Silly Nostalgia and the Scream of Loneliness with Kat Stevens

Steven Perkins: 00:00:00

In today's episode, Dutch Courage, as Claude teases his song reveal date. You can't touch this. Ebu seemingly approves Malta's lyrics and special guest Cat Stevens joins us to discuss the latest national final results.

I'm Stephen Perkins and this is Douce Poir. Hello, London, we are ready for your vote.

th of February: 2025

Claude, this year's representative for the Netherlands, has confirmed that we will be hearing his song for the first time at the end of this month. He announced on his Instagram jointly with Dutch broadcaster Afrotros that his song will be revealed on 27 February.

But no further details have been revealed yet. So we're still none the wiser as to what the song is called. Still not long to wait.

Maltese representative Miri Alicante seems to have confirmed that her controversial song Cunt has had its lyrics approved by the Ebu.

Speaking on Maltese tv, the singer, who was hospitalised after last week's national final after being involved in a car accident, said the Ebu accepted that the song remains the same so it shouldn't be a problem.

She added that the song will undergo some revisions between now and May, which may involve some minor lyrical changes, but it will stay fundamentally the same.

And finally, if you're still looking to attend this year's contest in Basel, but don't yet have your hands on tickets, mark this date in your diaries. The second wave of tickets will go on sale on the 27th of March.

This next sale will be specifically for people who were not able to buy tickets in the previous release and there will be a range of price points of available. We are very excited to have with us on the Pod a very special guest.

Once again, we have writer for the singles Jukebox and Freaky Trigger, Cat Stevens. Cat, thank you for joining us.

Kat Stevens: 00:01:39

Thanks for having me. Delighted to be on the Pod.

Steven Perkins: 00:01:41

Yeah, a concert going friend of the Pod. We went to see Go A together, didn't we? Was it what, two years ago now?

Kat Stevens: 00:01:47

Yes, the Scala, I think. Oh, it was incredible.

They're one of my favourite Eurovision acts in the last few years and I've seen them a couple of times and it's just such an intense gig going experience on top of everything.

Steven Perkins: 00:01:59

Yeah. My main memory of that gig is we were arm in arm dancing with total Strangers at one point, but I can't remember for what.

Kat Stevens: 00:02:06

But I think we were trying to do some sort of magic ritual to bring about the coming of spring.

Steven Perkins: 00:02:13

That sounds familiar.

Kat Stevens: 00:02:14

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Steven Perkins: 00:02:16

Can't remember if it worked or not. Anyway, we've got lots to talk about because there have been another flurry of national finals in the last seven days.

So we'll work through them in a more or less chronological order. So we'll start with Poland. The winner, of course, of their national final was Justina Stokowska. I hope I've said that correctly, with Gaia.

use she represented Poland in: 1995

Kat Stevens: 00:02:48

Incredible. She just like, timeless.

Steven Perkins: 00:02:52

Yeah. And I mean, you watch this performance and you're like, this is not a 52 year old doing this because it's incredible. I mean.

But let's have your thoughts on it. First of all, I'll follow up with mine.

Kat Stevens: 00:03:02

I love this song and I love her performance as well.

It's definitely got sort of fierce Ruslana vibes with very energetic, great staging, great choreography and real sort of like energy and sort of vibes to it. The whole song, Gaia, I think it's about the Earth mother trying to wreak revenge on a popular, you know, human population that doesn't deserve her.

Steven Perkins: 00:03:30

And quite rightly, I definitely get that. That sense from it. Is it, I mean, you mentioned Breslana that I got Ruslana vibes as well.

I thought to me, it kind of felt a bit like if you kind of took Breslana and Bambi, Thug and Alexander Ryback and kind of chucked them all in a blender, this is sort of what you might get as a result of it. There was a bit of violining in there.

There was that incredible bit where she just goes up in the air in the middle of the performance, which caught me off guard completely. I mean, what a piece of staging.

Kat Stevens: 00:03:56

Brilliant. I really think Poland are going for it this year. I think loads of the national final entries were really strong. I was really impressed.

Steven Perkins: 00:04:05

Yeah. I mean, I think there's definitely a sense that Poland underperformed last year.

As much as I loved Luna and the Tower, it didn't quite work on the night. And this feels very much like Poland going right. Do you know what? It didn't work last year. We are making up for lost time.

We are coming at it all guns blazing. We want to qualify this year we want a good. We want a high finish this year. And I think they're in with a good shot, actually, based on this.

Kat Stevens: 00:04:28

Yeah. Did Justina come second? I think. Was it 30 years ago?

Steven Perkins: 00:04:33

No, she was. I think she was about 18th.

She was, like, the year after they came because they finished second in their debut year and then she finished, like, 18th. I'm just going to check that. But I think, because I looked it up earlier and I think that is.

Kat Stevens: 00:04:43

What happened, because she's a solid pair of hands, she knows her way around a Eurovision stage.

Steven Perkins: 00:04:49

Yeah, absolutely. And I think there's that. Lovely.

We've got a kind of recurring theme this year of people, of sort of callbacks to previous anniversaries, because we've got, obviously, Luxembourg kind of with their reply to Poupe de Si or Poupe de. So we also had. We'll get to them in a minute. We also had Norway kind of trying to call back to a previous win.

king here. And she was. Yeah,: 1995

Kat Stevens: 00:05:25

18Th, yeah.

Steven Perkins: 00:05:26

It was the year after they finished second. Yeah, exactly. And they were still very new to Eurovision at the time, so, you know, it's a tricky one.

Kat Stevens: 00:05:34

I actually ran the lyrics through Google Translate for Gaia and the lyric that really spoke to me was, you awakened the scream of loneliness. Oh, this isn't Captain Planet. We are getting full on apocalypse, where, you know, let's welcome friendly volcanoes and tidal waves and all of this.

I'm here for it.

Steven Perkins: 00:05:57

Yeah.

And like, I think, Adrian, I was saying last week, there are some National Final entries that kind of feel like you could just lift them out of National Final and stick them straight on the stage at Eurovision and they're basically ready to go. And this feels like one of those.

Kat Stevens: 00:06:07

Yeah, definitely. I don't. Some of the entries this year, I've. I've looked at them and thought it kind of needs a bit of change to the staging or some sort of.

A little bit of, say, vocal practice. But Justine has just got it straight out of the box. Like you say, she's really, really strong vocally. The staging is.

It feels like a modern Neuron Vision entry. Even though she is, let's say, a heritage act. It doesn't feel like she is. It feels really up to date.

Steven Perkins: 00:06:38

Yeah, that's It. I genuinely only.

eck can she have been here in: 1995

Kat Stevens: 00:06:51

Maybe she's got a death becomes her little purple potion at the back somewhere.

Steven Perkins: 00:06:55

Something like the substance happening going on there. And just quickly touch on the runner up for this one, which was Svada and Nikos with Lusterka, which was very different vibes.

It was kind of like had a sort of techno folk thing going on. But as you said, there was a lot of very strong entries this year and I feel like this one could have have also done really well had it won.

Kat Stevens: 00:07:15

I like this as well.

Kind of more moody electro Clash vibes again, I Google Translate was my friend here and I think the lyrics a little bit about being the village outcast and possibly being burned as a witch, but you know, in a kind of Bambi thug callback. Perhaps I. I really enjoyed this but I think perhaps while I. It's a great song, it's very modern.

I don't know if the Eurovision juries would good go for it. I think it could do well with a public vote. But yeah, I think Justina's got both bases covered.

Steven Perkins: 00:07:49

Yeah, I think Justina was definitely the right choice. I think she's got, I think, very, very strong chance of resonating with juries and televotes. So there's hopefully a strong year for Poland this year.

We're going to move on now to Estonia from this weekend's national final. Tommy Cash was the winner with Espresso macchiato.

I am going to go on here and say this one didn't really do it for me last year with Joust Klein and Europapa just passed me by and I didn't get it. And I feel I'm having the same kind of moment with this song. It feels like a joke that I'm not getting. What's your feelings about it?

Kat Stevens: 00:08:27

Are you biased about long hair, mustachioed singers?

Steven Perkins: 00:08:31

Maybe it's that. Maybe I have a problem with them. I don't know. I don't know. I'm unbiased, I swear.

Kat Stevens: 00:08:36

Well, I kind of agree with your first impressions. I wasn't sure when I first watched it. I thought it's too gimmicky, he's doing a funny little dance, the song isn't quite there, it's a bit cheesy.

And then I found myself humming it while I was doing the washing.

Steven Perkins: 00:08:53

Up.

Kat Stevens: 00:08:54

It's a. It's an earworm, like. And I just. I have a feeling it's going to do pretty well. Last year you mentioned News Klein.

I wasn't sure about that one either. And I was in Malmo last year for the semifinals and. And everyone went nuts for. For Euro Papa.

And even though they didn't know any of the rest of the words, they were chanting that. That chorus in like bars across Europe, they were really going for it. And I. I think this could be a real crowd favorite.

Steven Perkins: 00:09:24

Yeah.

Kat Stevens: 00:09:25

I'm not sure the juries will go for it at all. Unless they're again, they really like mustaches, really long tie. It certainly memorable.

Steven Perkins: 00:09:35

Yeah. I think there's a good point there, which is, I think obviously the semi finals are televote only, so I think it's probably got no problems there.

I think it will do very well with the televoters. Juries I'm not so sure about it. Feels like one of those ones that might just get a bit lost in the final.

I think you mentioned the choreography, which was one thing I kind of did like about it, which is. It's so bizarre. But I kept kind of. The backing dancers kept kind of putting their hands on him and I kept expecting to be like an outfit reveal.

They were going to pull the suit away and there'd be something underneath it, and it never happened, which was quite weird to me.

Kat Stevens: 00:10:06

Yeah. I like the Viking dancers, actually. So burly security guards. I was like, is you expecting a stage invasion? What's gonna happen?

Steven Perkins: 00:10:15

But it's like burning security guards, but also very camp at the same time. It's surprisingly. It's a very kind of social dissonance thing going on there.

Kat Stevens: 00:10:23

Yeah. A little reminiscent of the strange centipede vibes from a couple of years ago. Definitely.

Steven Perkins: 00:10:32

Yeah.

Kat Stevens: 00:10:33

From Finland.

Steven Perkins: 00:10:34

A bit of curry in there. Yeah, for sure.

Kat Stevens: 00:10:36

Yes. But there's something about the Italianisms of the actual song itself that, I don't know, makes me feel a little uncomfortable.

I don't know if it's weirdly, I don't want. I want to know how the Italians feel about it. And I mean, if.

Let's say, if, I don't know, Italy was doing a song about, like, oh, I'm a cockney geezer and apples and pears and all of this, I would probably be fine with it because as Londoners, we probably deserve mockery. That's fine. So I'm really interested to see what Italians make of espresso macchiato.

Steven Perkins: 00:11:15

We shall find out in due course, I'm sure. Runner up was Andre Jevakin. I hope I said that correctly. And my apologies. My Estonian is very, very poor. Ma a t sind, which means. I don't know.

I wasn't a massive fan of this one either. I think I preferred it slightly to Tommy Cash because it felt at least like it had a bit of energy about it.

It kind of felt like the sort of song you could pop it in the renew and it might go off a bit. I kind of. I actually. I kind of ended up looking at the three songs that made the superfinal in Esti Lau and kind of went.

To be honest, none of them really doing it for me this year. So maybe it's. That's just. Nothing in this batch of songs was really working for me this year.

Kat Stevens: 00:11:51

Yeah, my actual favorite song from St. Lau was Stereo Terror, which was this We Metal Euro Dance. It was. It was very stupid, but I really enjoyed it.

It was, you know, well paced and catchy and very visually memorable as well. But I. It would have had absolutely no chance whatsoever. But, yeah, my sind. And, um, the third place one, which is. I think it was an Marlon.

Um, they're both sort of, um, you know, modern, sort of like dancey tracks, but it didn't really have that catchiness that, I mean, don't get me wrong, I really love a little bit of incense. I love a woman being chased across a deserted airport holding a suitcase while trance music plays.

I even like a bit of chase and status, you know, which I think was kind of the vibe that, you know, setting things on fire. All of. All of that sort of stuff. A bit of vampirism happening in the videos. These are all good ingredients, but somehow it just didn't add up to.

Yeah, a good. A good weekend for Estonia. A bit of a shame because they've had a pretty good run in the last couple of years with interesting songs.

Steven Perkins: 00:13:08

Yeah, they're usually pretty reliable. They'll send something that's. That's interesting one way or another. And I feel like this year, I don't know, maybe it's kind of.

They've gone slightly too far in one direction, but we will see. I think like you said, there's probably. He's got a very strong chance with the. The televote, but probably not so much with the juries.

Should it get that far.

Kat Stevens: 00:13:25

Yeah, I think sort of like solid top 10.

Steven Perkins: 00:13:27

Yeah. Norway next. Now, Kyle Alessandro was the winner of the Norwegian Melody Grand Prix with Leiter. This feels very much like what If Queen of Kings.

But for boys, it's kind of the feel of it and the staging of it all feels very. Not dissimilar to what we had a couple of years ago.

Kat Stevens: 00:13:46

Yeah. I'm quite fond of this young whippersnapper. I think it's 18.

Steven Perkins: 00:13:52

He's 18. Yes. I didn't realise when I watched it and I looked up afterwards.

Kat Stevens: 00:13:55

Yeah, he's kind of got this. I don't know if it's just the staging and the costume vibes, but a bit of a Tom Hiddleston low key look about.

Steven Perkins: 00:14:03

No, I can see that. Yeah.

Kat Stevens: 00:14:05

Which I think will may go down well with the televote, let's say. And. And the song is pretty good. I think it's like a good sort of. I can. I could see like a. A dual leper doing this sort of song. Very much energetic.

It's a bop. I'm not convinced about his voice at the beginning. He really gets into it and gets going near the end. But I think this is one of the.

The songs for this year that I. I think with a little bit of some notes and a bit of improvement before getting to Basel, I think this could do really well.

Steven Perkins: 00:14:41

Yeah.

Kat Stevens: 00:14:42

But he's going to have to be really careful not to get lost in a sea of similar. Similar pretty young dudes.

Steven Perkins: 00:14:48

Yeah. I think you've raised a lot of points there that. Along the lines what I was going to say.

I think the vocals weren't 100% there that I'd be majorly worried about. I think it's all fixable in time for May. And he is young and I guess you have to factor in.

I think he has been in the industry for a while, but he's not going to have the level of experience that some of the other acts will have. But that's all stuff you can work on. There's plenty of time to do that. I do think my big. I like the song. I think it's fun.

My big issue is I don't think it's anything particularly new or inventive and I think it's the sort of thing that could have come from absolutely anywhere. There's nothing that feels, oh, this is Norway about it. And I.

I think his chances do depend to some extent on what everyone else ends up sending because you could end up with lots of other countries sending very similar songs to this. And if that happens, then he might be in a bit of trouble because it doesn't particularly stand out.

There's nothing wrong with it, but there's Nothing that really feels like it's going to be somebody's favourite, I think is my issue with it.

Kat Stevens: 00:15:44

Yeah, I think so. Which is a shame because he seems like a lovely young lad. Yeah.

Steven Perkins: 00:15:49

And apparently he was inspired to write it after his mum survived cancer. So there's a lovely message behind it. So I kind of.

I really want him to do well just because he seems like a nice young man and all that sort of thing.

Kat Stevens: 00:16:02

One thing he's got in his favor. The song is called Lighter. There is fire on the stage.

Steven Perkins: 00:16:07

Yeah.

Kat Stevens: 00:16:07

You can't go wrong with that. It will go down well in the arena for sure.

Steven Perkins: 00:16:11

Yeah. People turn their phones into the arena. I never know anymore. But if they are, then they have their phones in the air.

They probably can't have their lighters in the air. That's probably not allowed.

Kat Stevens: 00:16:19

You do get the wristband with a little light on it that you can hold.

Steven Perkins: 00:16:22

That'll work. That's fine. Runner up wise, I actually, this.

I have to just put a little disclaimer here because I looked for the Game by Natalie, I couldn't find an MGP performance for anywhere. I had to just go with the lyric video. So all my opinions here have to preface with the fact I've not seen the performance live. I quite liked it.

To me, it felt certainly more immediate than lighter. I think I kind of had, at the end of the day, the same sort of problem with it, which was that it did feel quite run of the mill Eurovision.

Quite like anyone could have sent this any year and it could have come from absolutely anyone. So it didn't feel like it had a kind of distinct identity to it.

But I think of the two, I slightly preferred it, but I don't think it would have made much of a difference sending this over. Kyle, what are your thoughts?

Kat Stevens: 00:17:10

Yeah, I agree. I actually think this one sounds more like Queen Of Kings than Kyle does, but a bit slower. And I think it just. It just didn't have that to.

To use a technical term, I am. Again.

This might just be because there wasn't a performance video available, but I kind of felt like, you know, just wasn't really connecting with this one. Maybe I did. I did see in the Norwegian entry list that Ben from A1 has written a song again.

Steven Perkins: 00:17:43

Again.

Kat Stevens: 00:17:43

And it didn't get through.

Steven Perkins: 00:17:45

Oh, poor Ben.

Kat Stevens: 00:17:46

I don't know. I think one day, one year, Norway will come up with the magic formula of Ben from A1.

A very lovely young, young chap, some pyrotechnics and a really great song and put them all together and do the business.

Steven Perkins: 00:18:02

Yeah. But not this year. Not this year, though.

And I think we can't move on just without mentioning Bobby Socks, of course, because they were also in the running, returning after 40 years after winning with La Destinga finishing third. So close. I think. I think they were higher than Nataline in the televote, but not so much with the juries.

And I think because as lovely as this was, it did feel very, very dated to me.

Kat Stevens: 00:18:25

Yeah, I mean, it's still a bop, but I think it is not a bop that is aimed at a modern Eurovision voting public. Yeah. I mean, I mean this in the most complimentary way.

I can imagine the panel of blues women getting up and singing this at the Christmas special and I really like to.

Positive message of it, acknowledging that things are bad in the world, but, you know, we've got to get up and get on with our lives and get on with it. But yeah, I am good on Bobby Socks for like representing the 60 something women for Eurovision. But yeah, I think.

I think Kyle's probably got a better shot than they have of doing well.

Steven Perkins: 00:19:07

I would agree. I think they would have been very, very heavily reliant on the nostalgia factor rather than anything specifically that song in itself was doing.

But it was, it was lovely to see you back and still together and giving it another shot. Why the heck not? I think good for them. Let's move on to Lithuania. I did briefly try and catch their national final last night.

Managed to tune in literally for about the last 30 seconds. So I got a call at the very end of the winter's performance.

It was won by Katasis with Tavoakis, which apparently, if Google Translate is to be relied upon, it's Lithuanian for your eyes. A bit of Baltic rock. Lithuania. I think that that's always fun.

Kat Stevens: 00:19:45

They've definitely heard an Interpol record before, haven't they? I'm. I'm not a fan of this one. I think it's a bit of a dirge and I. I felt like the performance again wasn't really as engaging as it could be.

Again, I think there's really a chance for them to switch this up between now and May. I don't know if it's just the dystopian gray boiler suits that seem to be a bit of a theme in some of the national finals this year.

I don't know what that says about the current political state of the world, but let's. I feel like if you're gonna grab the Audience's attention. Camouflaging yourself into the background at the stage is not the way to do it.

And I think it's good to have some rock in Eurovision. Whether it's the sort of arcade, fiery Interpol vibe it has done well in the past and it could do well again. I'm not convinced, personally.

Steven Perkins: 00:20:42

Yeah, I think that's kind of the point of this, is that ultimately there's probably not a lot of other countries going to be sending something like this, and so they will. For the portion of the audience that loves this kind of genre, then they're running unopposed, which could really work in their favour.

But like you, I was watching it going. It just feels a bit bleak, doesn't it?

There's just something about the outfits and the staging and I get that it was all very intentional, but I was sort of torn between thinking, thinking, do they need to pep this up a bit between now and May, or is the simplicity the thing that works about it?

And I don't quite know one way or the other, so it'll be interesting, I think, to see if they do decide they want to make any changes or if they are going to send it pretty much as we saw it.

Kat Stevens: 00:21:26

Yeah. I mean, this is.

Again, pyrotechnics could have really worked here, or something happening in the stage, even a more dramatic backdrop in the screen, you know, the graphics behind them.

Because that can be really, really effective, especially if the song was about poor eyes, you know, have some sort of spooky eyes or something behind them, or, I don't know, hold up a telescope, something like. Otherwise, it's just not going to grab people, you know, the voting public, and they're just gonna.

They're gonna vote for a guy with a long tie drinking coffee instead.

Steven Perkins: 00:22:04

Runner up was Liepa with. So apologies for any Lithuanians listening to this. Ah, Militum, which I believe means would you love I I this one? I quite en.

I thought this one had a bit more energy about it, was a bit kind of dynamic and fun and did kind of have the staging there. I thought that this one kind of felt like it was a performance. So, yeah, of the two in the top two, this one I think I personally preferred.

I think probably in terms of what they're more likely to have success with, I think Catasis was probably the better of the two options for the country. What are your thoughts?

Kat Stevens: 00:22:39

Yeah, I prefer the Lopez trancy vibes as well.

This will be no surprise to people who've read my reviews on Single Street Box But I, I like something with a bit of incense and yeah, just something a bit more upbeat. But I will tell you this, my favorite Lithuanian national final entry was Lion Checker. I hope I pronounced that right.

And they're extremely dramatic opera angel dubstep bonkersness, which I can totally understand why it did not win national final, but they've won my heart. Wow, that was extremely memorable there with the.

The singer and the backing dancers with weird prosthetic wounds on their face and like they've stepped out with a set of casualty. And then again boiler suits walking up a staircase to nowhere. Now that is how you do crazy staging. Memorable. And I loved it.

And oh, I think that Lithuania can. They've. In the past they've done some really interesting and combination of an interesting staging and good song and a winning presence.

And I, and I kind of think, yeah, the different elements were there in the different songs in the national final this year, but. And none of them quite added up to one really great package, I might say. Poland, who've got it all, all there, all in one song.

Steven Perkins: 00:24:09

Yeah, you mentioned staircases there, which I think is our handy segue into talking about Italy because that was the talking point at San Rainbow this year. That huge staircase at the back of the stage that everyone looked absolutely terrified of. We should begin this with a disclaimer.

Obviously, Sanremo is very much a contest in its own right. The winner gets first refusal at representing Italy at Eurovision. They are not obligated to do so.

As of time of recording, the winner has not stated one way or the other. So we don't actually know yet who Italy's representative is. The winner of Sanremo was Oli with a balance Lord de Nostalgia or Sidi Nostalgia.

Apparently the word on the grapevine is that he's been given a few more days to make his decision if he wants to go or not. Because I hear he's got like a sold out concert tour booked in May, which obviously is quite problematic from a Eurovision perspective.

Whether he wants to go through the hassle of rebooking all of that and so that he can go to Eurovision or whether he decides actually, do you know what? I've won San Ramo. That's all I really need.

I think if he does decide to go, I think he's in with a very good shot because this feels like Eurovision catnip. It's a ballad, it's very earnest but sincere and heartfelt. He's a strong singer. The song feels really well crafted, I think.

Jury and Televote this has got a very strong shot if he does decide to go.

Kat Stevens: 00:25:20

Yeah, definitely for this one. It's not my personal cup of tea, but I think it could do really well as long as he takes his hands out of his pockets.

I know I sound 100 years old here, like his mum telling him off, but at the beginning he's just there with his hands in his jeans pockets. I was like, you're meant to be singing a song at San Remo here. Come on and. But he. Once he gets into it, there's so much emotion in there. The.

You know, it's. It's a. It's a really beautiful sort of soft rock ballad. A little bit Goo Goo Dolls, I think.

Steven Perkins: 00:25:57

Yes.

Kat Stevens: 00:25:58

Yeah, I can see that a little bit. And that is no bad thing. That. That has been stuck in people's heads for decades now. And I'm. I think. I think Oli could do really well.

Well, we'll have to see if he actually decides to actually go for it or not.

Steven Perkins: 00:26:15

Yeah, exactly. I mean, I think it is, you know, it's something I can just see doing really, really well. But it will come down to whether he wants to go or not.

Apparently they have changed the rules this year and the Italian broadcaster, I think before they could kind of just pick anyone they liked if the winner didn't want to go. And they've now said that they will kind of go down the San Rainbow finalists in order until they get to someone who wants to do Eurovision, which.

Which could be, you know, we will know how many people. They had to say no before they pick their entry, which is going to be fun. Runner up.

So first refusal or second refusal, I guess, if Olney doesn't want to do it, is Lucio Corsi with Volevo essere unduro. I wanted to be. I wanted to be a strong man. I wanted to be tough. Something like that. This one, I feel very, very similar.

Kind of would be a strong contender for the. The very similar reasons to Ollie. It's very well crafted. It's very kind of personally meaningful song.

I don't think it has quite as much potential as Ballard Berlordo nostalgia does. But I think if it does come to it, this would be a very solid offering from Italy.

Kat Stevens: 00:27:25

Yeah, I really like this one as well. And I quite like the sort of David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust staging of it. Some at the piano. He's. Then he's got the guitar.

He brings in his friend to sing into the microphone together. It's a really rousing song as well. It's quite uplifting. I wrote down in my notes.

It feels very much the end of a Bill and Ted movie where everyone, you know, we've saved the world through the power of rock and roll.

Steven Perkins: 00:27:54

Yeah.

Kat Stevens: 00:27:54

And, yeah, I think the world needs a little bit of that at the moment.

Steven Perkins: 00:27:58

Yeah, definitely.

I mean, I think that's the thing, obviously, when you've got source material as strong as Sanremo, where you're pretty much guarantee, guaranteed to have a bunch of contenders, then Italy are laughing, aren't they?

I mean, I tuned in for some of it during the final and you could really kind of see as they were kind of revealing from 29th position up to the top, and there were some songs that kind of finished 15th and the audience was scandalized that this song had finished so low. So that kind of, I think, goes to show how strong the field was. They had a lot of very strong entries.

Kat Stevens: 00:28:32

Yeah. You always know you're going to get really strong vocal chops from Italy. Like, the quality is going to be there. You know, you're going to. People.

People will have to perform because they have to. They have to survive the gauntlets of San Remo. And I. I think that's been part of Italy's success over the last few years as well.

It's, you know, Eurovision is almost like, you know, second prize compared to. To doing well at San Remo.

Steven Perkins: 00:28:58

Yeah, exactly.

I mean, I think this is very much the thing, I think in Italy, that San Remo is first and foremost what people want to do, and Eurovision, it's sort of the thing you maybe want to do afterwards, but that's. Whether you do Eurovision or not is kind of immaterial. You just want to win Sanremo and. Yeah.

So, yeah, it'll be very, very interesting to see what decision is made on this front.

I kind of hope it's Oli, because I did really enjoy that one and I would love to kind of see that on the stage, but I can totally understand if he goes, you know what?

I'm doing pretty well out of all of this and I'm just going to go with do me a little concert tour and be quite happy with the lovely trophy from San Remo and not have to worry about whatever on earth is going on at Eurovision this year.

Kat Stevens: 00:29:35

appy with a visit to Italy in: 2026

Steven Perkins: 00:29:39

Yeah. Although I'm going to say I hope that if that does happen, that they've slightly improved their actual hosting skills.

Because I remember the actual Italy Eurovision in Turin was a bit wobbly in places and there were some issues, weren't there? And the hosting team wasn't great, so I can't remember. But then maybe we want to give them a chance to do it again and get it right.

Kat Stevens: 00:30:02

hosting a Winter Olympics in: 2026

Steven Perkins: 00:30:10

Oh, there we go. So, yeah, we've still got a few minutes, so let's talk.

We still have no news yet officially from the UK on what is going on with our entry, other than it got blurted out on Radio 1 pre. Officially. So it sort of seems like everybody does know who's representing us, but we still haven't had one way or the other.

But assuming we are kind of going the country pop route, what are your thoughts on that?

Kat Stevens: 00:30:31

That I haven't heard a great deal about our entry yet. I. I know that it feels like a Sweden seem to be going down a country pop route in some ways as well.

I've definitely seen a couple of cowboy hats on melody so far, so it might not be. Yeah, we've got to. We've got to try something different, haven't we? Yeah, we haven't sent a girl band for a while.

Steven Perkins: 00:30:58

Precious, I think, was the last one, wasn't it?

Kat Stevens: 00:31:00

Yeah. So honestly, whatever, if we mix it up, I think we've got a good chance as any. As long as I think the vocal just has to be there.

Steven Perkins: 00:31:10

Yeah.

Kat Stevens: 00:31:10

Like I was saying with the San Remo, you always know you're going to get quality singers.

Steven Perkins: 00:31:16

Yeah.

Kat Stevens: 00:31:17

To put it bluntly. And the UK is a. You know, if we had a bit of a mixed bag of late, obviously, like Sam Ryder is just stunning.

Steven Perkins: 00:31:26

That's the thing, isn't it? With Sam Ryder, the song was great, but what really sold it was him live on the stage just really knocking it out the park.

And that I think is the thing we've kind of slightly forgotten a little bit in the last few years.

Kat Stevens: 00:31:39

Yeah. And when you've got a group, it's that much harder when you've got three or more people who have to sing together well and powerfully.

And if you're not an established band like Blue, who don't did pretty well for us, you can kind of run into trouble a little bit because it just takes one person to have a sore throat or a bad day and then you're stuffed.

Steven Perkins: 00:32:04

Yeah. But I suppose one thing again, assuming this is.

Remember Monday as everyone's been rumouring, they have been together for a while, they have been on the circuit, they've been opening huge concerts. So ever so they have the experience. They obviously work together and gel really well as a group.

So I think we haven't got that thing where someone's just put together a group for the purposes of doing Eurovision and there's that kind of chemistry still being found out. So that I think will definitely work in their favour.

Kat Stevens: 00:32:28

Yeah, fingers crossed. Let's hope it's more sugar babes than vanilla.

Steven Perkins: 00:32:32

Yeah, I've got a soft spot in my heart for vanilla all the time, obviously. And so what's. I mean, we are kind of getting a bit closer now. We feel like the field is filling up.

What are your feeling on the vibes of Eurovision this year, in terms of what's on the plate, as it were?

Kat Stevens: 00:32:48

Well, I'm enjoying the, let's say, forthright young women who are. Who are putting it all on the table about what they want from life and expressing themselves through song. I really love the.

The Finland entry and especially the staging. Her kind of like Sophie List Dexter meets Cascada vibe. Brilliant. I. I think that's a really, really strong contender.

I love Spain's entry as well, which is just completely crackers, but all over the place. But that's what you're going to get from Spain and they. They haven't disappointed me at all.

Another thing I'm really happy about is there's a kind of fewer boring dudes this time, just mumbling away to themselves in a small neon box. That's kind of my least favorite category of Eurovision. So if we can keep to. I.

You know, something that's just a little bit different and lots of variety as well. I think that, yeah, I think Slovenia is. Has disappointed me a little bit this year.

I usually, like, really rooting for Slovenia, but it's just like, oh, no, cheer up, mate, it might never happen.

Steven Perkins: 00:34:00

Yeah, I know what you mean. I think that. Because that one I sort of quite like, but I do think that that one probably has the.

The biggest potential out of everybody to just completely get lost in the field on the night so far.

Kat Stevens: 00:34:12

Yeah, absolutely. As. And I'm always excited to see what Iceland bring to the table.

You never quite know what you're going to get with Iceland, so really looking forward to what they're going to bring. After last year, Hera Bjork was kind of done dirty with a song that didn't match her magnificence.

Steven Perkins: 00:34:32

Absolutely, yeah. Revenge for Hero Bjork, fantastic cat. Thank you very much for joining us.

Kat Stevens: 00:34:40

Yeah, it's been really great to be here. Thanks, Stephen.

Steven Perkins: 00:34:43

Thank you. Now, for anyone who is wondering about Armenia, their national final hadn't yet been held at the time of recording this week's episode.

But don't worry, we haven't forgotten about them and we will be covering everything about their song in our next episode. Speaking of which, I'm taking a very short break so there will be a re release of an episode from our archives next Monday.

And Douce Point will be back with a brand new episode in a fortnight when we will have two weeks worth of national final results to discuss, including Iceland, Moldova, Denmark, Germany and of course that song reveal from the Netherlands. I hope you'll come back to join us for that one.

And in the meantime, don't forget to subscribe on your podcast platform of choice and maybe leave us a positive review to help us climb our way up that chart algorithm. Until next time, good night Europe and good morning Australia.