, well I feel that if you have one person then you still need other people to assist with going to do interviews and the like, so effectively you are having multiple people hosting. For me, two or three feels right. I agree that having more risks putting one of them into the background, but I think that three is a good number.

Just a thought though. Thoroughly enjoyed the show and will be listening to your next 'un!

 

[Sean]

Great podcast! If I'm ever available and you want me to join in one time let me know

 

[EscGeek]

very well made

at 21:30...you were talking about meeeeeee

 

[Krishoes]

Hey guys, very well done, I'm enjoying the podcast and I agree about 99% of the opinions you shared with us! [MENTION=4364]Matt[/MENTION] has a perfect voice for the radio, don't know what is his job but wow, I'm genuinely surprised (as I am a radio speaker as well), [MENTION=4395]Schlagerman1[/MENTION] is a perfect partner for this project, it seems you work good together.

About I think that Sanremo could be always our best choice, in 2014 we picked outside of it, with an internal selection and... you know what happened, sadly (even if I think the problem was the song not the artist).

 

[Leydan]

Great Podcast. Really enjoyed the podcast, and I look forward to the next. The conversation flowed very well between your both and the discussion was really interesting to listen to, and I pretty much agreed with everything you had to say. One thing to clarify is when Adam (?) says he thinks the BBC has eurovsion on a lesser channel, partly correct. The Final is on the main channel, BBC 1 and both semi's on BBC 3.

 

[Matt]

Hey guys, very well done, I'm enjoying the podcast and I agree about 99% of the opinions you shared with us! @Matt has a perfect voice for the radio, don't know what is his job but wow, I'm genuinely surprised (as I am a radio speaker as well), @Schlagerman1 is a perfect partner for this project, it seems you work good together.

About I think that Sanremo could be always our best choice, in 2014 we picked outside of it, with an internal selection and... you know what happened, sadly (even if I think the problem was the song not the artist).

Thank you very much! It's odd to hear as I hate my voice but don't we all say that about our voice.

 

[Matt]

The second episode is up. Calvin is joining us today to discuss Portugal and Bosnia & Herzegovina's (likely) withdrawal, Australia at JESC & ESC, Booing at Eurovision and what does the future hold in store for us?

Click HERE to listen to it.

 

[Lupus]

Another very interesting podcast, so thanks [MENTION=4364]Matt[/MENTION] and [MENTION=4395]Schlagerman1[/MENTION]! Obviously an amazing choice of special guest .

Just to give my thoughts on a few points:

I really hope that Australia does not come back to Eurovision in 2016, or at any point in the future. The definition of "Europe" has already been a little stretched by the contest over the years, but Australia is just a step too far. Fine, I can cope with it as a special guest, but not as a regular. I completely agree with what you said about having other countries in the contest, such as Kazakhstan, which are at least a little bit closer to Europe than Australia, although I would rather see the contest being restricted to countries actually in Europe. One thing I did come up with whilst listening to the forum was the idea of having a guest country each year under the same conditions as Australia. This would allow countries that fall well outside Europe (thinking China here for example) to participate as a one-off, thereby promoting Eurovision in new regions around the world, but making sure that we keep the contest (broadly speaking) European. For me, part of the charm of Eurovision is that it promotes European music and we risk turning into Worldvision or something if we keep extending the boundaries of "Europe". Maybe Worldvision as a separate idea could work, but not instead of the Eurovision we know and love.

The booing... Ah, the booing! I only watched the contest on TV this year, so didn't have a chance to really experience it (in fact, it confused me a little as to why Polina was crying at the halfway stage and Conchita was comforting her), but I completely agree with Matt that it has no place at Eurovision. Whatever your thoughts on Russia, Eurovision is not the place for displaying them. I concede that it would have left many people in a difficult situation had Russia won as to whether they go there or not, but let's face it, a bit of booing in the Eurovision arena is going to make no difference whatsoever to either the result or how Russia treats the LGBT+ community. All it does is make us, the fans, seem childish and a little bit pathetic. I hope that we do not see a repeat next year as it is reflects badly on us all.

Final point: I was amused by the idea of singers having multiple songs for the contest, but Calvin was spot on insofar as the competition is a SONG contest still, and as such it makes no sense whatsoever to change songs between the semi and the final. Yes, the final can feel a little repetitive for those who watch the semis as well, but then again, I think that those who watch both semis and the final have probably already seen all of the songs multiple times anyway as they are the ones who have a serious interest in the contest, so it will make little difference to them!

Apologies for the length of this!

 

[Matt]

Another very interesting podcast, so thanks @Matt and @Schlagerman1! Obviously an amazing choice of special guest .

Just to give my thoughts on a few points:

I really hope that Australia does not come back to Eurovision in 2016, or at any point in the future. The definition of "Europe" has already been a little stretched by the contest over the years, but Australia is just a step too far. Fine, I can cope with it as a special guest, but not as a regular. I completely agree with what you said about having other countries in the contest, such as Kazakhstan, which are at least a little bit closer to Europe than Australia, although I would rather see the contest being restricted to countries actually in Europe. One thing I did come up with whilst listening to the forum was the idea of having a guest country each year under the same conditions as Australia. This would allow countries that fall well outside Europe (thinking China here for example) to participate as a one-off, thereby promoting Eurovision in new regions around the world, but making sure that we keep the contest (broadly speaking) European. For me, part of the charm of Eurovision is that it promotes European music and we risk turning into Worldvision or something if we keep extending the boundaries of "Europe". Maybe Worldvision as a separate idea could work, but not instead of the Eurovision we know and love.

The booing... Ah, the booing! I only watched the contest on TV this year, so didn't have a chance to really experience it (in fact, it confused me a little as to why Polina was crying at the halfway stage and Conchita was comforting her), but I completely agree with Matt that it has no place at Eurovision. Whatever your thoughts on Russia, Eurovision is not the place for displaying them. I concede that it would have left many people in a difficult situation had Russia won as to whether they go there or not, but let's face it, a bit of booing in the Eurovision arena is going to make no difference whatsoever to either the result or how Russia treats the LGBT+ community. All it does is make us, the fans, seem childish and a little bit pathetic. I hope that we do not see a repeat next year as it is reflects badly on us all.

Final point: I was amused by the idea of singers having multiple songs for the contest, but Calvin was spot on insofar as the competition is a SONG contest still, and as such it makes no sense whatsoever to change songs between the semi and the final. Yes, the final can feel a little repetitive for those who watch the semis as well, but then again, I think that those who watch both semis and the final have probably already seen all of the songs multiple times anyway as they are the ones who have a serious interest in the contest, so it will make little difference to them!

Apologies for the length of this!

Thanks for your opinion Lupus. It is much appreciated, especially knowing you agree with us for the most part

I think the Australia sage will continue for a while. Personally I don't think the contest should stick to its original borders as everything evolves but I'm against "special" favors.

 

[Lupus]

Thanks for your opinion Lupus. It is much appreciated, especially knowing you agree with us for the most part

I think the Australia sage will continue for a while. Personally I don't think the contest should stick to its original borders as everything evolves but I'm against "special" favors.

Thank you! I'm not against things mutating over the years, but I feel that if it's taken in extremis, then you risk watching the thing you love becoming an entirely different creation. It's the EURO (European countries) VISION (so the spectacle should play a part) SONG (so singing would be a fairly crucial part) CONTEST (so we have a winner and losers) and I feel that attacking any of those essential parts risks ruining it. As I said, I'm fine with the idea of a separate worldwide contest, but that does not mean Eurovision should become that contest. I would honestly put allowing Australia or any other obviously-non-European country to participate regularly on the same level as allowing people to enter instrumentals. Evolution is fine, but not a complete change.

 

[Matt]

Our guest for tomorrow's podcast is unable to join us so if there is anyone interested to join us tomorrow, let me know right away. If you have a decent mic, access to Skype and available around 19:00 CET, then send me a PM. It'll take about an hour of your time so it's not too bad. Thanks!

 

[Matt]

Is Eurovision too political and is Iveta the right choice for Armenia? That and several other topics were discussed today. Check it out HERE

 

[Matt]

Is Lebanon going to be in Stockholm and somebody at the EBU was fired. Our next Podcast is up, check it out HERE.

Thank you @RomanFromRussia for joining us. Next time, @Lupus will join the fun and if you want to join a future Podcast, send me a message here or an email at matt@escunited.com

 

[Matt]

Why did Turkey withdraw and the Eurovision drama continues. Our next episode is up. Click HERE to listen to it. Thank you [MENTION=14505]Lupus[/MENTION] for joining us this week. We received a bunch of emails so I'm trying to catch up on everything but feel free to contact me directly if you would like to join us in the near future.

See yah next week

 

[Lupus]

To anyone who's not had a go; do so! It's really good fun and both [MENTION=4364]Matt[/MENTION] and [MENTION=4395]Schlagerman1[/MENTION] are fantastic at easing you in.

 

[Matt]

Check out our most recent edition. With the ESC season slowly picking up, there is so much to talk about. Zack and Stefan are on our panel today and had a lot to say. The link is in the first post. See yah next time

 

[Brandt]

Episode 5: Why did Turkey withdraw and the EBU drama continues

I think the title should have been "Why is TRT being such an asshole towards EBU and European related stuffs?".

 

[EscGeek]

how could you forget the rap songs that have done well? 2011 2014

 

[Matt]

how could you forget the rap songs that have done well? 2011 2014

Good point about Greece 2011.....although I don't think Poland 2014 is Rap.