Eurovision Song Context

Episode 92: Is Opera Dying, or Have We Stopped Thinking? With Katie Glass

October 21st, 2026  |  1 hr 24 mins

Journalism, albania 2012, anne-marie david, arts education, australia 2019, british post office scandal, class, classical music, cultural accessibility, cultural elitism, esc, eurovision, eurovision song contest, eurovision song context, eurovision ticket prices, glyndebourne, go_a, high culture, kate miller-heidke, katie glass, luxembourg 1973, mr bates vs the post office, opera, operatic pop, popular culture, reading, rona nishliu, shum, suus, tu te reconnaîtras, ukraine 2021, zero gravity

In this episode of Eurovision Song Context, Bradley is joined by award-winning British journalist and columnist Katie Glass to explore opera, cultural accessibility, class, education and the changing ways we engage with art.

Katie's recent article for the London Standard argues that opera's ageing audience reflects something bigger than ticket prices: a society increasingly uncomfortable with difficult art, sustained attention and intellectual challenge.

We discuss everything from discovering opera on a date to Glyndebourne's extravagant picnics, the merits of watching performances at home, whether art should be made easier to attract new audiences, and the differences between opera and Eurovision.

Then Katie watches four Eurovision performances, including operatic pop, extraordinary vocal technique, a classic Luxembourg winner and Ukrainian electro-folk.

We finish with Katie's reporting on the British Post Office scandal, and how her work helped inspire the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.

Katie is an award-winning feature writer and columnist whose work has appeared in The Times, The Sunday Times, Financial Times, The Telegraph, The Standard and numerous other publications.

Her reporting often examines how major social issues affect ordinary people. Her Sunday Times Magazine investigation into the Post Office scandal helped inspire the television drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.

Episode 91: Borders Belonging & Becoming with Josh Rivers

September 29th, 2026  |  1 hr 18 mins

Race, Representation, art, austria, belonging, black europe, black identity, black queer culture, busy being black, conchita wurst, european identity, eurovision, eurovision history, eurovision song contest, identity, jeangu macrooy, josh rivers, joshua rivers, lgbtq, migration, milly scott, netherlands, poetry, queer europe, queer identity, right to opacity, wangechi mutu, édouard glissant

Bradley talks with Busy Being Black host Joshua Rivers about identity, belonging and who gets to be European. From Blackness and queerness to art, poetry and the “right to opacity,” they explore what happens when the labels that help define us also begin to constrain us. Eurovision performances from Milly Scott, Jeangu Macrooy and Conchita Wurst become jumping-off points for conversations about representation, migration and Europe’s changing sense of itself.

Episode 90: [Bonus Content] Eurogulls, Capybaras & Eurovision Asia- feat Suzie & Russ

August 19th, 2026  |  1 hr 6 mins

India, abba, bangkok, bhutan, bulgaria, burgas, china, dancing queen, ebu, esc 2027, eurogull, euroriffs, eurovision, eurovision 1956, eurovision 1964, eurovision 2027, eurovision asia, eurovision mascot, eurovision podcast, eurovision song contest, eurovision song contest asia, japan, kapi the capybara, lhayi semo, lost eurovision, nyendra, queen elizabeth ii, rhythm of bhutan, terry wogan

Suzie and Russ from EuroRiffs are back for an off-season Eurovision catch-up. We head to Burgas, Bulgaria, host city of Eurovision 2027, where a giant seagull and a capybara are already competing for our affections; look at the first songs and selections for the inaugural Eurovision Asia; and ask why Japan, China and India are sitting it out. Plus, the EBU is searching for two missing editions of Eurovision, and we discover Queen Elizabeth II apparently loved dancing to ABBA’s Dancing Queen.

Episode 89: Define, Then See: Journalist Tony Connolly on Europe's Stereotypes

July 12th, 2026  |  57 mins 29 secs

Journalism, Ukraine, all kinds of everything, brussels, croatia, cultural identity, dana, don't mention the wars, esc, espresso macchiato, estonia, european stereotypes, european union, eurovision, eurovision song contest, father ted, fawlty towers, geopolitics, ireland, let 3, mama šč, national identity, podcast, rté, tommy cash, tony connolly

"We define, then we see". In this episode, Bradley sits down with journalist Tony Connolly, RTÉ's Europe Editor based in Brussels, to talk about his book Don't Mention the Wars: A Journey Through European Stereotypes. Tony traces where our national stereotypes actually come from, why the brain reaches for them under stress, and how much truth (if any) is buried inside them.
The conversation turns to Eurovision, where stereotyping isn't just cultural shorthand, it's staged. We talk through Dana's "All Kinds of Everything," Ireland's 1970 winner and a reminder of Ireland's early Eurovision dominance; Tommy Cash's "Espresso Macchiato," Estonia's cheeky (and controversial) sendup of Italian stereotypes; and Let 3's "Mama ŠČ!," Croatia's 2023 entry, which used Cold War-era imagery to smuggle a pointed anti-war message onto the Eurovision stage. Plus: the Fawlty Towers line that gave the book its title, and the Father Ted episode that Eurovision itself couldn't have written better.

Episode 86: [Bonus Content] ESC 2026 Turquoise Carpet: Alternative Commentary Track

May 10th, 2026  |  2 hrs 3 mins

esc 2026, esc podcast, eurovision, eurovision 2026, eurovision 2026 vienna, eurovision analysis, eurovision commentary, eurovision community, eurovision fans, eurovision fashion, eurovision live commentary, eurovision media, eurovision outfits, eurovision podcast, eurovision reaction, eurovision song contest, eurovision staging, eurovision turquoise carpet, eurovision vienna, eurovision watchalong, susie russ, turquoise carpet, vienna 2026

Our annual Eurovision Turquoise Carpet commentary experiment returns.

Open the official Eurovision 2026 Turquoise Carpet stream, start this episode, and when we say “GO,” press play on the video and mute the official commentary.

This year, Bradley, Susie Russ, and Russ provide an alternative live commentary track covering the fashion, staging, crowd energy, camera work, and general Eurovision chaos of Vienna 2026.

No official audio is included because of copyright, so this episode is designed to be played alongside the official stream.

Cut the sound. Watch the images. Let Vienna wash over you.

Episode 84: Eurovision 2026: This Feels Off- with Mark Bowden

April 30th, 2026  |  1 hr 8 mins

audience perception, body language in performance, communication and behavior, eurovision 2026, eurovision analysis, eurovision body language, eurovision contestants 2026, eurovision insights, eurovision performance, eurovision podcast, eurovision predictions, eurovision song contest, eurovision staging, human behavior, jury vs televote, live performance analysis, mark bowden, nonverbal communication, performance psychology, reading people, signals and perception, stage presence, why performances succeed

Bradley is joined by Mark Bowden to break down key Eurovision 2026 entries through a body language lens. Together, they analyze the UK’s “Look Mum No Computer,” Senhit’s star-powered “Superstar” (and whether bringing in Boy George can succeed where Flo Rida didn’t), and the current front-runners from France and Finland. They explore what performers signal on stage, why some acts connect instantly, and how confidence, authenticity, and staging can make or break a result.

Episode 83: [Bonus Content] Love It or Side Eye: Eurovision 2026 Breakdown with Russ

April 10th, 2026  |  1 hr 12 mins

akylas ferto, alexandra capitanescu choke me, antigoni jalla, armenia eurovision 2026, australia eurovision 2026, bandidos do cante rosa, bulgaria eurovision 2026, cyprus eurovision 2026, dara bangaranga, delta goodrem eclipse, estonia eurovision 2026, eurovision 2026, eurovision analysis, eurovision favorites, eurovision final, eurovision jury vs televote, eurovision podcast, eurovision predictions, eurovision reactions, eurovision review, eurovision semi final, eurovision song contest, eurovision songs 2026, eurovision staging, felicia my system, france eurovision 2026, germany eurovision 2026, greece eurovision 2026, jonas lovv ya ya ya, leleka ridnym, liekinheitin finland eurovision, look mum no computer eins zwei drei, monroe regarde, norway eurovision 2026, portugal eurovision 2026, romania eurovision 2026, sarah engels fire, simon paloma rumba, sweden eurovision 2026, ukraine eurovision 2026, united kingdom eurovision 2026, vanilla ninja too epic to be true

In this episode, Bradley is joined by Russ from EuroRiffs to go song-by-song through the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 lineup. With minimal editing and maximum honesty, they react to this year’s entries using their “love it, hate it, or side eye” framework.

They discuss standout tracks like Greece’s “Ferto,” question whether big ballads like Australia’s “Eclipse” can land, and debate which songs risk being repetitive, forgettable, or carried entirely by staging. Along the way, they get into jury vs televote dynamics, qualification chances, and why some entries feel unmistakably Eurovision, while others could come from anywhere.

Early predictions, strong opinions, and a few disagreements included.

Episode 79: (Part 2) Zero Stars, Nul Points: June Thomas on Failure, Cynicism, and Eurovision

January 7th, 2026  |  55 mins 17 secs

all’s fair, ambition, criticism, cultural criticism, cultural failure, culture, cynicism, esc, eurovision, eurovision analysis, eurovision flops, eurovision song contest, go-jo, jeangu macrooy, jendrik, june thomas, lucy mangan, media criticism, music competition, olly alexander, one star reviews, outward podcast, pop culture, remember monday, slate, taste and identity, television criticism, the waves podcast, working podcast, zero points, zero star reviews

In this episode, Bradley is joined by writer and longtime Slate culture critic June Thomas for a conversation about criticism, failure, and what it means for a work to be “truly bad.” They explore the difference between a one-star work and a zero-star work — the kind of cultural object that isn’t just unsuccessful, but “fascinatingly, existentially terrible.” This leads into a discussion of Lucy Mangan’s Guardian review of All’s Fair and questions about ambition, tone, intentionality, and when something collapses under its own concept.

From there, they bring these ideas into the world of Eurovision, using several entries — from joyful chaos to critically praised underperformers — as case studies in how audiences and critics respond to risk, camp, sincerity, and cynicism. Together they ask whether it’s better to flop than be forgotten, why some failures linger while others vanish, and what Eurovision reveals about our tastes, expectations, and the strange afterlives of cultural failure.

Episode 78: [Bonus Content] (Part 1) Zero Stars, Nul Points: June Thomas on Failure, Cynicism, and Eurovision

January 7th, 2026  |  56 mins 19 secs

all’s fair, ambition, criticism, cultural criticism, cultural failure, culture, cynicism, esc, eurovision, eurovision analysis, eurovision flops, eurovision song contest, go-jo, jeangu macrooy, jendrik, june thomas, lucy mangan, media criticism, music competition, olly alexander, one star reviews, outward podcast, pop culture, remember monday, slate, taste and identity, television criticism, the waves podcast, working podcast, zero points, zero star reviews

In this episode, Bradley is joined by writer and longtime Slate culture critic June Thomas for a conversation about criticism, failure, and what it means for a work to be “truly bad.” They explore the difference between a one-star work and a zero-star work — the kind of cultural object that isn’t just unsuccessful, but “fascinatingly, existentially terrible.” This leads into a discussion of Lucy Mangan’s Guardian review of All’s Fair and questions about ambition, tone, intentionality, and when something collapses under its own concept.

From there, they bring these ideas into the world of Eurovision, using several entries — from joyful chaos to critically praised underperformers — as case studies in how audiences and critics respond to risk, camp, sincerity, and cynicism. Together they ask whether it’s better to flop than be forgotten, why some failures linger while others vanish, and what Eurovision reveals about our tastes, expectations, and the strange afterlives of cultural failure.

Episode 73: Vienna 2026! Helena Steinhart on Vienna in Culture, Inclusivity & ESC

September 12th, 2025  |  1 hr 11 mins

austria, conchita wurst, esc, esc history, euphoria, eurovision, eurovision culture, eurovision podcast, eurovision song contest, loreen, merci cherie, rise like a phoenix, teya & salena, udo jürgens, vienna, vienna tourist board, who the hell is edgar

Vienna has twice hosted Eurovision and remains one of Europe’s great cultural capitals. In this episode, Bradley talks with Helena Steinhart from the Vienna Tourist Board about the city’s food, culture, and inclusivity — and what fans can expect from a future contest in Vienna. They also revisit four iconic songs: Conchita Wurst’s “Rise Like a Phoenix”, Loreen’s “Euphoria”, Udo Jürgens’ “Merci, Chérie”, and Teya & Salena’s “Who the Hell Is Edgar?”.